FOLSOM, Calif. – Senior Grace Dunham placed third overall to lead St. Francis to a team score of 52 points, well ahead of second-place Del Oro, to win the small-school varsity five-kilometer race at the Tom Laythe Invitational cross country meet, hosted by Bella Vista at the Willow Hill Reservoir Saturday.

The Laythe Invite, named in memory of a beloved BV coach who previously served at St. Francis, takes place on the same course as the Sac-Joaquin Section championship meet.

Dunham crossed in 19 minutes, 25.20 seconds for third overall. Ryann Strawn followed in 11th at 19:58.51 with Sunny Schranz next in line in 12th place (20:10.72). Emma Dobson and Pamela Vargas completed the Troubadours' score in 19th and 27th, respectively. Impressively, St. Francis won the meet despite the absence of two of its top runners, seniors Kayla Towne and Kelsey Sutch. The Troubies also only had one displacing finisher, Amelia Bell, who took 63rd overall.

Each of the Troubie frosh-soph and junior varsity squads finished second in their respective races. Mia Hollar finished third overall (14:32.65) with Lucia Hash adding 10th (15:05.54) and Jordan Brace an 11th (15:06.15) in the field of 139 runners.  However, the Troubies were edged by Roseville by a single point, 65 to 64. The Tigers had the top two finishers in the race in Melissa Peterson and Makenna Tuttle, with no other runners in the top 15. Meanwhile, Morgane Bertrane and MacKenzie Olmstead rounded out the SF scoring finishers in 22nd and 42nd overall.

In the JV finale, 10 other teams trailed Davis, which swept the top three places. However, St. Francis enjoyed a strong overall pack, with Lucie Pickering Pick leading the team in 10th at 15:15.43. The Troubies scored 77 overall, with an overall points breakdown of 9-13-17-18-20. Caroline Kesich took 14th, with Ashlyn Smith (19th), Ashley Sexauer (21st), Chloe Rhodes-Nguyen (23th) and Chloe' Hickey (24th) crossing the finish line within a six-second span.

While the Laythe meet runs on the CIF-SJS course, St. Francis gets its first preview of the CIF state championship course next week, with three teams competing at the vaunted Clovis Invitational.

2023 TOM LAYTHE INVITATIONAL
WIllow Hill Reservoir (Folsom, Calif.) • Hosted by Bella Vista
Events with SF entrants • Winner plus SF finishers listed

GIRLS FROSH-SOPH SMALL SCHOOL TEAM SCORES - 1. Roseville, 64; 2. St. Francis, 65; 3. Elk Grove, 85; 4. St. Mary's, 91; 5. Bishop Manogue, 146; 6. Christian Brothers, 167; 7. Buckingham Charter Magnet, 194; 8. Union Mine, 202; 9. Sierra, 213; 10. Tracy, 217; 11. Ripon, 227; 12. Lathrop, 315.

GIRLS FROSH-SOPH SMALL SCHOOL 3.4K - 1. Melissa Peterson, Roseville, 14:07.31... 3. Mia Hollar, 14:32.65; 10. Lucia Hash, 15:05.54; 11. Jordan Brace, 15:06.15; 22. Morgane Bertran, 15:29.15; 42. MacKenzie Olmstead, 16:38.72; 57. Chloe Harrison, 17:13.47; 68. Lucy Loverich, 17:42.62; 73. Milena Bonnici, 17:51.04; 91. Lorena Swyers, 18:50.20; 106. Julia Cedorborg, 19:55.04; 139. Brittney Rios, 28:06.00.

GIRLS' VARSITY SMALL-SCHOOL TEAM SCORES - 1. St. Francis, 52; 2. Del Oro, 67; 3. Placer, 81; 4. Liberty (Winchester), 105; 5. Christian Brothers, 126; 6. Bishop Manogue, 145; 7. Hope, 194; 8. Sierra, 197; 9. Roseville, 262; 10. Vacaville Christian, 277; 11. Ripon, 285; 12. Tracy, 309; 13. Will C. Wood, 310; 14. Lathrop, 389; 15. El Camino, 401; 16. Encina, 425.

GIRLS' VARSITY SMALL-SCHOOL 5K - 1. Anna Soares, Placer, 18:54.55... 3. Grace Dunham, 19:25.20; 11. Ryann Strawn, 19:58.51; 12. Sunny Schranz, 20:10.72; 19. Emma Dobson, 20:57.16; 27. Pamela Vargas, 21:19.14; 63. Amelia Bell, 22:57.79.

GIRLS' JUNIOR VARSITY TEAM SCORES - 1. Davis, 43; 2. St. Francis, 77; 3. Merrill West, 91; 4. Whitney, 103; 5. Cathedral Catholic, 134; 6. Franklin, 159; 7. Bella Vista, 183; 8. Ripon, 200; 9. Christian Brothers, 201; 10. Mira Loma, 213; 11. Buckinham Charter Magnet, 292.

GIRLS' JUNIOR VARSITY 3.4K - 1. Jodie Kim, Davis, 14:08.70... 10. Lucie Pickering Pick 15:15.43; 14. Caroline Kesich, 15:27.70; 19. Ashlyn Smith, 15:39.01; 21. Ashley Sexauer, 15:42.46; 23. Chloe Rhodes-Nguyen, 15:43.90; 24. Chloe' Hickey, 15:45.65; 31. Zoe Smith, 16:09.11; 35. Olivia Charles, 16:21.92; 54. Kyra Lueras, 17:09.01.