A mid-November race saw some solid efforts from Riverbank runners.
On Saturday, Nov. 18 seven girls from age eight to 13 competed in the AAU West Coast Championships in Reno, NV at San Rafael Park.
“It was about 38 degrees at the time of the first race and the elevation is 4500 feet, so there were some challenges that our girls faced that they weren’t used to when running in the Central Valley,” noted Riverbank High School cross country coach Monte Wood. “However, all seven girls won medals and qualified to the national race in Charlotte, NC but I don’t think any of them are planning to go this year due to money and time.”
Aimee Rosales was fifth in her race in the 13-14 division.
“She was racing against mostly freshmen in high school and competed very well considering she is only an eighth grader,” Wood said.
In the 11-12 girls age division, Dayanara Ruvalcaba was third, Lorelei Scheele fourth, and Livi Fernandez was fifth overall. Citlaly Herrera and DeYanira Oviedo-Gonzalez also won medals in the race.
“The great thing for these girls is that they won the team competition in that race which helped our club win the overall competition,” Wood explained. “Idalis Gonzalez won the eight and under race. She was really impressive as she had trained very little for the race, and did a great job running the 2k race under not so ideal conditions. Her kick at the end was very impressive and drew a lot of wows from people watching the race.”
At the end of the day, as team members gathered for a photo shoot with their medals, it was announced that the Stanco Future Stars, the name of their AAU team, had won the overall team competition and were presented with a very nice trophy.
“It was a pleasant surprise, and I am so proud of the girls for running so well in the cold and elevation,” Wood said. “This was the first year for our AAU Cross Country team, and I hope to see it grow next year to include multiple age level teams for girls and boys. We hope to make an attempt to compete in the national championship race next year.”
