Panthers compete at invite

The Corcoran High Panther Cross Country team had some fun last Thursday at the annual Rich Parris Twilight Invitational, which was held in Madera. The race is named after popular coach, Rich Parris who has won numerous Cross Country Valley titles. In the past, Coach Parris has visited Corcoran to give a motivational speech at the XC banquet.
The race is unique in that it is 3,000 meters instead of the traditional 2 and 3-mile distances. It is usually hosted at the end of the season to display everyone’s speed. It is a very fast course, which circulates around the Madera South campus.
The Frosh girls started out the night race with Malerie Price earning the first medal of the evening. Only the Top 10 runners get a medal. Malerie took eighth place with a 12:53. The frosh boys didn’t earn any medals but still had a few standout performances. Juan Garcia was followed by teammate Eddy Ramirez and both earned times of 11:04 and 11:07, respectively.
The JV boys won their first race of the season, with five athletes coming in very close to each other with four earning a medal. Jair Garcia was in second place for the whole race where he outkicked Clovis West to take the individual win. Taking 5th, 6th and 7th  respectively were Eli Mendez (10:13), Leo Villasenor (10:13) and Isaiah Madrid (10:14). Jesse Andrade rounded out the team, which beat out host Madera South.
The Varsity girls were able to stay competitive with four girls having great races. Gabriella Avila won the only medal for the girls, outkicking five girls at the very end to earn the last medal spot, taking 10th place in a very tough field. The Girls Varsity team took 4th place. Paulina Guerrero and Brandi Valdez worked together the whole race, finishing with times of 11:27 and 11:28. Arlene Magana wasn’t too far behind running the course in a time of 11:37.
The Varsity boys had a big showdown with Clovis West and Madera South present. It was a very competitive race throughout and came down to .01 of a second. The Panthers lost second place by .01 to Madera South. Corcoran and Madera South were tied with five runners in and lost by the tiny margin when the scores went to the sixth runner. The three teams have alternated back and forth, beating each other a number of times, said Coach Isaias Ramirez. Joe Manuel Gomez added to the medal count, taking 3rd place, only four seconds behind the winner. Marcos Ramirez was the last to earn a medal for the night taking fourth with a time of 9:18. Coming in back to back were Joseph Price (9:32), Paul Quintanilla (9:33), and Vicente Rojas (9:34).