The Oakdale Mustang boys cross country team scored a major victory over 10 other high-quality teams in the Clovis West Golden Eagle Cross Country Invitational meet held at Fresno’s Woodward Park. The event, on Saturday, Oct. 1, was hosted at the site of the California State Meet. The Mustangs, currently second in the California state Division III rankings, overwhelmed second place Yosemite High School 42 points to 75 points in the 5,000-meter Large School Division event. In such a high-powered cross country meet, a 33-point margin of victory is enormous.
The Mustangs placed four runners among the top six finishers in the 75-runner race; a fact that accounts for the large margin of victory in team scoring. Senior Dax Daley led all runners, finishing the race in a personal record time of 15 minutes, 46.14 seconds. The win was Daley’s third first-place finish this year in a multi-team event. Finishing in third place was Mustang senior Caleb Cavanaugh who recorded a time of 16 minutes, 2.2 seconds, his best at that distance this season. Newcomer Omar Alsaidi, a junior transfer from Ripon High School running his first race for the Mustangs, finished fifth in a personal record time of 16:15.95, followed, in sixth place, by junior Jackson Oliveira, whose time of 16:18.81 was also a personal record. Rounding out the Mustang team were sophomore Jacob Cavanaugh, who finished 28th in 17:29.94, and junior Abner Gonzalez, who finished 48th in 18:22.20.
Head cross country coach Guy Fowler was elated with the team’s performance but cautious as he looks forward.
“It was good to have the complete team together for the first time this year. This is just one step…we have to keep training and get better because everybody else is doing the same thing,” Fowler said.
VOLLEYBALL
On the road at Kimball for a Valley Oak League match on Tuesday, Sept. 27, the Oakdale volleyball girls came home with a trio of wins.
The freshmen were 2-1 winners, the JV girls swept Kimball 2-0 and the varsity squad crafted a 3-0 victory over the host Lady Jaguars, noted varsity head coach Kaitlin Burke.
Home to host River Island, it was a freshman only game on Sept. 28 and the game went to Oakdale by a 2-0 final.
Continuing a busy week, all three levels were back on the road, headed to Central Catholic in Modesto for action on Thursday, Sept. 29. There, the freshmen and JV were 2-1 winners while the varsity continued its strong play, sweeping past the Lady Raiders in a 3-0 decision.
Then, said Burke, the JV and varsity teams returned to Central Catholic for a Valley Oak League tournament on Saturday, Oct. 1.
“JV came in third place and Varsity came in second,” Burke said. “This leaves Varsity currently in second in VOL, JV is currently tied for fourth, and Frosh is currently tied for first.”
This week the girls were to play at Sierra on Tuesday and will go to Manteca High on Thursday, Oct. 6. All league matches are scheduled for 4:15 p.m. frosh; 5:15 p.m. JV; and 6:15 p.m. for varsity.
WATER POLO
Action in the pool this past Thursday, Sept. 29 saw the Oakdale varsity water polo girls defeat Sierra by a 13-7 final. The varsity boys were big winners over the Timberwolves, crafting a 20-3 victory.
The boys were also scheduled to play Central Catholic on Tuesday, Oct. 4 and the teams will have a huge league contest on Thursday, Oct. 6. That’s when rival Ripon comes in to the Oakdale Aquatic Center for a pivotal match; the girls are scheduled to play at 4 p.m., the boys at 5 p.m.
GOLF GIRLS
After having a bye week, the Lady Mustang golfers jump back into Valley Oak League play. They were scheduled to travel to Manteca Park Golf Course on Oct. 4 to play East Union and then on Thursday, Oct. 6 they will host Sierra at Oakdale Golf and Country Club. Then, they host Kimball on Oct. 13 and looking ahead, will take part in the VOL Championship at Swenson Park Golf Course on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
