November presented a trifecta of success for Del Oro’s boys cross country team with its second consecutive South Yosemite Horizon League and Central Section championships – and for junior Noel Huato, the month ended with a top 10 finish at the state meet while the team placed 11th overall.
During the Central Section championships at Fresno’s Woodward park on Nov. 21, Huato captured first place overall in the Division 3 category with a time of 16 minutes, 1.56 seconds. Junior Alex Garcia followed in third place with a time of 16:25.94. Del Oro won the team title with a score of 43 points; San Luis Obispo came in second with 62 points.
“I didn’t feel nervous because I knew I could win it,” Huato said. “I didn’t feel my legs the entire race, but I felt great when I won.”
Garcia said he felt “calm and controlled” during the race.
“The work we put in throughout the season carried us through the race,” he said. “I was confident in the team and myself. We didn’t perform to the best of our ability, but we still did the work necessary. I couldn’t ask for a team to feel more like family.”
Then came Nov. 30, where the team returned to Woodward park to compete in the CIF State championships in the Men’s Division 3 category. Despite Del Oro opening its doors only three years ago, the team prevailed against several established teams across California.
And this was no small feat either: Huato placed 9th out of 214 contestants with a time of 15:19.5. The team finished 11th overall with a team score of 288.
However, Suns head coach Hulises Gonzalez said the team had higher expectations of placing among the top 5. While the team initially kept pace for ninth place overall – averaging 4.57 minutes during the first mile – it began to fall to 10th place upon reaching the two-mile marker. Then the gap between the runners and the other teams widened, ultimately pushing the Suns into 11th place.
“We fell short of our end goal, which is fine,” Gonzalez said. “It gives us a lot to work on next year, so that’s something that we took away at the end.”
Gonzalez explained that while the team felt defeated by the state results, he still intends to set a high bar that he wants the remaining players to look forward to next year.
“We are losing three of our veterans, three of our seniors,” he said. “But I don’t believe that’s going to hurt us at all simply because out of our top five scorers at the state meet, we are only losing one.”
Gonzalez said team leadership and chemistry won’t be an issue next season.
“We have a good group of freshmen that look up to Noel [Huato], to Alex [Garcia],” he said. “They understand the work they [need to] put in, in order to be successful.”
As for the girls’ cross country team, their hard work and tireless efforts also shined through during the SYHL championships. In the girls Division 3 race, junior Sonia Alba placed fourth with a time of 21:23.11. Junior Susana Jacome finished 21st with a time of 24:24.65. Seniors Miley Hernandez Moreno placed 26th with a mark of 26:14.24 while Alexandra Cruz Rivera came in 28th place with a time of 26:17.68. Junor Leslie Moreno came in 31st with a time of 33:16.60.
At the Central Section meet, Alba finished 58th, setting a personal record with a time of 23:58.97. Hernandez finished 101st with a time of 26:48.84 while Cruz came in 113th place with a time of 29:29.28. Moreno came in 129th with a time of 36:27.84.
