On Saturday, Fillmore Cross Country Athletes competed on the Lake Casitas 3 Mile Cross Country course over a challenging terrain that tested all runners’ ability to run well over a hilly course. The meet brought together many of the top teams competing for bragging rights and the title of Ventura County Cross Country Champions. The Flashes competed in all the races, fielded 5 complete teams and two races with only 4 individuals.

Four Fillmore Athletes competed in the first race of the day, the Frosh Boys. Leading the way was Camilo Torres in his first race of the season after suffering through a lower leg injury. Camilo finished in a creditable 6th place overall and first in the Small School Division in a time of 18:09.9. James Flores followed in 35th, posting a time of 19:58, Eneyin Ortega 80th in 22:47, and Alotl Aparicio 99th in 22:57.

The Frosh Sophomore Girls followed and in the team competition finished in 15th place. Fillmore’s top runner was Isabella De La Cruz who finished in 44th in a time of 22:33.3. She was followed by Angelica Herrera 67th in 23:56.2, Jasmine Vega 90th in 27:02.1, Emma Ortiz 95th in 27:21.9 and Isabel De La Cruz 100th in 28:03.6.

The Varsity Girls fielded a complete team and captured the team championship in this race. They were led by Carissa Rodriguez who finished in 6th place running a personal best on this course of 18:48.3. She was followed by Diana Perez 16th in 19:32, Nicole Gonzalez 21st in 19:57.1, Vanessa Avila 26th in 20:12.8, and Andrea Marruffo 50th in 21:08.4. All of the girls on this team earned individual medal, team t-shirts, and a team plaque.

The Varsity Boys also ran well and finished in 7th place in the team competition. Nick Villela led Fillmore runners finishing in 24th place in a time of 16:22.5. Rey Laureano followed in 36th in 16:38.9, Fabian Del Villar 38th in 16:40.9, Erick Gutierrez 58th in 17:03, Jesus Martinez 60th in 17:07.7, Davis Flores 71st in 17:28.1, and Alex Manzo 80th in 17:46.5. The top 5 Fillmore athletes were awarded individual medals in this race.

The Sophomore Boy ran 4 individuals. They were led by Matthew Munoz who finished in 9th place and posted an excellent time of 17:53.2. Jesse De La Cruz returned to competition after rehabbing a hamstring injury and finished in 22nd in 18:21.4. He was followed by Andres Gonzalez 80th in 21:23.8, and Anthony Estrella (Time and place not available). The first two athletes in this race earned individual championship medals.

The JV Girls were led by Emma Orozco who captured 48th place in 24:27.4 and teammate Maribel Mejia followed in 125th place in a time of 28:21.3.

The JV Boy ran to a 6th place team finish. The top runner for this group was Jesus Cadena who finished in 18th place in a time of 17:51.2. He was followed by Juan Carlos Laureano 27th in 18:14.3, Alexander Recancoj 34th in 18:29.4, Andrew Otineru 41st in 18:42.2, Jorge Acevedo 54th in 19:21, Luis Leon 83rd in 20:45.5, Daniel Cruz 88th in 20:56.4, and Anthony Gonzalez 123rd in 23:49.2. The top 3 Fillmore runners were individual medal winners.

The team wills next travel to the much heralded Mt. SAC Invitational, the largest meet in the nation. They will compete on Friday the 19th against some of the best teams in the nation on a very challenging course.

Submitted by Coach Sean Miller.
Even though the game was cut short due to lightning, the Fillmore Flashes football team got their second league win, 21-0 vs. Santa Clara High School, to improve their overall record to 5-3. Junior safety Paget Ekelund had an interception returned for a touchdown on defense and 2 catches on offense. Junior defensive lineman John Roberts forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to give the Flashes the ball on the Santa Clara 30 yard line. Senior quarterback Jake Saviers threw for just over 100 yards on 9 of 14 passing and 1 touchdown to junior receiver Josh Lagunas. Next week the Flashes will host long time rival Santa Paula on October 19th at 7:30pm.

Following are SoCal Fillmore Bears game results for Saturday, October 6th: SoCal Fillmore Bears Gremlins (away game) vs. South Valley Raiders 20-16, Bears. SoCal Fillmore Bears Pee Wee (away game) vs. Ventura Packers White, 6-0, Packers. SoCal Fillmore Bears Bantams (away game) vs. South Valley Raiders, 43-14, Bears. SoCal Fillmore Bears Juniors (away game) vs. Camarillo Roadrunners, No score reported. SoCal Fillmore Bears Seniors (away game) vs. Agoura Chargers 20-7, Chargers.
This Saturday’s games will October 13th: SoCal Fillmore Bears Gremlins have a bye week. SoCal Fillmore Bears Pee Wee have a bye week. SoCal Fillmore Bears Bantams have a bye week. SoCal Fillmore Bears Juniors have a bye week. SoCal Fillmore Bears Seniors have a bye week.

Below are the Fillmore Raiders game results for Saturday, September 29th: Raiders Mighty Mites Black (away game) vs. San Fernando Rush 20-0, Ruch. Raiders Mighty Mites Silver (away game) vs. Santa Barbara 20-8, Santa Brabara. Raiders Bantams (away game) vs. Santa Barbara 32-6, Raiders. Raiders Sophomores (away game) vs. Carpinteria 12-8, Raiders. Raiders Juniors had a bye week. Raiders Seniors had a bye week.

This week’s games will be October 6th: Raiders Might Mites Black vs. Simi Valley Bulldogs 10am at Fillmore High School. Raiders Mighty Mites Silver vs. Grace Brethren Black 8am at Fillmore High School. Raiders Bantams have a bye week. Raiders Sophomores vs. have a bye week. Raiders Juniors vs. San Fernando Rush 12pm at Fillmore High School. Raiders Seniors vs. Ventura 2pm at Fillmore High School.

Submitted by Coach Lindsey Cota

9/26/18 - Fillmore vs. Nordhoff; Score: 10 - 1 Nordhoff

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9/27/18 - Fillmore vs. Villanova; Score: 26 - 0 Villanova

Although the scores may not reflect it, our boys are improving and made some improvements from the first game to the second this week. Every team we've played has brought a different strength to the table, so every game so far has been a major learning opportunity for our players.

The biggest issue our kids face is probably conditioning. This is a fairly new program for our high school and we really struggle with recruiting our male students to come out and give the sport a shot. Not being able to have that depth on the bench kills us every single game. Imagine running a football program with little more than the 11 players required on the field. There are no breaks in each quarter and play is continuous, so with very few subs to give our players the breaks they so need, it becomes difficult for them to keep up with teams that are able to field every required position two or even three times over. I've definitely seen improvement from year to year, but next year I'd like for our kids to come out of the gate with a serious fighting chance so we're going to have to hit both the conditioning and recruiting hard.

For the rest of this season we're going to have to find a way to be confident enough in our actions on the field to play aggressively and commit to our choices even if that means making mistakes. Although, like every other coach, I'd obviously prefer that they occur during practices and not during games, as long as we can learn from them and not repeat them, I'm all for the mistakes. It comes with the territory of a new program and provides us with learning opportunities to build off of. I'm looking forward to watching these boys improve through the rest of this season and particularly, the fact that we get to see all of these teams again. That'll be a great way for us to be able to markedly see the improvements we've made as a team and individually this season.

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Submitted by FHS Tennis Coach Lolita Bowman

Fillmore high school girls tennis traveled to Nordoff high school on September 25. The final score was Fillmore 1, Nordoff 17. Two days later, we traveled to Santa Paula high school where the final score was Fillmore 3, Santa Paula 15. With my humble and young tennis team of three years, I have learned that it is not about the end result, but the times in between. The smiles that I see when new tennis players like Valerie Esparza and Stephanie Garcia hit a great shot, or when they ace their opponent is fulfilling for me as a coach. Frustration is also great to witness as they care about playing better against their opponents. Playing well is what I witness on the courts, and I am happy to teach them a lifelong sport as my friends and I enjoy to this day. This week we play Hueneme high school, ending our first round of play with schools in our league. We will be playing against the same schools for the second time in the weeks to come. I share this famous quote by the late Arthur Ashe as I shared with my players, “You are never really playing an opponent, you are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits that are real joy.”