ELVERTA, Calif. – Senior Paige Quigley finished 10th overall, while junior Grace Dunham followed in 15th and senior Daphne Witherell in 18th, boosting St. Francis to a second-place total of 88 points in the girls' varsity 5-kilometer race at the Flat SAC Invitational cross country meet at Gibson Ranch Saturday morning. Additionally, senior Remi Vrilakas notched a runner-up finish and Magdalena Becerril placed third in the junior varsity 5K to lift the Troubadours past Davis by just two team points.

Quigley crossed the finish line with a personal-best 18:52.47. Dunham (19:30.26), Witherell (19.33.53), Ryann Strawn (24th, 19:47.52) and Kayla Towne (29th, 19:59.55) put all five Troubadour scorers through the chute in less than 20 minutes. The varsity event only allowed for seven entrants, similar to the CIF section and state championship races. Kelsey Sutch took 50th (21:09.84) and Emma Dobson followed in 51st (21:10.51) as displacing finishers for SFHS. The varsity race had 17 teams and 128 individuals in the field.

Overall athletics powerhouse Buchanan High of Clovis won the girls' varsity 5K with 18 points, including each the top four places. In fact, the Bears won each of the large-school events on both the boys' and girls' side.

Vrilakas went 21:42.30 to finish second, with Becerril trailing by about 20 seconds at 22:01.59 – a 44-second improvement on her previous PR. Vrilakas led for much of the race before Davis' River Salinas surged ahead in the last mile. Salinas won the race at 20:59.54, with Blue Devil teammate Madeline Zafonte in fifth at 22:22.69. 

Both Davis and St. Francis put all five runners among the top 20 scoring finishers. However, sophomore Pamela Vargas made the difference: she took seventh at 22:43.99, fifth among scorers. Davis' No. 3 runner was Sara Vargas in 19th place, and 12th among scoring finishers. Anita White and Sarah Charles crossed in 28th and 29th, respectively, while Davis' Maria Duquette and Jessica Oslund were slightly ahead in 22nd and 25th. But the battle of the two Vargases – St. Francis' Pamela and Davis' Sara – resulted in the 47 to 49 difference in the team scoring.

In the morning's frosh-soph event, sophomores Chloe' Hickey and Carly Hall placed 13th (15:41.64) and 17th (16:03.83) overall, helping St. Francis to a fourth-place team standing. Ashlyn Smith (23rd), Stella Davenport (35th) and Zoe Smith (39th) rounded out the scores, with Ashley Sexauer (44th) and Mackenzie Olmstead (68th) displacing.

Saturday marked the sixth running of the Flat SAC Invitational, named as a nod to the Mt. SAC Invitational in Southern California on the same weekend. Teams from outside the area, such as Buchanan and several Reno-area schools, traveled to compete at Gibson Ranch and its rural setting.

The Flat SAC also marks the end of the regular season for the Sac-Joaquin Section cross country season. St. Francis returns to action at the Delta League Championship, held at William Jessup on October 29. The league championship meet will also provide a venue to honor 10 Troubie seniors: Quigley, Witherell, Vrilakas, Sarah Charles, Sydney Eberhardt, Ava Ellis, Anna Harrison, Grace Himmelmann, Olivia Huerta and Kayla Hussey. The Delta League Championship consists of the frosh-soph 2-mile race at 9 a.m. and varsity 5K at 10 a.m.

2022 FLAT SAC INVITATIONAL
Gibson Ranch Regional Park (Elverta, Calif)
SFHS events only • Winner plus SFHS finishers listed

GIRLS' FROSH-SOPH LARGE SCHOOL TEAM SCORES - 1. Buchanan, 17; 2. Franklin (EG), 73; 3. Davis, 85; 4. St. Francis, 109; 5. Lincoln (Stockton), 161; 6. Chico, 170; 7. Whitney, 171; 8. Cordova, 199; 9. Sheldon, 221.

GIRLS' FROSH-SOPH LARGE SCHOOL INDIVIDUALS - 1. Elle Lomeli, Buchanan, 12:43.67... 13. Chloe' Hickey, 15:41.64; 17. Carly Hall, 16:03.83; 23. Ashlyn Smith, 16:19.69; 35. Stella Davenport, 16:58.06; 39. Zoe Smith, 17:02.77; 44. Ashley Sexauer, 17:29.22; 68. Mackenzie Olmstead, 19:12.78; 69. Evelyn McNearney, 19:14.54; 70. Rebecca Mochel, 19:17.33; 77. Gabriela Briscoe, 19:56.37; 83. Grace Mastagni, 21:12.37; 86. Olivia Charles, 21:21.74; 87. Bianca Espanola, 21:22.17; 93. Abbey Pavelchik, 22:54.98; 96. Hanna Wysoczynska, 23:15.46; 97. Alexandria Reznikoff, 23:16.58; 99. Sonalika Prasad, 23:22.62; 101. Hadley Tamblyn, 24:30.07.

GIRLS' VARSITY LARGE SCHOOL TEAM SCORES - 1. Buchanan, 18; 2. St. Francis, 88; 3. Carson, 130; 4. Galena, 134; 5. Clovis East, 139; 6. Davis, 203; 7. Spanish Springs, 220; 8. Reno, 228; 9. Franklin (EG), 239; 10. Madera; 281; 11. Chico, 285; 12. Douglas, 325; 13. Whitney, 340; 14. Reed, 351; 15. Rocklin, 394; 16. Damonte Ranch, 407; 17. Sheldon, 413. 

GIRLS' VARSITY LARGE SCHOOL INDIVIDUALS - 1. Grace Hutchison, Buchanan, 17:39.50... 10. Paige Quigley, 18:52.47; 15. Grace Dunham, 19:30.26; 18. Daphne Witherell, 19:33.53; 24. Ryann Strawn, 19:47.52; 29. Kayla Towne, 19:59.55; 50. Kelsey Sutch, 21:09.84; 51. Emma Dobson, 21:10.51.

GIRLS' JUNIOR VARSITY TEAM SCORES - 1. St. Francis, 47; 2. Davis, 49; 3. Galena, 103; 4. Colfax, 123; 5. Roseville, 133; 6. Christian Brothers, 136; 7. Spanish Springs, 142; 8. Douglas, 171.

GIRLS' JUNIOR VARSITY INDIVIDUALS - 1. River Salinas, Davis, 20:59.54... 2. Remi Vrilakas, 21:42.30; 3. Magdalena Becerril, 22:01.59; 7. Pamela Vargas, 22:43.99; 28. Anita White, 23:59.58; 29. Sarah Charles, 24.00.73; 32. Amelia Bell, 24:13.55; 46. Tatum Brown, 25:55.32; 47. Sierra Lesniewski, 26:06.16; 72. Tiana Smith, 28:46.27.