FRESNO—Monte Vista Christian senior James Ponzio climbed his way to a top-10 finish in last week’s CIF State Cross Country Championships.
The Hollister native placed eighth in 15 minutes, 39.8 seconds out of 204 runners in the Division V boys race at Woodward Park on Nov. 26.
Ponzio turned on the afterburners at just the right moment to help him finish with a one-second personal record on the 5,000-meter course.
Liberty Charter senior Micah Sanchez (15:13.6) won the race, followed by Menlo senior Justin Pretre (15:24.6) and Woodcrest Christian sophomore Eyan Turk (15:28.1) in second and third, respectively.
Crystal Springs Uplands won the team title with a score of 73, finishing slightly ahead of Menlo (77) in second and Yosemite (120) in third.
Ponzio will continue his season at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships in Huntsville, Alabama, on Saturday.
Division III
Aptos High senior Trent Nosky (15:56.5) took 17th out of 215 runners in the Division III race.
Dana Hills sophomore Evan Noonan (15:04.3) won the race, followed by Oakdale senior Dax Daley (15:17.9) in second and Templeton junior Joshua Bell (15:18.3) in third.
Oakdale won the team title with a score of 56, Campolindo (109) took second and Dana Hills (127) was third.
Nosky will continue his season at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships on Saturday.
Girls
Division I
Watsonville High sophomore Katelynn Ruiz (19:07.7) took 54th out of 177 runners in the Division I race to help the Wildcatz (474) place 19th as a team.
Fellow freshman teammate Dennis Hernandez (20:30.1) took 119th, followed by seniors Dahlia Barranco (133rd; 20:49.2) and Ana Ruiz (147th; 21:10.5), and freshman Aaron Gonzalez (150th; 21:20.5).
Seniors Alexa Pedraza-Quinta (176th; 24:41.6) and Edith Martinez (177th; 24:41.6) also competed for the Wildcatz.
Poway junior Tessa Buswell (17:25.0) won the race, followed by Buchanan senior Grace Hutchison (17:30.3) and Santiago sophomore Rylee Blade (17:36.5) in second and third, respectively.
Buchanan won the team title with a score of 40, ahead of Oak Ridge (158) in second and Clovis North (161) in third.
Division V
Monte Vista Christian sophomore Kylie Brunelli (20:36.5) took 73rd and senior teammate Caelan Gilliam (20:57.0) was 96th out of 198 runners in the Division V race.
Crystal Springs Uplands senior Kaiya Brooks (17:54.2) won the individual title, followed by Convent/Stuart Hall sophomore Sienna Faidi (18:18.6) and Branson senior Adeline Johnson (18:19.0) in second and third, respectively.
Crystal Springs won the team title with a score of 129, edging University (131) of San Francisco in second and Viewpoint (185), which took third.
