Pictured above and right, Fillmore Flashes Cross Country Team at the start of the Citrus Coast League Meet at College Park in Oxnard on October 1st. Inset, Flashes Boys Varsity Omar Heredia who finished in 4th with a time of 16:14.83. Photos courtesy Coach Anthony Chavez.

By Epi Torres

On Tuesday, October 1st, the Fillmore Cross Country teams traveled to College Park in Oxnard for the second Citrus Coast League meeting of three, this season. Fillmore teams competed against Citrus Coast League members: Carpinteria, Channel Islands, Hueneme, Malibu, Nordhoff, and Santa Paula. The College Park Course is run over three miles on grass fields, and dirt roads that are relatively flat.

The Junior Varsity boys started our race day at this meet. In Citrus Coast League #1, Fillmore did not field a scoring team. On Tuesday, Jordan Hernandez led the Flashes with his best performance of the season finishing in 6th place in 19:10.27. He was followed by Gabriel Lagunas 36th in 22:05.80, Alexander Diaz 38th in 22:14.88, Nikolias Cerda 42nd in 22: 25..4, and Vincent Alonzo 43rd in 22:32.15. In the team competition, Fillmore Junior Varsity boys finished in 5th place.
The Varsity girls followed in a tough race with Hueneme. Hueneme entered this meet as the first seeded team after winning the initial Citrus Coast Leagues meet. In this race Fillmore’s top finisher Jessica Orozco finished 2nd in personal best time of 19:58.65. She was followed by Diana Santa Rosa 3rd in 20:17.88, Janessa Corona 9th in a personal best time of 21:43.02, Jacqueline Olivares 12th in 22:05.0, Miley Tello 13th in 22:07.70, Melanie Flores 17th in 22:49.0, and Marbella Arroyo Tapia 19th in 23:07.54. The Fillmore Varsity girls captured 1st in the team competition. The Fillmore girls are currently tied with Hueneme for first place in the team competition.

The Varsity Boys were in the next race. After the first meeting, the Varsity boys were looking to improve from their 6th place team finish. Omar Heredia led the Charge by finishing 4th in 16:14.83. He was supported by Damian Castaneda 28th in 18:19.83, Aaron Cordero 35th in 19:08.95, Alexander Nunez 38th in 19:25.22, and Erick Traver 43rd in 22:43.69. In the team competition, Fillmore Varsity boys finished in 6th place.
The final race of the day featured the Junior Varsity girls. They were led by Jannet Vega who finished 2nd in a time of 24:25.22. She was followed by Natalie Perez 4th in 25:13.80, Valerie Rodriguez 14th in 28:51.47, and Megan Robles 18th in 31:17.76. In the team competition, Fillmore Junior Varsity girls finished in 2nd place.
The Fillmore Cross Country teams will next travel to Ojai, where they will compete in the Twilight Meet at Lake Casitas on Wednesday. The start time for this meet is 4:15 PM. Another group of athletes will travel to Fresno and compete in the Clovis Invitational. This meet will be run at Woodward Park over a three-mile course that traverses grass fields, paved roads and rolling hills, with one major climb. Races will commence on Friday, October 11th at 10:45 a.m. for the girls, and 11:55 for the boys.

On Saturday, Fillmore High School former runners and other Fillmore residents competed at Central Park in Santa Clarita at the Masters College Cross Country Invitational.
The men’s collegiate invite was the first race over the challenging 8-kilometer (4.97 miles) course. This course goes over grass, dirt, and pavement.

In this race, Camilo Torres who competes for the Northridge Vaqueros placed 6th in 24:32.50. Teammate Diego Rodriguez finished in 126th in 26:57.0. Another Fillmore alumni, Rey Laureano finished in 85th place in a time of 26:15.0. Rey is a member of the Westmont Warriors cross country team. In the team competition Northridge edged out Westmont with the tie breaker rule. Both teams scored 119 points.

In the women’s invite 6 kilometer (3.73 miles), Former Fillmore standout Nataly Vigil, ran her third race of this season. This was her first 6-kilometer race ever. Running for the Cal Lutheran Knights, she finished in 109th in 24:39.60.
The Moorpark Raiders traveled to Rancho Cucamonga to compete in the Southern California Regional Championship Meet. Running for Moorpark College and currently residing in Fillmore was Logan Torres. He finished in 71st in 23:24.6. In the team competition, Moorpark was 2nd.

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Fillmore’s Martin Arredondo Top Runner at Mammoth Run
On Sunday, Fillmore’s Martin Arredondo took first place and also won his age group division in the Moorpark Mammoth Run. Martin covered the 10 kilometer course in 38:47.7, a personal best time.