Buchanan's girls (pictured) are among the nation's elite, as is Clovis senior Chris Caudillo, but division reshuffling has created both intrigue and mystery heading into Thursday's CIF-Central Section Cross Country Championships.
* * *
Race Schedule
D4 Girls - 11 am
D5 Girls - 11:30 am
D4 Boys - Noon
D5 Boys - 12:30 pm
D1 Girls - 1 pm
D2 Boys - 1:30 pm
D3 Girls - 2 pm
D1 Boys - 2:30 pm
D2 Girls - 3 pm
D3 Boys - 3:30 pm
Team Auto-Qualifying by State-Meet Division
| Gender | D-I | D-II | D-III | D-IV | D-V |
| Boys | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Girls | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
* * *
FRESNO -- While many of the year-over-year results from the Central Section Cross Country Championships in 2021 are moot because of massive section-wide division changes, there still remains a few constants.
-->Buchanan's girls are still the best team in the Golden State, and one of the best in all the land
-->Christopher Caudillo is the man to beat in the large-school division.
-->Yosemite's boys figure to be even better now situated in the state's smallest division.
* * *
Thursday's Central Section Finals on the 5,000-meter course at Woodward Park serves as much as a warm-up for the Nov. 26 CIF-State Championships on the same course, as it does a celebration of the section's elite cross country athletes.
Buchanan's girls team, despite meandering illness and injury, has maintained its excellence thus warranting the Bears' national rankings toggle among the top three in the MileSplit50. Coach Brian Weaver's team prevailed at Woodbridge while less than 100 percent, and showed off their depth at Clovis by managing to place fourth overall in the merge despite not scoring in the Varsity Championship race.
BYU-bound senior
Grace Hutchison appears to be back to form following a DNF at the early-October Clovis Invite on the friendly Woodward Park layout. Cal Poly-SLO-bound senior
Sydney Sundgren (pictured) is the defending section champion. She and Hutchison were scoring freshmen on Buchanan's 2019 State championship team, and both have played massive roles in Buchanan's nationally-recognized success ever since.
Another senior,
Caroline Mendyk, ran No. 4 for the Bears as a freshman at that State Meet. Buchanan's ability to develop young talent to compete at a high level has been one of the secret's to their recent domination. Sophomore
Elliana Lomeli placed third at the CS Finals last year behind Sundgren and Hutchison. Another current sophomore,
Sierra Cornett, was sixth with Mendyk next.
Buchanan, which opened in 1991, has won 24 TRAC league titles, including nine in a row, 23 section titles, including the last six in a row, and by the end of the month will be taking the line looking for a third consecutive Division I State title.
But first, Thursday's section finals.
Here's a closer look by division, (with more on D-1 girls below)
BOYS
Division 1
The aforementioned Caudillo, a Cal Poly-SLO signee from Clovis HS, is among the state's elites, looking to defend his title. He cruised to 15:18.44 here last year but has been ramping it up this year on the home course, running 15:03.90 at the Clovis Invite, and 15:04.85 last week to win TRAC.
But D-1 is not a gimme on the individual front and will certainly be a heartbreaker on the team front.
Returning powers from last year's Division 2 final are now all in D-1. Where the San Luis Obispo crew will be lurking, as will Clovis East junior
Carter Spradling (fourth in D-1 as a sophomore), as well as the boys from Madera South, Clovis West, and Sanger.
Madera South won the D-1 team title last year. Sanger edged SLO for the CS title in D-2 but SLO used an amazing third-mile kick to win the State D-II title. Senior
Dylan Devine and
Adrian Hipolito are sub-16 5K guys up front for Madera South.
If you're doing the math here, there are more elite teams than available State Meet qualifying spots. Three will go. The rest will be resigned to racing for individual representation.
Division 2
The complete overhaul of teams slotting in this division has left the top returning individual from the 2021 CS finals as El Diamante junior
Chance Ybarra, who placed 16th in the D-2 race last year, running 17:12.57.
Top-nine finishers in D-3 last year now slotted here include a trio of seniors, two from Tulare Western -- last year's D-3 team champion and favorite here -- in
Carter Mendes (16:26.79) and
Joseph Flores (16:32.00), along with Frontier's
Jacob Perez (16:36.35).
Santiago Basurto has run 14:44.30 for 5K this year to lead Tulare Western, ahead of Flores (14:51.60), and Mendes (15:03.40).
Division 3
Templeton junior
Joshua Bell will be running for his second consecutive division title. He blew away the field -- which included SLOHS -- at the SLO County Championships, running 14:42.53. He's placed either first or second in seven races this season, including race wins at Mt. SAC and Morro Bay, and a runner-up finish in the Varsity Small Schools race at Clovis, running 15:15.10, his best to date on the Woodward Park course.
Tulare Union, Porterville, and Pioneer Valley appear the top contenders for the team title.
Dominic Welsh was sixth in D-4 last year for Porterville.
Division 4
Yosemite was 12 points better than Matilda Torres for the division title last year. Yosemite now competes in D-5, leaving Matilda Torres as the apparent team to beat. Juniors
Ozzy Hernandez and
Esaud Vargas placed 7th and 8th, respectively, for Matilda Torres in the D-4 race last year and sophomore
Noah Felix Andrade was 11th as a freshman. Parlier junior
Evan Torres has had a strong season and could challenge up front. He was 13th a year ago.
Division 5
Yosemite is ranked No. 1 in the state in this division and is led by sophomores
Ben Olney,
Jack Olney, and
Ford Stegge, and junior
Noah Graffigna.
Raul Acevado of Summit Charter Collegiate is the returning division champion. He ran 17:47.93 here las year. Riverdale senior
Everardo Garcia was third, Mammoth junior
Dane Karch was fourth, and Fresno Christian junior
Noah Howard was fifth. Liberty-Madera Ranchos topped Riverdale by 11 points for the title in '21.
* * *
GIRLS
Division 1
There's enough talent here to challenge Buchanan to the point that a repeat of the 19-point performance of a year ago, or better, may not be possible. Then again, we're were talking about the No. 3 team in the country coming off a 23-point performance against its biggest section rivals while taking the line without three prime scorers. So, maybe 19 is more floor than ceiling.
Cameron Macias of Clovis West is arguably the best freshman in the state. Her 17:28.50 for fourth in the elite race at the Clovis Invite ranks as the No. 4 time in the class in the U.S., and No. 5 overall in the Central Section. She ran second to Hutchison at TRAC, albeit nearly 38 seconds back.
Division 2
With returning team champion Sanger now in D-1, the top two returning girls in D-2 actually ran 1-2 in D-3 last year in Highland's
Mia Torrecillas and
Lianna Guerra. Torrecillas, a junior, went 18:24.14 and Guerra, a senior, went 18:42.22 in leading Highland to the title.
The top returners from the D-2 meet are Madera junior
Sophia Mirelez (18:55.09), Liberty-Bakersfield junior
Nicole Bridges (19:07.71), and Paso Robles senior
Sydney Moore (19:10.54). Bridges is a two-time league champion.
Torrecillas, seventh at State last year in D-3, has six race wins this fall and is a two-time league champion. She went 17:46.80 at the Clovis Invite, her best so far on the Woodward Park course.
Tulare Western looms as a team to beat led by sophomores
Carly Herrera (17:51.80 for 5K) and
Emily Flores (18:01.00). Herrera, Flores and junior
Amiah Isiah went 1-2-3 in a WYL-winning performance on the Woodward Park layout.
Division 3
Eight of the top 10 from this division race a year ago were non-seniors. With the top two now in D-2, Independence junior
Trinity McLean is the top returner. She ran 19:34.25 a year ago for third place, Pioneer Valley senior
Araceli Medina was fourth.
Junior
Priscilla Raya, seventh a year ago, is the top returner for Wasco, which placed second to Highland in the team battle. Wasco went 1-2-4 at league finals, led by sophomore
Nieves Alvarez, Rayay, and sophomore
Giselle Acevedo.
Santa Maria, which won D-4 last year, is now in D-3. Same with D-4 runner-up Nipomo.
Division 5
Immanuel sophomore Clara Riddle has the top entry time of 19:01.83. Defending champion, Sierra Wight, a junior at Mammoth, does not have a time in the database this year, nor on the entry list, is listed among the entered athletes. As is Fresno Christian junior Emma Connolly, second here last year.
Central Valley, led by senior Caitlin Chea, is the defending division team champions. Chea has the No. 2 entry time, followed by Fresno Christian freshman Julia Gray.
Immanuel has five of the top 13 entry times, including freshman Lexi Schartmann, and juniors Sarah Larger, Sydney Friesen, and Gaby Ramirez.
Photos by DeAnna Turner
Jeffrey Parenti is the California State Editor for MileSplit
