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Cougar Cross Country Team Hosts Annual Invitational
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Gabe Romero, left, was the first varsity boy across the finish line for Escalon at the invitational meet hosted by Escalon at Woodward Reservoir on Oct. 10; he was 14th overall.
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Escalon’s varsity girls take off on the start of their run at Woodward Reservoir on Oct. 3, joining in with dozens of other runners from multiple schools.

The Escalon cross country team hosted its annual Cross Country Invitational at Woodward Reservoir on Wednesday, Oct. 3 with several solid performances from Escalon and multiple schools taking part.

“We could not have done it without the help of several past cross country runners,” said head coach Rick Heflin. “A big thank you to those runners that took the time to give back to the team.”

The freshman girls won their race as Belen Luchuga-Soto led the team with an eighth place overall finish in 14:20. The other medal winners were Jill Junqueiro, Ailyn Mendez, Isabel Marcelo, Katheryn Gonzales and Maddy Teague.

The sophomore girls also took top honors with Chloe Hernandez placing fourth in 13:22. Other medalists were Karla Cardova, Samantha Torres, Julia Avila, Rachel Lau, Tess Bedell and Kriseya DeDeon.

Top honors for Escalon in the sophomore boys race went to CJ Borrego, who placed seventh in 10:51. The team placed third overall.

“For varsity boys, Escalon placed fifth and our top runner was Gabe Romero placing 14th in 18:03,” Heflin said. “The top runner for our varsity girls, winning the race in 20:11, was Briana Briones.”

The afternoon meet at Woodward Reservoir featured multiple races, starting off about 3:30 p.m. and continuing until almost 6 p.m.

“We had over 400 athletes running that day and we were able to get it in before the rain and lightning,” Heflin added. “This week is a week to refocus, train hard and run the Bella Vista meet on Saturday.”