For the Oakdale High School boys cross country team, the 2023 campaign has been a highly memorable one. On Saturday, Nov. 25 the boys headed to Woodward Park in Fresno for the 2023 CIF Division III California State Cross Country Championships. While there, the boys made history. Oakdale placed second overall as a team. The Mustangs totaled 66 team points, while Dana Hills placed first at 42 points. Third place went to West Ranch with 211.
The race was five kilometers and senior Jackson Oliveira finished in fourth place overall. His speedy finish at 15:07 was a new Oakdale High School record. Fellow senior Omar Alsaidi finished just steps behind him with a time of 15:09, the second fastest time in school history. Alsaidi placed fifth overall. Not too far behind Alsaidi was teammate and senior Mason Oliveira, Jackson’s twin brother. He ran the race in 15:23 to finish in tenth place. This was the fourth fastest time in school history. Other runners representing Oakdale were Ismael Dominguez (15:37, 19th place), Jacob Cavanaugh (16:05, 45th place), Parker Whitemyer (16:48, 111th place) and Abner Gonzalez (17:33, 175th place).
“What a great performance by our team. These guys are amazing. All seven of our runners ran personal bests on this course, you cannot ask for any more than that,” said head coach Guy Fowler. “Every member of our team, both boys and girls, made a commitment back in June and put in the work. They believed in each other and the coaches. Coach Vic Moreno did an outstanding job getting them prepared and working through injuries, he is amazing. We are going to miss our graduating seniors, they have given so much to the program and lifted us up where we are today.”
In the race, Oakdale ran the 15th fastest team time all-time at 77:26 on the State Meet Course and set the Sac-Joaquin Section record for that same course. Adding to their year of accomplishments, the following runners were selected for All-State honors: Jackson Oliveira and Omar Alsaidi were named to First Team All-State; Mason Oliveira was named to Second Team All-State; Ismael Dominguez was named to Third Team All-State.
