Ricky Morris is focused on returning to the state cross country meet.

The Sierra High senior took that first step Wednesday by capturing the Valley Oak League’s Frog Town event held at the Calaveras County fairgrounds in Angels Camp.

He finished the hilly three-mile course in 16 minutes, 56 seconds.

“Ricky looked good,” said Timberwolves coach Mike Rosendin. “He worked really hard and it’s paying off.”

As a team, Sierra took second place, finishing behind Manteca High in the first VOL meeting of 2011

“We were the underdogs going in,” Buffaloes coach Rick Cuevas said. “Our goal wasn’t about setting fast times but to win as a team.”

His top five runners – Isaiah Cruz (5th place, 17:45), Tim Baker (6th, 18:20), Philip Herrera (7th, 18:24), Matt Quiroga (9th, 18:38), and Martin Ponce (10th, 18:39) – were among the Top 10 finishers in the field of over 50 competitors.

As a team, Manteca went 7-0 while Sierra, which took second place, was 6-1.

Locally, the other finishers included Sierra’s Josh Spooner (18:29), Jeremy Coronado (18:51) and Thomas Trzcinski (19:03); East Union’s David Ortega (21:07); and Weston Ranch’s Damion Tucker (24:41).

Sierra, 7-0, captured the girls varsity division, beating out East Union and Manteca, respectively.

The Timberwolves were paced by Kelly Paredes (22:22) and Nicole England (22:25). Frances Scherry (23:01), Patricia Angel (23:15), and Kyndall Riley (23:51) finished not too far behind.

“They push each other all the time in practice,” said Rosendin. “But today they took care of everybody (in the field).”

East Union finished a distant second.

The Lancers were paced by sophomores’ Claudia Arevalo (24:00) and Rachel Sianez (24:00) while the Buffaloes received a boost from the sophomore duo of Harleen Pabla (22:09) and Claudia Aguilar (24:03).

Senior Joceline Santiago (25:54) was the top runner for Lathrop.

“This first meet gave us a handle on the competition,” said Rosendin, who also had a strong showing at the lower levels.

“We still have two more league meets to show what we can do,” he added.