SONORA – Two members of the Orestimba High cross-country teams had strong performances at the Trans-Valley League Mid-Season Meet.

There were other Warriors who also competed on the 3.1 miles course at Wildcat Ranch on Sept. 24.

Samantha De La Cruz, a junior, took 10th place for the Orestimba girls with a time of 22 minutes, 17 seconds. She was the only Warrior girl who competed.

For the Warrior boys, Benjamin Cerna, a freshman, was 19th at 19:56.

“We had a lot of runners who ran their fastest times on a tough course in Sonora,” said Orestimba head coach Scott Felber. “Samantha and Benjamin were our leaders, but we're just working on getting better every race.”

Other Orestimba boys who competed in the race were Emmanuel Garabito, who took 24th place at 20:08; Noel Madrigal 37th at 21:51, Erik Cerna 42nd at 23:07; Hector Madrigal 43rd at 23:18 and Carlos Carranza 51st at 25:44.

“I was very happy with the effort of many of our runners,” Felber said. “We were also missing a couple of key boy runners (Joseph Garcia and Giovani Cerna) who were unable to run because of injuries.”

In team points, the Orestimba boys took 6th place with 138 points. Hughson won the event with 16 points, followed by Ripon taking second at 55 and Hilmar third at 84.

The Warriors are also looking ahead into the Sac-Joaquin Sub-Sections, which will be held in November.

“We’re always looking to run our fastest times at sub-sections in November in the hopes of qualifying for sections,” Felber said. “Right now, we’re just focused on putting in the work to keep improving.”

The Warrior boys and girls are in action this Saturday, competing at the Artichoke Invitational at Half Moon Bay High.

Orestimba has a combined six more meets, counting this Saturday’s invitational on the coast, until the TVL Finals on Wednesday, Oct. 29.

Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist who was born and raised in the Stanislaus and Merced County areas. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushmedia.