FRESNO, Calif. – Seniors Daphne Witherell and Paige Quigley finished 38th and 48th, respectively, out of 202 total runners as St. Francis placed 11th as a team at the CIF State Cross Country Championships at Woodward Park Saturday afternoon. The Troubadours scored 299 total points, just one behind Canyon and eight ticks behind both Citrus Valley and Mira Costa.
Witherell's finish represents a 52-place improvement from the 90th from the same meet one year ago. She also enjoyed a strong final mile, crossing the one-mile mark in 97th, then improving to 60th by the 2.1-mile mark before crossing the finish line in 19 minutes 4.5 seconds. She passed St. Francis' (Mountain View) Caitlin Cilley and Mira Costa's Heather Jensen down the final stretch to move up on the individual leaderboard.
Quigley had a steadier progression to her race, running a 5:46.6 first mile to sit in 41st, then holding 51st at 2.1 miles before coming through the chute at 19:15.9. Junior Grace Dunham finished soon after in 52nd at 19:20.7. Ryann Strawn was SF's No. 4 scorer in 118th overall (20:21.9), followed by Kayla Towne in 122nd (20:25.8). Kelsey Sutch and Emma Dobson had the Troubies' displacement finishes in 125th and 158th, respectively.
The Division II race was the second-largest of the five divisions on the girls side, with only the D-III event fielding more runners (212). When combining all five races, Buchanan was the top overall girls' team with a 1:29.32 total, but Division II had four of the top eight squads in Los Altos, Newbury Park, St. Francis of Mountain View and Palo Alto. Ventura sophomore Sadie Engelhardt was the top female runner in the meet regardless of division, winning the D-II race wire to wire with a final time of 16:57.9.
The state championship wraps up a season that featured the Troubadours' fifth straight Delta League championship, a third-place showing at the Sac-Joaquin Section championship and a Delta League Coach of the Year nod for first-year mentor Chad Worthen.
2022 CIF STATE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Woodward Park (Fresno, Calif.)
Girls' Division II race only • Winner plus SFHS finishers listed
TEAM SCORES - 1. Los Altos, 80; 2. Newbury Park, 93; 3. St. Francis (Mountain View), 106; 4. Palo Alto, 132; 5. Ventura, 189; 6. Whitney, 193; 7. Granite Bay, 221; 8. Citrus Valley, 291; 9. Mira Costa, 291; 10. Canyon, 298; 11. St Francis (Sacramento), 299; 12. Claremont, 306; 13. El Toro, 316; 14. Monte Vista, 334; 15. San Ramon Valley, 375; 16. Vista Del Lago, 397; 17. Redwood, 412; 18. Scripps Ranch, 454; 19. Mt Carmel, 517; 20. Paso Robles, 550; 21. San Dieguito Academy, 561; 22. Oakland Tech, 638; 23. Bravo Medical Magnet, 653; 24. Highland, 660.
INDIVIDUALS - 1. Sadie Engelhardt, Ventura, 16:57.9... 38. Daphne Witherell, 19:04.5; 48. Paige Quigley, 19:15.9; 52. Grace Dunham, 19:20.7; 118. Ryann Strawn, 20:21.9; 122. Kayla Towne, 20:25.8; 125. Kelsey Sutch, 20:29.3; 158. Emma Dobson, 21:17.5.
