Lupita Perez at Seaside Invitational

The Fillmore boys and girls cross-country teams competed in their first two meets of the season racing in the UCSB Gaucho Invitational on September 5th, and running at the Buenaventura Seaside Invitational on Friday.

At the UCSB Gaucho Invitational all grade levels were combined into a single all boys or an all girls race. In this meet the Flashes garnered 7 medals in the girls’ race and finished in 4th place among 12 multi-divisional teams. They were led by the overall race winner, freshman newcomer Carissa Rodriguez. Carissa was also awarded the inaugural Becky Baker Award given in honor of the late teacher, coach, and friend of students at Indio High School. The Lady Flashes finished as follows Carissa Rodriguez 1st in 19:01.19, Lupita Perez 3rd in 19:18.3, Kimberly Vazquez 26th in 21:00.96, Erika Ruiz 34th in 21:27.1, Jackie Chavez 39th in 21:39.39, Andrea Marruffo 43rd in 21:50.41, Julissa Martinez 44th in 21:50.74, Maria Rubalcaba 74th in 23:03.82, Susie Garcia 76th in 23:10.05, Marisol Martinez 78th in 23:13.71, Cecilia Cisneros 85th in 23:34.92, Lauren Magdaleno 88th in 23:36.39, Emma Orozco 96th in 23:49.96, and Briana Lopez 107th in 24:37.35.

The boys team was lead by Captain Johnnie Martinez the lone medal winner. He finished in 45th place in a time of 17:30.14. Other finishers were Jose Rodriguez 48th in 17:43.18, Michael Sanchez 57th in 18:00.08, Curtis Ponce 58th in 18:01.6, Adrian Orozco 60th in 18:04.13, Jonathan Ordaz 84th in 18:39.45, Jesus Castro 86th in 18:40.48, Christian Andrade 94th in 19:00.51, Juan Ramirez 96th in 19:03.37, Nick Villela 98th in 19:05.08, John Chavez 104th in 19:18.61, Gustavo Valdez 109th in19:34.37, Sergio Perez 116th in 19.50.05, Everardo G. Magana 128th in 20:06.54, Roberto Magana 135th in 20:18.95, Mario Hurtado 164th in 21:08.48, Josue Baez 165th in 21:11.61, Richard Cadena 170th in 21:18.67, Jorge Acevedo 176 in 21:57.65, Misael Ponce 177th in 22:03.25, Jaime Malagon 180 th in 22:28.47, Andrew Hernandez 187th in 22:54.6, Antonio Villalobos 194th in 26:04.56, Daniel Cruz 195th in 26:04.84, Allen Inda 196th in 28:21.51, and Luis Leon 197th in 28:23.22. The boys finished in 8th place among the 13 competing teams.

This past Friday the Flashes participated in the Seaside Invitational held at the San Buena Ventura Beach. All races were run based on gender and grade level. Unfortunately, competitors in the boys’ division 10th-12th grade were not allowed to compete due to extreme heat.

The first race of the day featured Fillmore's outstanding Freshman girls team that place 4th overall in a deeply talented field in which 36 schools were represented. Four of these athletes were medal winners. The harriers were led by Carissa Rodriguez who finished in 4th place in her fastest time of the season of 18:24.65. This was also the fastest time recorded by the Lady Flashes on the day, and qualified her to be recognized by Dyestat California as one of the top performances by a freshman harrier in California. Other competitors in the Girl's Freshman race were Andrea Marruffo 21st in 20:30.77, Julissa Martinez 27th in 21:05.51, Susie Garcia 38th in 21:47.18, Emma Orozco 51st in 22:30.77, Cecilia Cisneros 59th in 22:45.57, and Briana Lopez 72nd in 23:26.22.

The Sophomore girls followed with 4 competitors led by Jackie Chavez 37th in 20:50.45 and the only medal winner in this division, followed by Maria Rubalcava 93rd in 23:26.11, Yakelin Magana 115th in 24:07.78, and Allison Reconcoj 118th in 24:18.05.

In the Juniors’ race, Marisol Martinez 93rd place was the top finisher for Fillmore in 22:36.28, followed by Lauren Magdaleno 107th in 23:13.99, and Maria Lopez 214th in 29:55.40.

The first 3 girls in this division were medal winners. Leading the Seniors for the second week in a row was Lupita Perez 12th place in a time of 18:52.15. Lupita's time qualified her to be recognized by Dyestsat California as one of the fastest times in California for a Senior runner. Other top finishers were Erika Ruiz 49th in 20:43.48, Kimberly Vazquez 50th in 20:45.04, and Irma Torres 74th in 21:56.23.

The final race of the day was the Freshman Boys. They were led by Nick Villela 33rd in a time of 18:23.76, followed by Sergio Perez 61st in 19:21.61, both Nick and Sergio were medal winners, next was Roberto Magana 74th in 19:31.16, Jorge Acevedo 124th in 20:52.27, Richard Cadena 128th in 20:58.59, Louie Rodriguez 160th in 22:08.31, and Andrew Hernandez 196th in 23:58.13.

The Flashes will next travel to Irvine, California and compete in the prestigious Woodbridge Invitational. You are invited to follow us on our web page, it can be found at fillmorecrosscountry.com.