Prep cross country: Fast pack of Bulldogs leads Vacaville to Classic win

Vacaville HighÕs Donovan Cheruiyot nears the finish line in the Boys Varsity Large School Division race at the Lagoon Valley Classic, Saturday. Cheruiyot placed third and helped the Bulldogs finish first as a team.

By Daily Republic Staff

VACAVILLE — Donovan Cheruiyot led a four-runner pack with a solid third-place finish to propel the Vacaville High boys varsity cross country team to a convincing 60-point victory in the Boys Large School Division Lagoon Valley Classic.

The largest high school invitational in Northern California, this year’s Lagoon Valley Classic featured 1,558 runners.

Cheruiyot crossed in 16 minutes, 2 seconds, 25 seconds after winner Sean Lacey of Bella Vista, and was followed by Paul Hobbs (fourth), Asher Love (fifth) and Kellen Ruiz (sixth).


The Bulldogs finished with 51 points to 111 for runner-up Bella Vista.

Anna McNatt of McClatchy won the Girls Varsity Large School Division in 17:28 with Oak Ridge taking the team title with 39 points, putting five runners in the top 17.

Top Monticello Empire League performers were Hailey Wurzbach of Vacaville (19:19, 13th), Alexa Amador Trejo of Rodriguez (19:32, 14th), Kaitlene Ofilian of Rodriguez (20:50, 30th) and Cristina Leanos of Armijo (20:47, 35th).

Will C. Wood placed third in the boys Varsity Small Schools Division, led by 14th-place finisher Jackson Hicks (18:36). Rishard Hsia (20:09, 30th), Braeden Wieser (20:27, 37th) and Zane Johnson (20:30, 28th) rounded out the medal winners for Will C. Wood.

The girls team’s fourth-place team finish was led by Tea Troche-Jones in third place (20:20). Kaydence Garrison (22:01, 13th) and Diana Luu (23:24, 22nd) won medals for the Wildcat team as well.

Addison Clinton of Oak Ridge won the Frosh-Soph Girls race with a time of 13:24 over the 2-mile course. Vacaville put three in the top 10, led by Alicia Rawdon (14:17, fifth), Reagan Fisher (14:23, sixth) and Avery Courtney (14:36.3, 10th) for an overall second place finish as a team. Gabriella Swartz from Rodriguez finished 11th in (14:36.6). Leading her team with a 21st-place sprint finish was Tania Benitez (15:07) from Vanden.

Vacaville’s Colton Walker got the day started with a dominating performance, turning in a course record time of 10:51 to win by nearly 40 seconds over the 2 mile Frosh-Soph Division.

Notable Vacaville performances and medal winners not mentioned above came from Braden Killeen (second), Maxwell Valenzuela (seventh) and Ryan Hansen (27th) in the JV Boys race; Tatianna Luna (33rd) in the JV Girls race; James Rowland (ninth), Garret Seifert (16th), and Landen Borchers (33rd), in the Freshman Boys race; Luke Wirth (20th) and Carlos Palacios (30th) in the Boys Frosh-Soph division; Whitney Archer (25th), Kelsey Collins (26th), and Caitlyn Gonzalez (32nd) in the Girls Frosh-Soph division; and Evan Mitchell (36th) in the Varsity Boys Race.