CERES, Calif. – Sophomore Sunny Schranz and freshman Miya Menza each finished among the top eight in the varsity girls' 5-kilometer event, leading five St. Francis in the top 10 scorers en route to a winning total of 65 points at the Kim Duyst Twilight Invitational cross country meet at River Oaks Golf Course.

Overall, the Troubadours won all three team competitions: the frosh-soph opener, the junior varsity and the varsity finale.

Schranz crossed in 18 minutes, 52.9 seconds for sixth overall, while Menza entered the chute in 19:02.0, good for eighth place. Another freshman, Halle Welch, placed 19th at 19:43.0, but it was two seniors – Mykaela Le and Kyra Lueras – who provided the depth in the Troubadours' scoring to win the meet. Le took 23rd at 20:05.2, with Lueras immediately following in 24th at 20:09.7. Combined, that group of five posted scoring of 5-6-15-19-20.

In contrast, Lodi boasted fifth-place Amelia Johnson and seventh-place Samantha Stone, but fielded only three runners and thus did not figure in the team scoring. Patterson junior Natalie Arriaza won the overall varsity race with a 17:43.4, but its bottom three scorers had totals of 90, 101 and 108. Turlock finished second with 105 points, with three runners in the top 20 overall, but St. Francis' displacers – Chloe Harrison in 26th and Lucie Pickering Pick in 37th  – finished ahead of the No. 4 and 5 Bulldogs. Vista Del Lago had junior Brenna Mannion as the meet's No. 2 finisher, but saw its remaining points spread out even further: 10, 21, 35 and 44 for a third-place 112.

In the two sub-varsity races, St. Francis frosh-soph finished all five of its scorers among the overall top 10 for a team total of 22 points, well ahead of second-place Sheldon, its old Delta League mate. Sophia Hernandez (7:51.9), Lydia Stralen (7:54.6), Emilia Ryan (7:57.9) and Lily Fowler (8:00.2) crossed in third through sixth places, respectively. Sophomore Morgane Bertran nabbed the No. 5 scoring finish with 10th overall, eighth among team scorers with a 8:12.7.  

The Troubies' junior varsity also won the team completion, although by a much slimmer margin: 53 points to Merrill West's 56. The Wolf Pack had three among the top four, with the first-second exacta of Maithal Alradael and Jocelyn Martinez dominating the overall field. Like the varsity, making the difference for St. Francis was its depth. Besides Jordan Brace (8:07.4), Alyssa Tafoya (8:24.6) and Rey Becerril (8:34.1) coming through in fifth through seventh, the Troubies saw Julia Wallace (29th, 9:14.0) and Emmelyn Cheatham (31st, 9:16.9) outdueling the next two West scorers, Nayeli Robles (33rd, 9:22.4) and Lexie Gomez (48th, 10:07.8).

In terms of scoring finishes, St. Francis' top three in the JV race totaled 18 to West's seven for an 11-point margin. But the fourth-fifth scorers for the Troubies notched 35 to the Pack's 49, a 14-point difference that more than offset the points from MW's top trio.

A rare meet held under the lights, the Duyst Invitational featured both high school and collegiate races, with the girls' varsity not toeing the start line until almost 10 p.m. It is named for the former Stan State track & field and cross country coach, who later served as a senior associate athletics director until her retirement in 2018. Coach Duyst came out of said retirement this fall to serve on the California Collegiate Athletic Association staff.

St. Francis cross country enters its lone two-meet week on the 2024 schedule: the Sierra Foothill League center meet at the SWRA on Wednesday, followed by another evening meet, Saturday's Woodbridge Invitational in Orange County.

KIM DUYST TWILIGHT INVITATIONAL
River Oaks Golf Course (Ceres, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winners plus SF finishers listed

GIRLS' FROSH-SOPH 2K - 1. Terra Campos, Pacheco, 7:49.9... 3. Sophia Hernandez, 7:51.9; 4. Lydia Stralen, 7:54.6; 5. Emilia Ryan, 7:57.9; 6. Lily Fowler, 8:00.2; 10. Morgane Bertran, 8:12.7; 49. Ariana Lugo, 9:33.1; 59. Abi Wallace, 9:39.8; 64. Makenzie Porter, 9:43.4; 67. Robyn Peralta, 9:47.6; 69. Eva Bugatto, 9:51.7; 74. Isabella Uribe, 9:57.8.

GIRLS' FROSH-SOPH TEAM SCORING - 1. St. Francis, 22; 2. Sheldon, 84; 3. Turlock, 109; 4. Elk Grove, 135; 5. Vista Del Lago, 136; 6. Pacheco, 166; 7. Oakdale, 185; 8. Mountain House, 223; 9. Casa Roble, 238; 10. Galt, 256; 11. Bella Vista, 282; 12. Mira Loma, 305; 13. Manteca, 309; 14. Pleasant Grove, 326; 15. Ripon, 355.

GIRLS' JV 2K - 1. Maitha Alradael, Merrill West, 7:26.3... 5. Jordan Brace, 8:07.4; 9. Alyssa Tafoya, 8:24.9; 11. Rey Becerril, 8:34.1; 29. Julia Wallace, 9:14.0; 31. Emmelyn Cheatham, 9:16.9; 67. Brittney Rios, 12:31.4.

GIRLS JV TEAM SCORING - 1. St. Francis, 53; 2. Merrill West, 56; 3. Hughson, 53; 4. Ripon, 70; 5. Pleasant Grove, 89; 6. Vanguard, 178.

GIRLS' VARSITY 5K - 1. Natalie Arriaza, Patterson, 17:43.4... 6. Sunny Schranz, 18:52.9; 8. Miya Menza, 19:02.0; 19. Halle Welch, 19:43.0; 23. Mykaela Le, 20:05.2; 24. Kyra Lueras, 20:09.7; 26. Chloe Harrison, 20:11.0; 37. Lucie Pickering Pick, 20:37.7; 38. Emily Colonnello, 20:39.5;  

GIRLS' VARSITY TEAM SCORING - 1. St. Francis, 65; 2. Turlcok, 105; 3. Vista Del Lago, 112; 4. Bella Vista, 139; 5. Oakdale, 155; 6. Elk Grove, 182; 214. Lynbrook, 214; 8. Pleasant Grove, 223; 9. Tracy, 250; 10. Patterson, 317; 11. Gregori, 354; 12. Central Catholic, 361; 13. Ripon, 374; 14. West Campus, 421; 15. Matilda Torres, 447; 16. Orestimba, 459; 17. Lathrop, 471; 18. Del Campo, 472; 19. Mira Loma, 474; 20. Galt, 481; 21. Casa Roble, 517; 22. Los Banos, 521; 23. Pacheco, 524.