TRACY — With one of its top runners recovering from injury, East Union’s boys cross country team managed to put up a fight against Valley Oak League-leading Oakdale during the second Valley Oak League cluster meet Wednesday at Eagal Lakes.
The Lancers lost 25-30 on head-to-head scoring and slipped further behind the Mustangs in the standings but can still claim a share of the title by winning the league finale Oct. 27 in Oakdale.
Cooper Freeman paced East Union with an overall second-place time of 16 minutes, 58.0 seconds. Caleb Cavanaugh was the individual winner in 16:48.8 and one of five Mustangs to finish in the top eight overall.
Evan Cooper (17:41.2) and Maury Ortiz (18:27.7) took fourth and fifth for the Lancers, respectively. Juan Cortez (19:44.1) ended up 10th overall, while Sierra’s Brendan Alson (19:46.6) was 11th.
Manteca sophomore Sienna Jones placed fourth overall in varsity girls, clocking in at 22:05.4. Haleigh Humble won the race in 20:44.0, leading seven Oakdale harriers that placed in the top 10. Linda Medrano (seventh, 23:57.0) and Gisel Velazquez (11th, 26:11.7) competed for East Union.
In frosh-soph boys, Tristan Crowe took first overall in 13:21.7 for first-place Sierra. Brady Alves took third, while Ryan West and James Danley placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Kiana Kutch (15:36.2) of Sierra paced area frosh-soph girls runners and finished second. East Union’s Jarely Ortiz, Manteca’s Jordyn Hegarty and East Union’s Ruth Okeanya followed in 3-4-5.
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL
Central Catholic 3, East Union 0
The visiting Raiders left Dalben Center with a 25-9, 25-20, 25-10 win that keeps them on pace for a least a share of the VOL crown.
Mariela Navarro and Donnese Payne were busy at the net for East Union (1-7, 2-12 overall), as they each finished with seven blocks. Valerie Ochoa contributed four kills and five digs, Bella Israel had three kills and 10 digs, Isabel Ugalino registered five digs and nine aces and Meritiana Luani chipped in nine digs.
Sierra 3, Kimball 0
Rebecca Thomson racked up seven aces and got several hitters involved with 28 assists to lead a 25-13, 27-25, 25-16 win for the Timberwolves (5-2 VOL, 7-4 overall).
Zoe Kossart spearheaded the balanced attack with nine kills. Elise Vaifale followed with seven kills, Amelia Hernandez hammered five and Abigail Chapman and Elaina Threet added four apiece. Jenna Dalen and Karlie Burns led the back row with eight and six digs, respectively.
GIRLS TENNIS
Weston Ranch 6, East Union 3
The host Lancers won the first three singles matches, but the rest belonged to Weston Ranch.
Two three-set matches were the difference for the Cougars. No. 4 singles player Rain Cabutotan came back to defeat Alayna Bottoms, 3-6, 6-3, 10-7. At No. 3 doubles, Aaliyah Hassan and Heidi Araiza squeaked past Samantha Edley and Amaiya Guyton, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8.
Others Weston Ranch winners were No. 5 Nguyet Ngo (6-2, 6-1), No. 6 Guselle Rivera (6-1, 6-2), No. 1 doubles Nathalie Lopez/Lluvia Arevalo (6-4, 7-6) and Manvir Kaur/Ida Farsuno (7-5, 6-3).
Moe Kagiyama (6-3, 7-5), Trinity Pacheco (6-2, 4-6, 12-10) and Celeste Guerrero (6-4, 6-1) were East Union’s winners at the top of the ladder.
BOYS WATER POLO
Ripon 21, Kimball 14
The Indians improved to 3-0 in the VOL with their home win on Tuesday.
Ben Svoboda netted nine goals and three assists. McKeane Beier added five goals, while Donovan Armstrong and Brody Biedermann fired three apiece. Biedermann also had two assists, as did Nathan Selna. Owen Curtiss contributed a goal and an assist. Goalie Benny Rodgers came up with four blocks.
eSPORTS
Notre Dame 2, Sierra 0
The Timberwolves lost both of their games Tuesday in League of Legends.
Team captain Calvin Ragadio led Sierra with the most kills, and Konnor Spears was the assist leader in a 31-7 loss in Game 1. The second game lost 38-10, with Joshua Luong and Ragadio sharing the lead for kills. Ragadio had the most assists, with Luong, Matthew Azevedo and Spears tying for second most.
JV volleyball
Central Catholic 2, East Union 0
Jatziry Garcia and Vanessa Padilla pounded four kills apiece for the Lancers. Giselle Hamilton collected seven digs, and Marcella Carrenza dished out eight assists.
Frosh volleyball
East Union 2, Central Catholic 1
The Lancers came out on top of a 16-25, 25-19, 17-15 comeback thriller.
Jaelynn Ballou paced East Union with six kills, eight service points and two aces. Carolyn Johnson tallied eight serviced points and three aces. Isabella Rodriguez and Laci Lopez led the defense with three digs each.
