ROSEVILLE, Calif. – The No. 4-ranked St. Francis cross country team had an impressive opening meet Saturday, sweeping the three titles at the Oakmont Invitational. It was the third consecutive title at the Oakmont for the varsity team.
"It was a really good start," said Head Coach Aaron Rios. "It is a really great feeling to see the girls who work really hard during the week come out and accomplish their goals and sweep a meet."
The Troubadours posted a team score of 22 points with four in the top five and five in the top 10 in the first race of the season. Senior Isabella Fauria was second overall in 13:55 with sophomore Cate Joaquin right behind in third overall (13:56) over the 4-kilometer course. Sophomore Tatiana Cornejo crossed fourth in 14:16 and Haley Silva was fifth in 14:22.
"Like all races we try to stick together and run as a pack," said Fauria. "We did a good job with that today."
Junior Hanna Hekkanen placed fifth in 15:02 and senior Grace Harrison was 26th overall in 15:55.
In the Junior Varsity race, senior Emma Hollenbach posted a 52 second win with a time of 16:07 as SF placed the top four in the meet, posting a perfect 15 team score.
"It was my first race back since mid-April and I just wanted to go and have fun," said Hollenbach. "I knew I wanted to be in the front of the pack and I just set a mentality it was a race between me and the (lead) bike."
Senior Nicole McBride was second in 16:59 with classmates Audrey Reyes (17:02) and Elizabeth Cole (17:08) finishing third and fourth, respectively. Junior Lily O'Gara was the fifth finisher in seventh overall (18:01).
"The win will be great for her confidence especially for her trying to compete for a varsity spot," said Rios. "She put together a great race and she will be moving up in the coming weeks."
With a roster of 84 runners, the Troubadours were a sea of gold over the Maidu Park layout especially in the Frosh/Soph race. The team got top-10 finishes by freshmen Daphne Witherell (5th, 15:28) and Simone DeBerry (7th, 15:35) and sophomore Claire Silva (10th, 15:47).
"Daphne is a special talent and she is hard-working and committed," said Rios. "She is doing everything she can do to be ready for moments like this and I was happy she seized that today."
St. Francis, ranked fourth by MileSplitCA website, will be off this week to train before taking the line again on Sept. 14 at the Josh Ruff Memorial.
"I think this race really makes us confident for the rest of the season," said Joaquin. "We try to build of this and work harder to get our times down."
