ROCKLIN, Calif. — Senior Tatiana Cornejo won the individual title with a time of 17 minutes, 53.8 seconds, while fellow senior Cate Joaquin finished close behind in second place to lead a 1-2-3-4-5 scoring sweep and a St. Francis team banner at the Delta League cross country championships held at William Jessup University Saturday morning.
Cornejo and Joaquin were followed by sophomore Grace Dunham, junior Daphne Witherell and sophomore Kelsey Sutch in third through fifth place, respectively. Sophomores Kayla Towne and Ryann Strawn were the Troubadours' displacing finishers in seventh and ninth.
The first-through-fifth sweep resulted in a perfect score of 15 points, with Davis taking a distant second with 58 points, followed by Franklin (82), Sheldon (110) and Cosumnes Oaks (117). The top 12 runners in the varsity 5K also earn All-Delta League accolades for their performances. This is the 22nd all-time Delta League team title for SFHS, and the fourth consecutive.
"The plan was to really push the second mile, and that's what they did," said St. Francis head coach Melanie Cleland. "It was two different groups: we had Tat and Cate at 1-2, and they were definitely trying to push it. The hills got to them, but they had a strong finish. Then the second pack also really pushed the second mile and had a strong finish for that last half-mile in order to place that perfect score."
SFHS also claimed the individual champion in the Delta League two-mile frosh-soph race, as Emma Dobson crossed the finish line at 12:23.5. Carly Hall added an eighth-place showing to boost the Troubies to a second-place team score of 53, behind only Davis (26).
"What we've seen in workouts and at the Hoka [Invite] was that we're making some big jumps in our fitness," said Cleland. "We knew we could win this race, but we wanted to push it to see where we're at going into the postseason."
The CIF-SJS subsection meet takes place on November 6 in Angels Camp, while the section championship will run one week later at Folsom's Willow Creek. The Troubies have won every section title since 2016 (no event was held in 2020-21).
2021 DELTA LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
William Jessup University
Winner plus St. Francis finishers only.
VARSITY 5K TEAM FINISH - 1. St. Francis, 15; 2. Davis, 58; 3. Franklin, 82; 4. Sheldon, 110; 5. Cosumnes Oaks, 117.
VARSITY 5K INDIVIDUALS - 1. Tatiana Cornejo, SFHS, 17:53.8… 2. Cate Joaquin, 18:12.6; 3. Grace Dunham, 18:51.3; 4. Daphne Witherell, 18:58.0; 5. Kelsey Sutch, 19:00.3; 7. Kayla Towne, 19:05.1; 9. Ryann Strawn, 19:19.0; 22. Paige Quigley, 20:54.0; 23. Allison Williams, 21:034; 25. Jill Heskett, 21:34.5; 29. Remi Vrilakas, 21:46.7; 31. McKenna McKrell, 21:57.7; 32. Peyton Carson, 21:52.3; 33. Ava Ellis, 21:53.4; 39. Audrey Felsted, 22:30.7; 40. Abbie Rexroad, 22:36.0; 41. Greta Crumley, 22:36.0; 42. Sarah Charles, 22:36.4; 44. Grace Himmelmann, 22:47.2; 46. Irene Hales, 23:06.5; 51. Kayla Hussey, 24:41.4; 53. Lexy Jones, 25:15.2; 57. Simone Sagay, 25:51.2; 59. Lindsey Seifert, 26:23.5; 60. Nora Matthews, 27:09.1; 62. Caroline Smith, 27:42.8; 63. Grace Bashore, 27:42.8; 64. Felicita Matthews, 27:42.8
FROSH-SOPH 2-MILE TEAM FINISH - 1. Davis, 26; 2. St. Francis, 53; 3. Pleasant Grove, 66; 4. Franklin, 113; 5. Sheldon, 114.
FROSH-SOPH 2-MILE INDIVIDUALS - 1. Emma Dobson, SFHS, 12:23.5… 8. Carly Hall, 13:00.5; 11. Anita White, 13:16.9; 16. Magdalena Becerril, 13:30.4; 24. Chloe Hickey, 13:56.9; 25. Mykaela Le, 14:01.9; 26. Pamela Vargas, 14:05.1; 29. Amelia Bell, 14:08.9; 33. Kyra Lueras, 14:21.7; 35. Sarah Bashore, 14:27.9; 38. Stella Davenport, 14:44.6; 39. Chloe Tanner, 14:45.9; 44. Rowan Rigby, 15:08.5; 48. Olivia King, 15:26.0; 51. Lydia Jauregui, 15:41.6; 52. Abigail Haley, 15:41.9; 53. Lucie Pickering Pick, 15:42.1; 56. Ashley Sexauer, 16:01.6; 57. Gabby Friedman, 16:24.1; 60. Adeline McKrell, 16:36.2; 61. Grace Mastagni, 16:43.9; 63. Peri Hines, 16:53.1; 69. Katelyn Malone, 18:42.0; 71. Maya Hamilton, 19:52.2; 73. Madilyn Van Houten, 20:45.7.
