Clovis captures third straight women's NorCal title while Butte wins first-ever regional title

Complete Results l Photos

 

SALINAS - On an unseasonably warm November morning in Salinas, 91 women and 106 men competed over the hills and trails of Toro Park with hopes and dreams of winning the Northern California title or advancing to the 3C2A State Championship at Woodward Park in two weeks. Clovis Community College, spearheaded by undefeated Rhiannon Walker, became just the third women's team to ever win three consecutive Northern California titles and just the second to do so in successive years. Walker became The Crush's first-ever individual winner as she eyes the state title on her home course at Woodward Park in two weeks. The Butte College men had been a surprise out of the Golden Valley Conference all season and won the program's first-ever team title. Hartnell's Jesse Blanco pulled the upset for the individual men's title on his home course in front of family and friends. Eight teams advanced to the 3C2A State championship along with 15 women and 13 men individuals. 

 

In the women's championship race, Rhiannon Walker of Clovis asserted herself early but was trailed much more closely by not just Hartnell's Roselyn Olivo, but also by a pair of freshmen in College of San Mateo's Ericka Dorn and Alejandra Magana-Ramirez of American River College. Three of the four conference champions were in the top four overall at over halfway in the course. The early team split at the 1.65 mile mark prior to the hills had Clovis leading with 67 points followed by Hartnell with 126. A trio of schools in Sequoias, San Joaquin Delta, and American River College were only separated by seven points and looking to pick up that third-place team trophy. Walker's 10-second lead would balloon to 31 seconds in just a little less than a mile as she emerged from the hills with a sizable lead. The question then became how much faster than her 18:33 time at the preview meet would she run in winning. Behind her, Magana-Ramirez asserted herself in second with an 11-second advantage over Dorn.

 

With just about 1000 meters remaining, Clovis remained comfortably in front with 56 points. Hartnell held on to second with 118 but American River was pushing hard and was third now with 127 passing Sequoias. At the finish, Walker would stop the clock at 18:16.4 moving her to sixth fastest all-time and continuing her unbeaten streak this fall with just one race remaining. Magana-Ramirez will return in 2025 as the heavy favorite for the individual title after placing second in 18:55, moving her to the top 15 on the course. She was the only other runner in the field to eclipse the 19-minute barrier.

 

Dorn would hold on to the bronze medal spot in 19:14. In the team race, Clovis would improve their team score to 50 points to win their third title in a row. The Crush have been extremely consistent in their victories recording scores of 49 in 2022 and 40 in 2023. American River would move up to second over the last 1000 meters and tally 116 points to edge Hartnell by one point at 117. This was American River's first top 3 finish since 2017. Hartnell has managed to finish in the top 3 in eight out of the last nine championships.

Back on Oct. 4, it was the American River College men taking the team win by just four points over an upstart Butte College team. Butte was led by freshman Stephan Chapdelaine's individual victory but he was chased closest by Hartnell's Jesse Blanco. With the temperature rising on the course, it was Madera Community College's Vidal Luna asserting himself early. Only Blanco would give chase with Butte's top two runners Chapdelaine and Phillip Logan content to sit back and focus on the team battle. At the 1.65-mile split, Luna and Blanco had nearly a 11-second lead over the trio of Chapdelaine and Logan. The team score had Hartnell with a slight lead with 73 followed by De Anza's 74 and Butte's 86.

 

De Anza had Diego Ochoa-Mendez and James Estrella running in seventh and eighth place overall. American River was running a much more conservative pace but had all scorers in the top 44. When the leader emerged one mile later, it would be Blanco leading by 10 seconds over Chapdelaine as both split roughly the same during the hill loop. Luna continued to give chase with 14:53 5k performer Jacob Christopher of Lake Tahoe making a push for the top three.

 

With the field now having to traverse the opening 1.5-mile loop again, team scores had changed with Butte now leading with 82 followed by Hartnell with 87. American River was within striking distance with 94 and De Anza holding comfortably at 99. Breaking the tape first would be Hartnell's Jesse Blanco in 20:23. Blanco is now the third champion for the Panthers in the last four championships. Blanco moved into seventh place all-time on the course.  His lead grew to 27 seconds over the final 1.5 miles as Chapdelaine would cross in second in 20:51. Those two were the only to break 21 minutes back on October 4 and would also be the only two to do so Friday.

 

Vidal Luna at 21:00 gave Madera its first state qualifier and top three-finisher in its first year as a program. With 83 points, Butte would secure the first Norcal title since the large and small school divisions combined in 1984. Butte had previously won the Small School title in 1979. In addition to Chapdelaine in second, Phillip Logan would move up to fifth in 21:15 and Mark Velazquez-Patino would finish eighth in 21:21. De Anza College managed to jump over both American River and Hartnell in the final portion of the course to place second with 98 points. American River was third with 101.