ROCKLIN, Calif. – Freshman Alyssa Gutierrez won the girls' varsity three-mile race with a time of 17 minutes, 6.3 seconds while sophomores Sophia Kadel and Halle Welch also posted all-league finishes, as St. Francis placed fourth as a team at the Sierra Foothill League cross country championships at Jessup University Saturday.

Gutierrez captured the individual title by a margin of more than 10 full seconds, with Whitney senior Sophie Hutchinson placing second at 17:16.4. She was also the top freshman runner by a wide margin, as the next best finishers were Davis' Layla Wolk in 17th and Oak Ridge's Addie Yip in 19th.

Overall, the Troubadours totaled 75 points for fourth place. Whitney dominated the team competition with 31 points, thanks to Hutchinson leading four Wildcats among the overall top seven. Davis (52) edged Oak Ridge (61) for second place, as senior Avery Wolk finished third to lead three Blue Devils in the top 10.

After Gutierrez, St. Francis fielded Kadel in 11th place (18:11.2), Welch in 16th (18:29.9), junior Sunny Schranz in 23rd (18:41.7) and sophomore Miya Menza in 24th (18:45.1) as its scoring five. Senior Chloe Harrison followed in 26th (18:49.6) and freshman Rebecca Dickson in 28th (19:07.5) as displacing finishers.

Earlier in the morning, St. Francis amassed an impressive 32 team points in the junior varsity 2-mile run, but fell just four points shy of champion Davis. All five Troubie scorers crossed the finish line among the overall top 10: Bianka Bagatelos in fourth (11:44.2), sophomore Emily Colonnello in fifth (11:50.0), freshman Holly Thorall in sixth (11:50.5); sophomore Sophia Hernandez in eighth (12:20.9) and freshman Celeste Ramos in 10th (12:27.9). Another froshie, Giuliana Allen came through in 11th (12:46.7) while sophomore Emilia Ryan's 14th place (13:07.7) represented the final SF displacer.

However, Davis enjoyed a trifecta at the top of the individual leaderboard in the form of freshmen Chloe Chak (11:34.6), Natalie Mittleman (11:37.6) and Amel Ben Haj (11:43.1) – enough to offset the tighter overall St. Francis pack.

The Troubies also use the SFL championship meet to serve as a Senior Day meet. Harrison, Jordan Brace, Bianca Espanola and MacKenzie Olmstead were recognized in a post-race ceremony.

The top 10 individuals earn All-SFL first-team distinction while the next 10 make the second team. St. Francis returns to action in one week, competing at the Sac-Joaquin Subsection meet at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds (a.k.a. Frogtown) in Angels Camp. Race times for the Troubies are 9:15 a.m. (frosh-soph), 10:20 a.m. (JV) and 10:40 a.m. (varsity). Meet results will be available at RedCapTiming.com on race day.

2025 SIERRA FOOTHILL LEAGUE CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jessup University (Rocklin, Calif.)
Events with SF entrants only • Winners plus SF finishers listed

GIRLS' JV 2-MILE RUN - 1. Chloe Chak, Davis, 11:34.6… 4. Bianka Bagatelos, 11:44.2; 5. Emily Colonnello, 11:50.0; 6. Holly Thorall, 11:50.5; 8. Sophia Hernandez, 12:20.9; 10. Celeste Ramos, 12:27.9; 11. Giuliana Allen, 12:46.7; 17. Emilia Ryan, 13:07.7; 22. Alyssa Tafoya, 13:15.3; 26. Violet Panton, 13:31.5; 38. Abi Wallace, 14:12.1; 41. Andrea Silva, 14:14.4; 45. Eleanora Olmstead, 14:35.4; 46. Grace Zylstra, 14:38.4; 47. Robyn Peralta, 14:39.4; 54. Eva Bugatto, 14:59.8; 58. Keyla Ibarra, 16:03.9; 60. Nathea Genelza, 16:11.3; 63. Sophia Del Toro, 16:30.9.

GIRLS' JV TEAM SCORES - 1. Davis, 28; 3. St. Francis, 32; 3. Whitney, 94; 4. Granite Bay, 103; 5. Del Oro, 119; 6. Rocklin, 170.

GIRLS' VARSITY 3-MILE RUN - 1. Alyssa Gutierrez, St. Francis, 17:06.3… 11. Sophia Kadel, 18:11.2; 16. Halle Welch, 18:29.9; 23. Sunny Schranz, 18:41.7; Miya Menza, 18:45.1; 26. Chloe Harrison, 18:49.6; 28. Rebecca Dickson, 19:07.5; 29. Mia Hollar, 19:10.3; 44. Jordan Brace, 20:41.6; 78, Ariana Lugo, 24:35.1; 83. Bianca Espanola, 25:24.9; 87. Maddy Cheatham, 25:56.8; 92. Isabella Uribe, 26:33.4; 93. MacKenzie Olmstead, 26:53.6; 95. Lorena Swyers, 27:48.7.

GIRLS' VARSITY TEAM SCORES - 1. Whitney, 31; 2. Davis, 52; 3. Oak Ridge, 61; 4. St. Francis, 75; 5. Granite Bay, 143; 6. Del Oro, 196; 7. Rocklin, 216; 8. Folsom, 224.