Fillmore Cross Country League Teams Meet
Lady Flashes at The Nike Portland Invitational. (l-r) Jackie Chavez, Erika Ruiz, Lupita Perez, Kimberly Vazquez and Carissa Rodriguez.
Lady Flashes at The Nike Portland Invitational. (l-r) Jackie Chavez, Erika Ruiz, Lupita Perez, Kimberly Vazquez and Carissa Rodriguez.
The Boys Varsity finished in third place behind Foothill Technology and Thatcher. Leading the Flashes for the first time this season was Jose Rodriguez 8th in 16:41.53.
The Boys Varsity finished in third place behind Foothill Technology and Thatcher. Leading the Flashes for the first time this season was Jose Rodriguez 8th in 16:41.53.

On Thursday the Fillmore Cross Country teams competed in the 1st of 3 league meets. This meet was held at El Camino Real Park in Ventura and was co-hosted by Foothill Technology High School and Saint Bonaventure High School. A total of 13 schools competed in this 4 division meet that will be used to determine league standings and who will represent the TCAA at CIF post season competition.

The first race of the day JV Boys was dominated by Foothill Technology with a perfect score of 15 points. Fillmore was second with 64 points. Leading the Flashes was first year runner Juan Ramirez 9th in18:21.75, followed by Josue Baez 13th in 18:39.1, Jesus Castro in 22nd in 19:03.99, Sergio Perez 25th in 19:28.04, Nick Villela 28th in 19:34.71, Roberto Magana 30th in 19:38.51, Steven Valencia 33rd in 19:47.97, Christian Andrade 34th in 19:48.34, Everardo G. Magana 35th in 19:48.80, Mario Hurtado 44th in 20:12.85, Gustavo Valdez 47th in 20:13.79, Jorge Acevedo 66th in 21:03.84, Louie Rodriguez 81st in 21:58.07, Misael Ponce 83rd in 22:01.06, Jaime Malagon 94th in 22:29.81, Andrew Hernandez 100th, Daniel Cruz 106th in 23:49.24, Antonio Villalobos 110th in 24:38.06, and Luis Leon 116th in 25:18.68.

The second race of the day featured the girls' Varsity team. Leading the team to a second place team finish was Sophomore Carissa Rodriguez who finished second over all in a time of 19:01.58, followed by teammate Lupita Perez 3rd in 19:11.66. A cluster of Fillmore girls finished next with Irma Torres 18th in 20:52.67, Erika Ruiz 19th in 20:55.51, Kimberly Vazquez 20th in 20:56.11, Andrea Marruffo 21st in 21:03.29, and Julissa Martinez 28th in 21:30.18.

The boys Varsity finished in third place behind Foothill Technology and Thatcher. Leading the Flashes for the first time this season was Jose Rodriguez 8th in 16:41.53, followed by Michael Sanchez 10th in 16:51.05, Johnny Martinez 12th in 15:56.03, Curtis Ponce 20th in 17:29.43, Adrian Orozco 26th in 17:48.91, Jonathan Ordaz 29th in 17:56.26, and John Chavez 34th in 18:12.94.

In the final race of the day the girls JV team finished in second. They were led by Jacqueline Chavez in 3rd place in a time of 20:50.08. She was followed by Susie Garcia 8th in 21:45.45, Lauren Magdaleno 15th in 22:38.10, Cecilia Cisneros 17th in 22:46.93, Emma Orozco 19th in 22:53.85, Marisol Martinez 20th in 23:12.83, Maria Rubalcava 24th in 23:26.76, Brianna Lopez 26th in 23:39.33, Cynthia Alvarado 28th in 23:46.19, Allison Recancoj 33rd in 24:06.20, Yakeline Magana 49th in 25:45.22, and Adanari Rosales 74th in 28:19.89.

Personal best times for the season were run by Jackie Chavez, Daniel Cruz, Cynthia Hurtado, Mario Hurtado, Luis Leon, Everardo Garcia Magana, Lauren Magdaleno, Juan Ramirez, Allison Recancoj, Louie Rodriguez, and Antonio Villa. Special recognition goes to Misael Ponce and Steven Valencia who ran their fastest time ever.

Five members of the girls team and two members of the boys team followed their league performances by competing out of state at the highly competitive Nike Portland Oregon Pre-National Meet on Saturday.

The girls team ran well enough to claim a podium spot and win a 5th place team plaque and individual medals. Leading the girls to this fine team performance was Senior Lupita Perez who led the race into the final 100 meter before finishing in second overall in the Division 2 race in a time of 19::04.48. Not to be outdone, Freshman teammate Carissa Rodriguez finished 4th in 19:18.78, followed by Kimberly Vazquez 40th in 21:19.63, Jacqueline Chavez 43rd in 21:21.22, and Erika Ruiz 45th in 21:26.26.

The two boy representatives also earned medals. Jose Rodriguez was the top runner for the Flashes finishing in 29th place in a time of 17:07.8 and Michael Sanchez 35th in 17:23.75.

The team also enjoyed a tour of the Nike World Campus, a coaches presentation by Coach Rob Conner at the University of Portland, a trip to Multnomah Falls and the Columbia Gorge, and a 7 mile run on the hilly Leif Erickson Trail.

The next competition for the Flashes will be a split squad competition with some athletes competing on October 7th in the Ventura County Twilight Invite at Lake Casitas. Another group will be traveling to the State Cross Country Course in Fresno to compete at the Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park on October 10th. Additional information and highlights can be found at Fillmorecrosscountry.com