FHS Varsity Senior Camilo Torres who led the boy’s team finishing in first place with a time of 15:26.70.

On Friday, September 24th, the Cross-Country teams traveled to Oxnard to compete in the Raider Invitational. The course is located in College Park and is described as a spectator friendly flat course over professional soccer grass, dirt, and asphalt.

The frosh-soph girls started the day, they were led by Diana Santa Rosa 21st in 23:39.59. Diana was a medal winner in this race. She was followed by Luz Castaneda 36th in 25:35.35, Alexa Martinez 54th in 27:31.27, Alexandrea Gonzalez 60th in 27:54.69, Aryanne Munoz 65th in 28:38.77, Natalia Herrera 71st in 29:19.05, and Abigail Martinez 87th in 33:24.42. In the team competition the girls finished in 8th place.

The frosh-soph boys followed. They were led by Kobe Lizarraga 4th in 17:49.55. He was followed by Josh Estrada 6th in 17:57.42, Angel Garcia 9th in 18:36.96, Angel Laureano 17th in 19:04.09, Chris Perez 29th in 19:53.92, Eduardo Vigil 31st in 19:55.92, James Torres 84th in 25:16.12, Juan Castro 87th in 35:35.92, and Sammy Ramirez 90th in 27:08.48. The top five Fillmore runners were awarded medals in this race. In the team competition, the frosh-soph boys finished in second place.

Leading the girls' Varsity team was senior Alianna Tapia. Alianna finished in second place in a season best time of 18:48.36. She was followed by a much-improved Niza Laureano who finished in 8th in 19:57.06. Next was Nataly Vigil 24th in 21:15.73, Andrea Laureano 36th in 21:45.06, Lorena Perez 50th in 22:17.03, Angelica Herrera 51st In 20:20.64, Alexandra Martinez 62nd in 22:57.8, Lili Montejano 63rd in 22:59.95, and Sophia Rodriguez 71st in 23:20.40. The top 3 girls in this race were awarded medals for their effort. In the team competition, the girls finished in second, 14 points behind the first-place team.

The boys’ varsity was again led by a front running Camilo Torres. Camilo shot out to a lead he maintained throughout the race finishing in 1st with a time of 15:26.70. Camilo was followed by a rapidly improving Nick Hurtado, who finished in 46th place in a time of 17:53.26. Camilo ran the fastest time of the day and was also a medal recipient. Camilo and Nick were the only Fillmore runners entered in the varsity division.

Two athletes competed in the Junior varsity girls’ division. Daisy Guerrero ran her fastest time of the year finishing in 14th place in a time of 24:41.27. She was a medal winner. Teammate Jasmine Vega finished in 54th in 30:13.12.

In the final race of the day, junior varsity boys, Fillmore sent two athletes to the line. Top runner in this race was James Flores who finished in 23rd in 19:41.01. James was a medal winner and was followed by Luke Hernandez 62nd in 24:04.14.

The Flashes Cross Country teams will next travel to Lake Casitas in Ojai on Wednesday, October 6th, and run in the Twilight Invitational. This meet is scheduled to begin at 4:15 pm. Competitors will race over a 1.9-mile course or a 3-mile course.

Niza Laureano Was 4th overall.
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Andrea Laureano Was 10th overall.
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Lorena Perez in her season opener was 32nd in the race.
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On Saturday September 11th, the Cross-Country teams traveled to one of the hottest places in the county, Ojai. There they competed on a hilly 1.9-mile course. The course is situated in the mountains along Lake Casitas and the race is hosted by Nordhoff High School. This course is very challenging and as I’ve already mentioned, and very hot.

The girls were the first to race for the Flashes. The 10:00 AM start assured a difficult time due to this being our first time this year competing on a hilly and a hot course. The Fillmore girls were up to the challenge and ran very well, finishing in second place as a team. They were led by newcomer Athena Sanchez who finished in 3rd place overall in a time of 12:52.88. She was followed by teammate Niza Laureano who finished in 4th place in 12:55.63, Andrea Laureano 10th in 13:39.63, Angelica Herrera 21st in 14:17.29, Alexandra Martinez 29th in 14:47.81, Lorena Perez 32nd in 14:53.91, Sophia Rodriguez 35th in 15:03.11, Diana Santa Rosa 49th in 15:39.03, Luz Castaneda 51st in 15:41.19, Alexa Martinez 81st in 17:26.58, Daisy Guerrero 90th in 17:35.87, and Aryanne Munoz 108th in 19:54.65. In the team competition, Fillmore girls finished in second place. The top nine Fillmore runners were medal winners in this race.

The Varsity Boys followed, and they were led by Josh Estrada who finished in 13th place in 11:22.96, he was followed by Nicholas Hurtado 18th in 11:40.71, Angel Laureano 21st in 11:51.13, Angel Garcia 24th in 11:57.99, Eduardo Vigil 27th in 12:03.87, James Torres 78th in 14:13.11, and Luke Hernandez 97th in 16:14.55. In the team competition, the Fillmore boys finished in 4th. The first 5 boys in this race were medal winners.

Our next meet will be on Thursday, September 16th at the School Farm in Fillmore. This is the first of 3 league meets run a couple weeks apart. They will determine league champions in 4 divisions and CIF representation in the two varsity divisions in the Citrus Coast League. The meet will commence at 3:30 PM. Hope we see you there.

Captain Michael Camilo Torres leads the Fillmore Flashes in a very fast 1457. This was Camilo’s season opener on the fast Cool Breeze Brookside Golf course at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
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Above is Fillmore Senior Alianna Tapia who ran a personal best to finish very well in 15th place, posting a time of 19:08. Photo credit Michael Torres.
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On Friday, September 3rd, a select group of athletes from the Fillmore Cross Country Team competed in the Cool Breeze Invitational in Pasadena. Freshman Niza Laureano (above) who was the second finisher in 81st place with a time of 20:58.6. Photo credit Michael Torres.
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On Friday, September 3rd a select group of athletes from the Fillmore Cross Country teams traveled to Pasadena to compete in the highly competitive Cool Breeze Invitational. This meet features 112 teams and 3,734 athletes. The competition is run on the Brookside Country Club Golf Course, adjacent to the Rose Bowl, west side. The 5 K course is flat and fast and runs during the heat of the day into the cool evening hours of sunset.

The first race of the day, the Varsity Girls Divisions 3, 4, and 5 toed the starting line at 7:34 PM. The race featured 231 competitors. The top finisher for the Flashes was senior Alianna Tapia. Alianna ran a personal best to finish very well in 15th place, posting a time of 19:08. Niza Laureano, a freshman was Fillmore’s second finisher in 81st place in 20:58.6. She was followed by Andrea Laureano 111th in 22:00.8, Nataly Vigil 126th in 22:26.1, Monique Hurtado 138th in 22:45.9, Angelica Herrera 139th in 22:47.9, Alexandra Martinez 154th in 23:18.4, Liliana Montesano 162nd in 23:32.1, Diana Santa Rosa 198th in 24:54.7, and Alexa Martinez 219th in 28:34.3. In team scoring, the girls finished in 19th place out of 28 complete teams.

Next to line up was the Varsity Boys in a competitive race of 264 athletes. This race provided a lot of excitement for the Fillmore fans, athletes, and coaching staff. Fillmore was led by senior Michael Camilo Torres who went to the front and led most of the race before finishing in second place. His time was an excellent early season mark of 14:57.3. Let me put this in perspective for you, Camilo finished in 7th place overall when combining all Divisions 1 through 4, this was a total of 1,684 athletes. Yes, that is a thousand, five hundred plus. Wow! In second place, second year runner Josh Estrada finished in 96th place in 17:38.14, followed by Kobe Lizarraga 112th in 17:55.5, Nicholas Hurtado 144th in 18:26.5, Angel Garcia 161st in 18:45.9, and Angel Laureano 212th in 20:01.9.

The Flashes will next compete at Lake Casitas in the Ojai Invitational on Saturday, September 11th at 8:55 AM.

Courtesy Coach Alyssa Bennett Lhotka

Fillmore High School girls volleyball lost to Pacifica High school on 8/24 1 set to 3, with scores of 22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 18-25. Players of the game were Aliya Baez with 6 aces, 13 digs, and 7 kills, Yazmeen Gonzalez with 7 aces and 10 kills, and Nathalia Magana with 5 aces and 22 assists.

Fillmore defeated Channel Islands on 8/26 in 3 sets, 25-12, 25-12, 25-6. Players of the game were Nathalia Magana with 4 aces, 2 kills and 15 assists.

Fillmore Varsity girls competed in the Providence Tournament in Santa Barbara on 8/28 winning the Bronze Division. The scores were respectively, Capistrano Valley Loss 0-2 (8-25, 12-25) Trinity Pacific Loss 0-2 (15-25, 23-25) Providence Win (25-9, 25-8) Holy Martyrs Win 2-1 (21-25, 25-20, 16-14). Standout players were Emma Myers with great serving and hitting and Nathalia Magana at Libero with excellent defense.

Fillmore defeated Vasquez on 8/30 with a Win of 3 sets to 1. 18-25, 25-9, 25-11, 25-13. Players of the game were Miranda Magana with 21 assists and Gaby Herrera with 10 kills and 2 aces.

Azaria Aguilar (above) a Fillmore Middle School student who plays for the Athletics Mercado Godoy (AMG) Softball Team, competed and won the 2021 Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) Platinum National Championships.

The Athletics Mercado Godoy (AMG), a 12 and under girls travel softball team based out of Ventura County, welcomed Fillmore’s Azaria Aguilar, 12, to the Platinum National Championships! She is a 7th grade student at Fillmore Middle School. The team won the 2021 Premier Girls Fastpitch (PGF) Platinum National Championships in Irvine. PGF is the largest and highly competitive travel ball National Tournament with teams qualifying throughout the country. AMG qualified for the tournament in May after winning a berth in a national qualifier event in Salinas, CA.

Azaria began her softball adventure at the young age of seven playing for Fillmore Girls’ Softball, where she displayed exceptional skills and was named to the league’s All-Star team. The following year she would move on to Ventura Girls Fastpitch before making the move to travel ball. She played with a few teams before finding much success with her current team, AMG, which is based out of Ventura County.

In the Championship Game AMG played Team Hustle based out of Arizona. Rachel Godoy toed the rubber and threw a shutout to lead AMG past Team Hustle 9-0 on Saturday, August 7th. AMG secured the victory thanks to five runs in the
fourth inning. AMG batters contributing to the big inning included Natalie, Savannah and Honesty, all knocking in runs in the inning. AMG fired up the offense in the first inning, when Maya homered on a 1-2 count, scoring three runs.

Azaria, better known to her teammates as “Big Red” for her beautiful red hair, proudly wears No. 3. She plays right field, first base, and is a pitcher. She is the oldest child of Joseph and Katie Aguilar. Big Red’s first official year has brought much success batting .403 which includes 37 RBIs and 45 runs. She is described as a quiet but fierce competitor who loves the game and her softball sisters. Azaria hopes to one day follow her family’s legacy as a Fillmore Flash. Congratulations to the AMG team assembled in February 2021 by Manager Carlo Godoy and Coaches Jared Schotten, Gilbert Lorona, Veronica Garcia and Phillip Hurtado. The players include: #3 Azaria Aguilar, #5 Rachel Godoy, #7 Kayla Lorona, #9 Leanna Medina, #10 Zoie Mirano, #11 Lexie Villegas, #12 Alisha Covarrubias, #13
Delilah Navarro, #23 Shyanne Saxton, #24 Natalie Pacheco, #30 Leilah Burboa, #37 Honesty Romero, #70 London
Lefler, #77 Maci Schotten, #32 Madeline Garcia, #73 Savannah Gonzalez, and #88 Maya Mathies.

Courtesy Kim Tafoya, FHS Cross Country Coach

After a year off, the Fillmore High School Cross Country team resumed their annual Mammoth Training Camp. This summer marked the 13th year for the Flashes summer camp. We were proud to be able to support twelve athletes in Mammoth this year. The athletes participating in the summer camp included seniors Michael Camilo Torres, Alianna Tapia, and Angelica Herrera. The juniors included Monique Hurtado, Liliana Montejano, Nick Hurtado, and Andrea Laureano. The sophomores included Alexandra Martinez, Angel Laureano, Angel Garcia, and Kobe Lizarraga. Our solo freshman included Niza Laureano. We would like to thank all involved with helping to procure this trip. We would like to thank Coach Epi Torres for his time and volunteering. We would also like to thank Nova Sports and Fillmore Rotary for their support, and the donations they have made to help in supporting our student athletes. Finally, thank you to the parents for supporting the athletes as they train and prepare for the upcoming season. Go Flashes!

Courtesy Cindy Blatt

FHS Swim Team has strong showing at Citrus Coast League Swimming Championships on May 20, 2021.

JV Girls scored 57 points for a second place finish. Anahi Hernandez won the 100 yd. Individual Medley and was second in the 50 yd. Breaststroke. All JV girls scored points for the team in individual and relay events. The 200 yd. Medley Relay placed second and included Gabi Herrera, Anahi Hernandez, Emma Myers & Guadalupe Heredia. Daniela Bolanos joined Hernandez, Myers and Herrera for a second place finish in the 200 yd. Freestyle relay.

Varsity Girls placed 5th in League scoring. Yazmeen Gonzalez placed 4th in the 200 yd. Freestyle and 3rd in the 100 yd. Breaststroke. Mayra Caldera placed 7th in the 200 yd. Freestyle in a personal best and CIF Consideration time. She also placed 3rd in the 500 yd. Freestyle. Zoe Avila placed 6th in the 50 yd. Freestyle and Carmen Orozco placed 8th. Carmen also placed 8th in the 100 yd. Freestyle. Varsity girls placed 4th in the 200 yd. Freestyle Relay and placed 3rd in the 400 yd. Freestyle Relay in a CIF Consideration time.

Varsity Boys placed 4th in League scoring. Eduardo Rodriguez placed 5th in the 50 yd. Freestyle and Omar Aguilar placed 11th. Eduardo also placed 5th in the 100 yd. Freestyle. Tyler Gray placed 11th in the 100 yd. Freestyle and 5th in the 100 yd. Breaststroke.

Yazmeen Gonzalez qualified for the CIF-SS Div. 4 Swimming Championships held on May 29th at Santa Margarita Catholic High School. She qualified 15th in the 100 yd. Breaststroke. She had an excellent swim and dropped three seconds to move up to 12th place in a time of 1:17.33.

The Lady Flashes Basketball Seniors who will be graduating this year. (l-r) (top) Emma Ocegueda, Ebony Venegas, Zoie Isom, and Jasmine Zavala, (bottom) Amani Hooker and Alyssa Ocegueda.
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Courtesy Kim Tafoya

The Lady Flashes competed in the CIF SS Division 4 playoffs this past Saturday, May 29th in Santa Ana at Saddleback High School. Senior Ebony Venegas made her 4th CIF Championship and led the Flashes with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Emma Ocegueda and Alyssa Ocegueda both scored 11 points. The Lady Flashes battled in the first half where Fillmore was down by two points. The final score was Fillmore 45 and Saddleback 55. Congratulations Lady Flashes on a great season. We wish our Seniors the best in the futures they have ahead. Go Flashes!

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Local Fillmore Youth Brazilian Jiujitsu practitioners competed at the Gracie Humaita Jiujitsu Tournament on Saturday, May 19th. The group of local athletes train at Perce's Kenpo Karate studio and are coaches by Black Belt Michael Torres. Results are as follows: Emma Torres - 1st place in Youth Girls; Audrina Alba 3rd place in Youth Girls: Cristian Martinez - 3rd place in Youth Boys and Danny Martinez - 4th place in Youth Boys. For more information on youth & adult classes please call or text: 805-443-8501.