Sierra finished second to Oakdale in both the boys and the girls races on Wednesday in the first Valley Oak League cluster meet on the 3.1-mile course at Mistlin Sports Complex.
Manteca’s Oscar Angel won the boys meet in 16 minutes, 13.6 seconds.
“We all knew what we were going to do out there,” Angel said. “I worked my butt off all summer long. I didn’t do cross country my freshman year, and now I’m a senior and I have been playing catch up ever my whole high-school career and I am up there with the leaders now.
“I think I can be one of the best in California.”
Eighteen seconds behind Angel in second place was Sierra’s Christian Gonzalez (16:21.2).
“It was a nice pack run,” Gonzalez said. “It was tough to keep up with that demon Oscar (Angel). He’s really good.”
Other top Timberwolves finishers were Ernesto Pacheco Jr. (seventh, 17.03.0), Anthony Bueno (13th, 17:48.8) and Rishabh Gopal (21st, 18:33.6). East Union’s Alejandro Mata was 18th (18.10.7) and Manteca’s Victor Espinoza was 23rd (18:34.1).
The Oakdale’s boys were first with 32 points followed by Sierra (67 points), Patterson (106) and Central Catholic (107).
Timberwolves freshman Anna Dittman finished second (20:16.5) to an outstanding performance by Patterson’s Natalie Arriaza (19:25.0).
“The race felt good, but tiring,” Dittman said. “I like this course for the most part.”
Sierra’s Serena Dittman was 10th (21:33.0) followed by teammates Monse Saavedra (11th, 21:36.4), Haley Hill (14th, 22:13.5) and Ashlyn Springer (16th, 22:45.3).
Jordyn Hegarty was Manteca’s lone competitor and finished 13th (22:08.2).
“I feel like I could have done a little better,” Hegarty said. “It’s all on grass, and I don’t like running on grass. It’s a little tougher because of all the pot holes and I feel like the grass kind of stops my momentum.
“It’s hard to pace myself when I don’t have a teammate out there. Sienna Jones graduated last year, and I miss having her out there, because she was always right next to me or ahead of me and I had someone to chase after.”
Oakdale totaled 34 points in its first place finish followed by Sierra (53), Patterson (81), Central Catholic (95) and Mountain House (112).
Sierra won the boys 2-mile junior varsity meet at 28 points with six runners in the first nine: Mirwais Fazli (second, 12:32.9), Caleb Narayan (fifth, 13:16.3), Ruben Meza-Mendez (sixth, 13:24.9), Mantoj Grewal (seventh, 13:29.2), Ryan West (eighth, 13:31.4) and David Bauer (ninth, 13:33.4).
In the 2-mile frosh/soph boys, Sierra’s Max Perez was fifth (12:15.7) and teammate Mateo Cervantez finished ninth (12:42.5).
Manteca’s Paisley Coenenberg won the girls 2-mile frosh/soph girls (14.07.7). East Union’s Alysia Sinclair was second (14:52.2), Sierra’s Alyssa Rodriguez was third (15:03.0) and Timberwolves teammate Julie Gaines was sixth (16:50.7).
