The Buffaloes’ busy freshman is enjoying successful varsity debuts in multiple starts.

Fresh off the “Season 1” cross country campaign, Jones was fit and ready for the the track and field and girls soccer seasons and proved it on successive Wednesday afternoons.

She joined the track team on April 14 for a Valley Oak League meet at Oakdale High, which has produced talented distance runners in recent years. 

Not only did Jones prove to be up to the challenge, she narrowly won the 1,600-meter race by a second and shattered her school’s longstanding mile record in the process. Jones finished in 5 minutes, 15 seconds — 10 seconds faster than the previous record set by Carmen Perez in 1991. 

One week later, on April 21, Jones got to participate in her first cross-town rivalry match in girls soccer as the Buffs took on host East Union. She accounted for both goals in the 2-0 victory for Manteca, scoring in the second half off assists from Cami Silva. 

For the season, Jones has three goals and five assists. Manteca is 6-0 to start its truncated spring season and welcomes its other rival Sierra next Monday for a battle of unbeatens.