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Strong Effort For Escalon Runners At Multi-State Meet
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Representing Escalon at the recent Mt. SAC Invitational were cross country runners, back row from left, Megan Fahey, Nate Millard, Destiny Reyes, Joshua Churchill, Andrew Morales, Marcos Grajeda, Lauren Rodriguez, Jose Calderon, and Daniel Bagadiong. Front row from left, Hannah Wampler, Kathy Romero, Charlotte Shaddix. Photo Contributed

A dozen Escalon High School cross country runners traveled recently to compete in the Mt. SAC Invite in Walnut, California. This invite brought in over 650 schools from the western US to compete on the famous 3-mile course over two days, Oct. 21 and 22. There are multiple races for each division and level of competition.

“This meet is an opportunity for some of our top runners to get a mark on a very challenging course recognized by college coaches. In addition, they have to earn the chance to go by hitting a qualifying time on a 3-mile or 5k course during the season,” said head coach Michael Bower.

Varsity girls placed ninth in their D4 race of 26 schools. Sophomore Kathy Romero ran 22:58, sophomore Lauren Rodriguez ran 23:33, senior Megan Fahey 24:10 (10-second course PR), sophomore Charlotte Shaddix ran 25:43, junior Hannah Wampler 25:59, and junior Destiny Reyes ran 27:00.

Varsity boys finished 15th out of the 30 schools in their very fast D4 race. Junior Andrew Morales finished in 19:06 (32-second course PR), sophomore Daniel Bagadiong in 19:27, sophomore Nate Millard in 19:45, junior Jose Calderon in 20:00, senior Joshua Churchill in 20:54 (22-second course PR), and junior Marcos Grajeda in 20:59.

“Last year we only had four runners qualify, so to be able to take 12 runners and a scoring team of boys and girls was really special,” noted Bower. “There is something about getting to just see the scale of the running community ... over 12,000 runners over the two days and even the boys race had a kid finish in the 15:30s.”

The coach said it was a good experience for all the Cougars that took part.

“I’m super proud of how they performed. It was great to watch the few returners understand the routine and have a better idea of how to handle themselves and then the brand new ones got a taste of the adventure,” Bower explained. “This trip is both a motivation for and celebration of the hard work these runners have put in. And for the most part, both of our varsity teams are on the younger side, so it will be cool to see what we can build on for next year.”

Next up, the team has league finals at River Bluff Regional Park in Ceres, JV girls race at 3 p.m.; JV boys at 3:30 p.m.; Varsity girls at 4 p.m.; and Varsity boys at 4:30 p.m.

Following the races, there will be a ceremony to recognize league winners and seniors.