IRVINE, Calif. – St. Francis cross country continued to show its strength in its freshman class, including Halle Welch and Miya Menza leading the way to a win in the Gold varsity event and six Troubadours among the top 18 en route to a team title in the Gold frosh race, highlighting the 43rd Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at Orange County Great Park Saturday.
All races, boys and girls, regardless of division, were conducted on three-mile courses.
Welch crossed in 17 minutes, 42.7 seconds for fourth place overall, with Menza right behind in fifth at 17:45.5. Sophomore Sunny Schranz finished 19th at 18:15.0, with Kyra Lueras (18:58.0) and Mykaela Le (19:13.2) rounding out the SF scorers in the Gold Varsity A group. This resulted in 111 team points to give St. Francis an eight-point win against Coeur D'Alene, with fellow Sac-Joaquin Section power Placer not far off in third with 131 points. Chloe Harrison and Lucie Pickering Pick represented their team's two displacing finishers in the Varsity A race.
Overall, 155 runners and 21 teams entered the Gold Varsity A.
Similarly, Sophia Kadel placed second in the Gold Frosh race at 18:46.5 and Emilia Ryan took fourth with a 19:29.6 time to interrupt an otherwise trifecta of Tesoro runners. Lydia Stralen (19:39.8) and Sophia Hernandez (19:40.8) came through in seventh and ninth, respectively; with Emily Colonnello capturing 13th place (19:51.4) as the Troubies' No .5 scorer. Lily Fowler entered the chute in 20:25.2 as SF's top displacer in the 132-person field.
As a team, St. Francis scored 31 in the Gold Frosh event, even out dueling second-place Tesoro (39), as the Titans' next best runners after Katelyn McNamara, Jasmine Mathur and Landyn Braun came through in 15th and 23rd overall. Those two squads dominated the remainder of the 13-team field, as Oak Park placed third with 128 points.
St. Francis also had a freshman as its top runner in the Gold Novice, with Emmelyn Cheatham placing ninth at 23:16.3. Of course, the only Troubie event not led by a ninth grader was the Gold Soph race. Mia Hollar led a three-person SF crew in that race with a third-place time of 19:30.1.
The Troubies added a ninth-place team finish in the Gold Junior-Senior event, with Ashlyn Smith and Jordan Brace leading the scorers in 31st and 38th place, respectively. Zoe Smith (56th), Ashley Sexauer (76th) and Olivia Charles (148th) rounded out the SF scorers in that 39th event of the meet, with MacKenzie Olmstead and Stella Davenport displacing in 154th and 184th.
The Woodbridge Classic represents the second of two St. Francis meets held in the evening, following the Kim Duyst Invitational one week earlier. The Troubies return to action at the Tom Laythe Invitational, hosted by Bella Vista and named in memory of a coach who served at SF prior to his career with the Broncos. The meet, held on the same course as the SJS championships, takes place on October 5.
2024 WOODBRIDGE CROSS COUNTRY CLASSIC
Orange County Great Park (Irvine, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winner plus SF finishers listed
GIRLS' BLUE/GOLD NOVICE - 1. Mia Moncur, Trabuco Hills, 21:36.1... 9. Emmelyn Cheatham, 23:16.3; 98. Abi Wallace, 25:10.7; 129. Isabella Uribe, 25:45.7; 153. Robyn Peralta, 26:01.5; 237. Ariana Lugo, 27:25.3.
GIRLS' BLUE/GOLD NOVICE TEAM SCORES - 1. Redlands, 119; 2. Venice, 132; 3. Vista Murrieta, 229; 4. El Dorado, 268; 5. Beaumont, 299; 6. Bishop Amat, 375; 7. Sage Creek, 390; 8. Higley, 398; 9. Troy, 400; 10. Villa Park, 408; 11. Valencia, 409; 12. Crater, 418; 13. Riverside Poly, 419; 14. Green Valley, 422; 15. Whitney, 453; 16. St Francis, 454; 17. La Serna, 471; 18. Great Oak, 477; 19. Santa Margarita, 485; 20. Liberty, 510; 21. Frontier, 511; 22. Shadow Ridge, 540; 23. Hart, 541; 24. Marina, 585; 25. Cypress, 601; 26. Warren, 625; 27. Santa Ana, 626; 28. Bakersfield, 629; 29. Saugus, 636; 30. Crescenta Valley, 645; 31. Liberty - Winchester, 667; 32. Segerstrom, 685; 33. Chino Hills, 767; 34. Redondo Union, 800; 35. Long Bech Poly, 810; 36. Santiago (Corona), 821; 37. Norte Vista, 900; 38. California (Whittier), 934; 39. El Rancho, 936; 40. Oak Park, 1047; 41. Fountain Valley, 1170.
GIRLS' GOLD FROSH - 1. Katelyn McNamara, Tesoro, 18:37.9... 2. Sophia Kadel, 18:46.5; 4. Emilia Ryan, 19:19.6; 7. Lydia Stralen, 19:39.8; 9. Sophia Hernandez, 19:40.8; 13. Emily Colonnello, 19:51.4; 18. Lily Fowler, 20:25.2; 58. Alyssa Tafoya, 21:41.0; 102. Mackenna Miller, 23:52.4.
GIRLS' GOLD FROSH TEAM SCORES - 1. St Francis, 31; 2. Tesoro, 39; 3. Oak Park, 128; 4. Yorba Linda, 132; 5. La Canada, 162; 6. Pacifica (Garden Grove), 207; 7. Ventura, 208; 8. Oaks Christian, 214; 9. Canyon (Anaheim), 234; 10. San Ramon Valley, 236; 11. Burroughs (Ridgecrest), 245; 12. Dana Hills, 276; 13. South Pasadena, 305.
GIRLS' GOLD SOPH - 1. Grace Brophy, University City, 19:09.0... 3. Mia Hollar, 19:30.1; 25. Morgane Bertran, 20:53.4; 32. Rey Becerril, 21:23.9.
GIRLS' GOLD SOPH TEAM SCORES - 1. El Toro, 45; 2. Tesoro, 78; 3. Ventura, 95; 4. Newbury Park, 103; 5. Xavier Prep, 115; 6. Burroughs (Ridgecrest), 152; 7. Villa Park, 153; 8. Pacifica (Garden Grove), 181; 9. Dana Hills, 185; 10. Oaks Christian, 282.
GIRLS' GOLD JUNIOR-SENIOR - 1. Aislin McMahon, Somerset Academy, 17:27.8... 31. Ashlyn Smith, 19:58.4; 38. Jordan Brace, 20:21.9; 56. Zoe Smith, 20:53.2; 76. Ashley Sexauer, 21:18.9; 148. Olivia Charles, 23:06.6; 154. MacKenzie Olmstead, 23:15.9; 184. Stella Davenport, 24:13.2.
GIRLS' GOLD JUNIOR-SENIOR TEAM SCORES - 1. Warren, 60; 2. San Ramon Valley, 67; 3. Newbury Park, 86; 4. Castaic, 142; 5. El Toro, 151; 6. South Pasadena, 181; 7. University City, 252; 8. Tesoro, 258; 9. St Francis, 260; 10. Redlands, 276; 11. Moorpark, 303; 12. Bishop Amat, 345; 13. Thousand Oaks, 363; 14. Capistrano Valley, 397; 15. Dana Hills, 419; 16. West Ranch, 428; 17. Burroughs, 461; 18. Grand Terrace, 494; 19. Frontier, 530; 20. Norwalk, 531; 21. Pacifica, 535; 22. Glendora 538; 23. South Torrance, 546; 24. Corona del Mar, 644
GIRLS' GOLD VARSITY A - 1. Emmy Angelo, Ponderosa, 17:38.7.... 4. Halle Welch, 17:42.7; 5. Miya Menza, 17:45.5; 19. Sunny Schranz, 18:15.0; 40. Kyra Lueras, 18:58.0; 54. Mykaela Le, 19:13.2; 58. Chloe Harrison, 19:20.2; 70. Lucie Pickering Pick, 19:31.7.
GIRLS' GOLD VARSITY A TEAM SCORES - 1. St Francis, 111; 2. Coeur D'Alene, 119; 3. Placer, 131; 4. Thousand Oaks, 188; 5. Mercer Island, 189; 6. Maria Carrillo, 200; 7. Pacifica (Garden Grove), 201; 8. Faith Lutheran, 209; 9. Bishop Amat, 218; 10. Moorpark, 291; 11. Crater, 329; 12. La Canada, 352; 13. Atascadero, 352; 14. JSerra, 360; 15. Colfax, 371; 16. Corona del Mar, 376; 17. Agoura, 386; 18. Orem, 398; 19. Foothill Technology, 401; 20. Asheville, 460; 21. Galena, 504.
