Paced by Carmelo Rodriguez and Sophia Jung, the Ripon boys and girls cross country teams both placed third at the Amanda Garcia Memorial Invitational on Saturday at Atwater High.
Both also took third individually. Meet host Atwater took the titles in the Greg McKinstry Boys Championship and Dave Donaldson Girls Championship.
East Union and Manteca also competed in the meet.
Rodriguez was the top male from the area, as he finished in 15 minutes, 48.1 seconds. Teammate Lucas de Vera was 19th in 16:48.6.
East Union was eighth out of the 11 boys team in the McKinstry Championship. The Lancers were led by the sophomore pairing of Elijah Galvan (16:47.4) and Prince Chweya (16:48.4), who took 17th and 18th, respectively.
Jung clocked a third-place time of 18:58.5 in the Donaldson Girls Championship. East Union’s Alysia Sinclair (19:45.6) took fifth, and Paige Thomas of Ripon was 12th (21:10.2).
Manteca competed in the Open Boys and Girls races. Paisley Coenenberg was the girls runner-up in 20:59.4, and Ripon freshman Lilly Hendryk (22:45.3) placed seventh.
Manteca had two in the top five of the Open Boys division, as Emanuel Saldana (17:18.3) came in third and Braden Hegarty (17:47.9) took fifth.
Bulldog Invitational
Anna Dittman was Sierra’s top performer on the 5-kilometer course at Willow Hills Reservoir Community Park in Folsom.
The junior took 10th out of 145 entrants in the large-school girls race, clocking a time of 19:27.3. The Timberwolves were 14th out of 20 as a team.
The Sierra boys finished 12th out of 21 and were spearheaded by Sebastien Paterson (30th, 17:24.5) and Max Perez (31st, 17:24.8).
FLAG FOOTBALL
Sierra 40, Oakdale 7
Tessa Zalunardo threw for four touchdowns and added one more on the ground Monday in the lopsided Valley Oak League victory for the Timberwolves (6-2, 11-6 overall), who host Manteca on Wednesday for a big game with playoff implications. The two rivals are tied for second place behind unbeaten Central Catholic.
Zalunardo completed 18 of 24 passes for 330 yards and no interceptions. She connected with four different receivers with touchdowns. Kayla Amarante had a 66-yard touchdown, finishing with 200 yards on eight catches. Emalina Latu (four receptions, 63 yards), Felisa Cruz-Olenhouse (five receptions, 57 yards) and Sky Kane (10-yard reception) were the other TD scorers.
Genessa Chaparro led the defense with 12 flag pulls, and Jayleen Lopez recorded three sacks.
Grace Davis 19, Lathrop 6
Lathrop (8-1, 14-3 overall) had a 12-game Western Athletic Conference winning streak snapped in the upset in Modesto.
Lathrop dominated the previous match-up, 28-0. Grace Davis improved to 5-4 in league, 12-5 overall.
Ja’Leiyah Ray hit Jaylah Seabron (eight receptions, 112 yards) for Lathrop’s lone touchdown. Ray split snaps behind center with Aviahna Calderon (10 of 17, 118 yards), finishing 8-of-20 passing for 84 yards to go with three catches for 42 yards.
Madilynn Nungaray led the defense with nine flag pulls, a sack and a pass break-up. Aaliyah Thompson added eight flag pulls and a sack. Alyssa Herrera contributed three sacks, Isabella Espinoza had two and Ray broke up two passes.
