Five area teams and an additional five individuals are moving on to the Sac-Joaquin Section cross country finals after earning their spots in the sub-section meet held this past Saturday at Calaveras County Fairgrounds in Angels Camp.

Sierra’s girls narrowly earned their berth in the competitive Division II field, placing 10th ahead of Atwater by two points, 283-285. Only the top 10 teams in each varsity race advance, and the top 25 individuals were awarded with medals.

The Timberwolves’ anchor was Anna Dittman, one of six medal winners from the area. The junior clocked the fastest time among the area’s varsity female competitors at 18 minutes, 43.3 seconds, placing her fourth overall.

Dittman was aided by Abigail Fraser (56th, 21:50.0) and Alyssa Rodriguez (64th, 22:25.1).

Sierra’s boys just missed out on a section finals team berth with their 10th-place finish, but two are advancing as individuals.

Sebastian Paterson spearheaded varsity boys from the area with a time of 16:31.1, good for ninth place. Max Perez nearly medaled at 26th place (16:59.6), but he also secured a bid to the section meet.

Manteca also competed in Division II. The girls team took 17th, and the boys were 24th. Sophomore Avina Harrington (71st, 22:38.0) and Paisley Coenenberg (74th, 22:43.3) paced the Buffaloes.

In Division III, the Lathrop girls team earned a qualifying spot with a ninth-place finish, while East Union has three individuals who punched their tickets to the final.

East Union’s Alyssa Sinclair was the lone medal winner from the area in the division, as she took 22nd in 20:56.2. The Lancers’ boys finished 14th as a team but have section qualifiers in Elijah Galvan (43rd, 17:52.2) and Prince Chweya (44th, 17:52.6).

Leading the Lathrop girls was Morgan Emery (37th, 21:59.4). The Spartans also got contributions from freshman Monserrath Santillan (44th, 22:26.7), Jennifer Ramos (52nd, 23:11.00) and Mackenzie Collins (54th, 23:18.3).

Lathrop’s varsity boys came in 15th place.

Sophomore Carmelo Rodriguez and Sophia Jung highlighted Ripon’s boys and girls teams, respectively, in Division IV.

The boys took seventh behind Rodriguez’s fifth-place finish in 16:39.9. Lucas de Vera (30th, 17:50.7) and Luke Hartley (37th, 18:00.5) were other key contributors.

Jung took third overall in 19:39.9, as Ripon’s girls finished eighth as a team. Paige Thomas placed 47th in 23:03.5.

The River Islands varsity boys ended up in 23rd place, and the girls in 20th.

Elizabeth Rich was the lone medal winner for Ripon Christian. The Knights’ varsity girls are moving on after finishing in fifth place, and Rich led the way in 19th place with a time of 23:36.3.

The Ripon Christian boys took 13th.

Ripon had some notable performances in the lower levels.

The frosh-soph girls garnered first-place honors, with Grace Suarez (15:07.4) and Lilly Hendryk (15:23.4) leading the charge on the 2-mile course in second and third place, respectively. Liliana Paramo joined them in the top 10, coming in eighth place (16:06.0).

Ripon was also second in the freshman boys competition.

Ricky Taylor took sixth (13:30.6), with teammate Eastyn Amant (13:32.1) following close behind.

The section final is this Saturday, Nov. 14 at Willow Hill Reservoir Community Park in Folsom.