GIRLS
Central Section Champions (Team/Score)
Division 2: Sanger 27, Frontier 127, Liberty-Bakersfield 118
Division 3: Bakersfield Highland 110, Wasco 129, Independence 150
Division 4: Santa Maria 75, Nipomo 94, Orcutt Academy 96
Division 5: Central Valley Christian 44, Liberty-Madera Ranchos 49, Fowler 52
Teams To Watch Profiles on MileSplit
Sanger (New to Division 1)
The Apaches enjoyed a major milestone of success last year in cross-country. Both the girls and boys teams won Central Section Division 2 championships, won multiple invitationals entered and concluded with a ninth-place team finish for the girls in the D-II race at the State Meet at Woodward Park.
The program was feted by the city and the coaches and the runners enjoyed special recognition from the Sanger Unified School Board.
The girls team's commanding victory in the section finals was really something, scoring 27 team points and the runner-up, Bakersfield Frontier, finish with 117.
For 2022, three key runners return to keep the momentum going for Sanger, which has also moved up to D-1. The three are seniors Leah Mendibles, who was fourth in the section final (18:55.60) and Anayacsi Diaz, 10th, 19:48.34; and sophomore Alexa Vaca, 37th, 21:05.35.
Can Anyone Break Buchanan's Pack?
There is a very real scenario brewing for the 2022 season. When the TRAC league finals take place on Thursday, November 10, will the Buchanan girls' team sweep the top five spots? Six? Seven?
In 2021, Buchanan won the league title with its top five runners finishing among the top six places. Sydney Sundgren was the individual champion in 17:31.69, followed by Grace Hutchison (second, 17:42.74), Elliana Lomeli (third, 17:59.57), Sierra Cornett (fifth, 18:03.81) and Stefania Sesock (sixth, 18:15.61). Caroline Mendyk, for good measure, was seventh overall in 18:20.18.
The lone runner to break up the pack was Clovis North's Ashlyn Leath. She finished fourth overall in 18:02.89. Three of the next four runners following Mendyk were Leath's teammates, two now graduated seniors, Miliana Perez and Gianna Bomarito and sophomore Kaitelyn Emmons. Those three were eighth, ninth and 11th. Clovis East's Ariana Womack, another now graduated senior, was 10th.
Buchanan, the two-time defending State Division I champion and Central Section Division I champion, has Sundgren, Hutchison and Mendyk back as seniors, Lomeli and Cornett are both sophomores, and there are two freshmen who are already pushing for varsity spots in Kynzlee Buckley and Tayler Torosian. Add in Avery Hutchison and Ellie Dimitrashuk and that's 10 Bears runners.
Champions on the Move
Winners of CIF Central Section girls divisional titles in 2021 were able to celebrate at that time, but in 2022, defense of those titles has changed for three of the five teams. Buchanan stays in Division I and Central Valley Christian, the Division V winner, remains where it is.
Sanger, Bakersfield Highland and Santa Maria are each moving up one division for the new year. Sanger, the Division 2 section champ, will be competing in Division 1. Bakersfield Highland, winner of Division 3 title and paced by Mia Torrecillas and Lianna Guerra, goes to Division 2. Santa Maria's Division 4 championship included three returning runners in Crystal Herrera, Annais Vega and Rocio Zamora, but they'll be competing in Division 3 this fall.
Individually, junior Sophia Mirelez, who placed third in the Central Section Division 2 race as a sophomore at Madera, has transferred to Matilda Torres and will this fall compete in Division 4. Her time of 18:55.09 would have been the top returning time D-2 and definitely is No. 1 among returners from the D-4 race.
Bakersfield's Best of 2024 ... now?
There's a very solid group of individual runners who will be competing in 2022 for Central Section Bakersfield-area schools. Everyone is a Class of 2024 runner. Bakersfield Liberty has two competitors, Nicole Bridges (18:10.29) and Aubrey Thompson (19:54.35); and there's Bakersfield Highland, Mia Torrecillas (17:44.96), who won a Division3I Section individual title and helped the Scots win the section title in 2021; Bakersfield Frontier's Cordelia Aguilar (19:20.69), Independence's Trinity McLean (19:34.10) and Bakersfield's Abigail Varner (19:20.54).
Small Schools, Big Talent
Teams who run in divisions 3, 4, and 5, tend to have smaller school enrollment and there can be a tendency to overlook the talented runners who compete and are thriving for their teams when a title is won.
Several runners listed below are among those to watch throughout the season, including big meets such as the section final and State Meet. Each of the runners competed in both events last fall so they'll give their teams a boost in experience and leadership for 2022.
Division 5: Caitlin Chea, Senior, Central Valley Christian; Evangelique Ortiz, Sr., Summit Charter Collegiate; Alexa Gomez, Sr., Summit Charter Collegiate; Brooke DaSilva, Jr., Liberty-Madera Ranchos; and Melody Miller, Jr., Central Valley Christian.
Division 4: Ashley Fitt, Jr., Bishop Union; Peyton Miya, Sophomore, Orcutt Academy; Alyana Chavez, Jr., Roosevelt; and Kayden Sanders, Sr., Nipomo.
Division 3: Araceli Medina, Sr., Pioneer Valley; Priscilla Raya, Jr., Wasco; Carmen Gaebe, Jr., El Diamante.
Top 10 Returning Central Section XC Girls
Division 1
| 1 | Sydney Sundgren | 11 | Buchanan (CS) | 17:35.12 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Grace Hutchison | 11 | Buchanan (CS) | 17:39.44 | 2 | ||
| 3 | Elliana Lomeli | 9 | Buchanan (CS) | 18:02.58 | 3 | ||
| 5 | Ashlyn Leath | 11 | Clovis North (CS) | 18:11.99 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Sierra Cornett | 9 | Buchanan (CS) | 18:13.34 | 6 | ||
| 7 | Caroline Mendyk | 11 | Buchanan (CS) | 18:16.87 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Stefania Sesock | 10 | Buchanan (CS) | 18:25.82 | 8 | ||
Division 2
| 3 | Sophia Mirelez | 10 | Madera (CS) | 18:55.09 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Leah Mendibles | 11 | Sanger (CS) | 18:55.60 | 4 | ||
| 7 | Nicole Bridges | 10 | Liberty - Bakersfield (CS) | 19:07.71 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Sydney Moore | 11 | Paso Robles (CS) | 19:10.54 | 8 | ||
| 9 | Abigail Spain | 11 | Bullard (CS) | 19:33.92 | 9 | ||
| 10 | Anayacsi Diaz | 11 | Sanger (CS) | 19:48.34 | 10 | ||
Division 3
| 1 | Mia Torrecillas | 10 | Highland (CS) | 18:24.14 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Lianna Guerra | 11 | Highland (CS) | 18:42.22 | 2 | ||
| 3 | Trinity McLean | 10 | Independence Bakersfield (CS) | 19:34.25 | 3 | ||
| 4 | Araceli Medina | 11 | Pioneer Valley (CS) | 20:03.03 | 4 | ||
| 5 | Carmen Gaebe | 10 | El Diamante (CS) | 20:19.81 | 5 | ||
| 6 | Keani Neuhs | 9 | Templeton (CS) | 20:21.62 | 6 | ||
| 7 | Priscilla Raya | 10 | Wasco (CS) | 20:23.17 | 7 | ||
| 8 | Araceli Villarreal | 11 | Reedley (CS) | 20:23.91 | 8 | ||
| 10 | Melanie Nevarro | 9 | Lindsay (CS) | 20:37.33 | 10 | ||
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Division 4
| 3 | Ashley Fitt | 10 | Bishop Union (CS) | 20:01.46 | 0 | ||
| 4 | Alyana Chavez | 10 | Roosevelt (CS) | 20:19.56 | 3 | ||
| 6 | Peyton Miya | 9 | Orcutt Academy (CS) | 21:01.92 | 5 | ||
| 7 | Natalie Lopez | 11 | Lemoore (CS) | 21:05.97 | 6 | ||
| 8 | Irene Martinez | 10 | Matilda Torres (CS) | 21:19.50 | 0 | ||
| 9 | Kayden Sanders | 11 | Nipomo (CS) | 21:22.49 | 7 | ||
| 10 | Alessandra Telles | 10 | Fresno (CS) | 21:29.77 | 8 | ||
Division 5
| 1 | Sierra Wight | 10 | Mammoth (CS) | 20:28.16 | 1 | ||
| 2 | Emma Connolly | 10 | Fresno Christian (CS) | 21:23.43 | 0 | ||
| 3 | Caitlin Chea | 11 | Central Valley Christian (CS) | 21:27.17 | 2 | ||
| 4 | Evangelique Ortiz | 11 | Summit Charter Collegiate (CS) | 21:33.94 | 0 | ||
| 6 | Alexa Gomez | 11 | Summit Charter Collegiate (CS) | 21:52.81 | 0 | ||
| 10 | Michelle Zarate | 10 | Riverdale (CS) | 22:41.01 | 0 | ||
Ryan Blystone is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to MileSplit
Photos by DeAnna Turner, Patrick Corsinita, and Jeffrey Parenti