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Cross Country Varsity Boys Take First At Duyst
RUN GRAPHIC

The long-awaited cross country season began this past weekend with the Oakdale High School boys and girls team competing in the Stanislaus State Kim Duyst Invitational.

On Saturday, Sept. 9 the Mustang program headed to Ceres for a run under the stars. The Oakdale varsity boys took first place out of 23 teams. Oakdale finished 65 points ahead of the second place team. With 203 total runners in the five-kilometer run, a trio of Mustangs placed in the top five. Omar Alsaidi (second place 15:13); Jackson Oliveira (fourth place 15:30) and Mason Oliveira (fifth place 15:43) all placed in the top five. Junior Jacob Cavanaugh placed sixth overall at 16:02 and Abner Gonzalez placed 27th overall at 17:02.

Oakdale varsity girls took fifth place as a team. Sophomore Bradie Evans placed 20th overall at 21:03. Senior Brady Wylie placed 25th overall at 21:11. Also competing in the race were junior Ava Calandro (36th place 21:45); junior Audri Scott (43rd overall 21:55) and sophomore Jordan Wylie (44th overall 22:03).

In the frosh/soph boys two-kilometer race, Oakdale placed second overall. With 227 total runners taking the course; Dirk Scott, a sophomore, placed third overall at 6:41. Placing in the top ten for Oakdale were sophomore Jaxton Marler (8th place 6:53) and freshman Quinn Baca (9th place 6:53). Sophomores Jesus Covarrubias (27th place 7:11) and Camden Knight (30th place 7:14) also competed.

It was a third place finish for the frosh/soph girls team. In the two-kilometer run, five freshman girls placed in the top 55 out of the 159 runners. Shelby Mitchell placed eighth overall at 8:18. Zeldy Cornejo (24th overall 8:41); Susanna Orr (45th 9:07) Taylor Reams (51st 9:10) and Unique Sanders (53rd place 9:12).

The race had a memorable start as it was delayed by two hours due to lightning. The varsity boys began running at 10:45 p.m. and the girls lined up at 11:30 p.m.

A special treat for attendees were the College/Open Division and former Oakdale High School grads that took the course. Class of 2023 alum Kassidy Fmura placed sixth overall in the women’s six-kilometer run. Fmura runs for Stanislaus State. The men’s eight kilometer run featured three former Mustangs: 2023 grad Dax Daley placed third overall (unattached); 2021 grad Dominic Robles placed eighth overall (Stanislaus State) and 2023 grad Caleb Cavanaugh placed 33rd overall (unattached).