It was the meet that almost didn’t happen, said Corcoran High School cross country coach Isaias Ramirez.
“All coaches were constantly checking the air quality just to ensure the safety of the runners,” Ramirez added. “All races were able to continue.”
The Kingsburg Invitational was held Saturday and the day began with Freshman Eliseo Mendez. He improved his 2-mile time from three weeks ago by a minute. Mendez finished the race with a time of 11:27 which was good enough to earn him a medal.
Christian Gonzalez (10:41) and Cesar Angulo (10:45) looked really strong during the sophomore race. Christian’s hard work during the summer is paying off for him, Ramirez noted. He earned a spot on the varsity team and has medaled in all his races. Cesar has also made a splash this year, going from a Tennis only player to trying out for the Cross Country and making the varsity team.
“He is impressing the coaching staff and the great thing is he is still learning how to race,” commented Coach Ramirez.
Kayla Gutierrez has been a solid runner since coming back from Big Bear. She has also medaled in all her races this year. She ran 13:37 and placed 16 out of 74 runners.
“Kayla joined our team last year midway through the season as a transfer from Lemoore High School. She struggled last year but this year she has her sights on helping the team reach the state championship,” Coach said.
Arnoldo Villañueva (10:41) and Aldo Garcia (11:17) medaled during the junior race. Jonathan Matson (9:52) finished second in the senior race and fellow senior Pedro Perez finished eighth with a time of 10:18.
Dulce Beas ran a personal best at Kingsburg with a time of 12:51. Roxana Lule was the surprise of the day.
She ran with a lot of heart today,” noted Ramirez.
Her time of 12:34 earned her the Runner of the Week for Corcoran High School.
“I’m incredible happy to have been awarded Runner of the Week because I have been waiting for almost three years for this,” said Roxana. “Every time I wanted to give up I reminded myself to keep going and not quit, which brings me back to that quote by Muhammad Ali, ‘I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’”
Lule is currently receiving interest from Concordia University and LaVerne University, added Coach Ramirez.
Corcoran competed in their first East Sequoia League mini meet yesterday (Wednesday) however details were not available at press time. They will be in Bakersfield Saturday for the Wolf Pack Invite.
The Corcoran varsity boys’ team is ranked 14th overall in Central California and third in Div. III behind North Bakersfield and Dinuba. The varsity girls’ team is ranked second in Div. IV behind Central Valley Christian.
