This past week, Fillmore's Cross Country split squads traveled and competed in the Ventura County Twilight Meet at Lake Casitas in Ojai and the Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Ventura County Twilight group competed on Wednesday and the second group competed on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Fillmore athletes competed on a short course of 1.85 miles or a 3 mile race in their respective gender race. The first race was the boys 1.85 mile run. Fillmore did not field a complete team in this race. Juan Ramirez led the Flashes by placing 38th in 11:01.8, followed by Juan Carlos Laureano 51st in 11:20.4, Jesus Cadena 158th in 13:00.9, and Samuel Kafka 201st in 13:30.8.

In the girls 1.85 mile the team was led by Jackie Chavez who finished in 21st place in 13:11.2. She was followed by newcomer Ebony Venegas 40th in 13:46.1, Allison Recancoj 57th in 14:23.1, Marisol Ramos 187th in 17:02.8 and Emma Ortiz 207th in 17:48.5. Jackie Chavez was the lone medal winner and the girls finished in 9th place as a scoring team.

Joseph Magdelano led the boys over the 3 mile course finishing in 108th place in 20:09.4, he was followed by Erik Hernandez 123rd in 20:27.1, Andrew Otineru 128th in 20:31.4, David Bustos 160th in 21:06.1, Luis Leon 180th in 21:51.4, Erick Gutierrez 184th in 21:53.2, Gustavo Valdez 188th in 22:01.6, and Daniel Cruz 208th in 22:45.4. In the team competition, the Flashes placed 13th.

In the final 3 mile race Arielle Estrada led the Lady Flashes to a 9th place team finish. She finished in 42nd place in a time of 23:31.2, and was followed by Emma Orozco 47th in 23:54.1, Jacqueline Ruiz 56th in 24:15.6, Lorena Izarraras 57th in 24:16.2, Michelle Reyes 66th in 24:42.6, Liliana Felix 113th in 27:28.9, and Eva Vieyra 130th in 29:30.5.

At the Clovis Invitational, Fillmore fielded 3 teams. The races were run over a mostly dirt 5000 meter course, with several major hills.

The Varsity girls had the early race and were led by front running Carissa Rodriguez who improved her time placing 10th in a time of 19:02.3. She was followed by Diana Perez 24th in 19:25.7, Vanessa Avila 36th in 19:53.5, Giselle Perez 72nd in 20:45.3, Anahi Pascual 78th in 20:53.2, Nicole Gonzalez 92nd in 21:14.7, and Cecilia Cisneros 145th in 22:47.3. Both Carissa and Diana were medal winners. In the team competition the team placed a creditable 5th. Two hundred and seven girls competed in this race.

The second race for Fillmore featured the Varsity boys. There were 217 competitors in this race. The Flashes were led by Michael Sanchez who worked his way up to 21st passing 10 competitors in the last mile and finishing in a course best time of 16:35.4. He was followed by Everardo Magana Garcia 44th in 17:00.7, Johnathan Ordaz 67th in 17:25.7, Sergio Perez 78th in 17:33.8, Juan Ramirez 128th in 18:24.4, and Antonio Villalobos 185th in 19:52.5. Michael Sanchez was the lone medal winner in this race. The boys placed 10th in the team competition.

The final race of the day for the Flashes saw a strong group of 132 Frosh-Soph athletes toe the line in the Boys Division 3-4 race. Quick improving Freshman, Jesse De La Cruz ran to a fine 9th place finish in this very competitive race. He posted a time of 17:46.8 and was Fillmore’s top finisher on the day. He was followed by Fabian Del Villar 23rd in 18:16.3, Davis Flores 44th in 18:51.3, Juan Carlos Laureano 52nd in 19:10.7, Jesse Martinez 55th in 19:13.3, Matthew Munoz 64th in 19:40, and Rey Laureano 70th in 19:51.3. Jesse De La Cruz and Fabian were medal winners, and the team finished in 5th.

The Flashes will next compete at the second of three TCAA meets to determine league standings and which Varsity teams will represent our league at the Division 4, SS CIF Prelim Meet. This meet will be held on Wednesday, October 12th at Elkins Golf Course in Fillmore with the first race commencing at 4 P.M.