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Plenty of preseason action for soccer, hoop squads
Bruin Wrap 12-17-25
R Fernandez 12-17
Riverbank standout athlete Giselle Fernandez, second from left, came home from the state cross country meet with a silver medal, crafting a second-place finish in a new RHS and Stanislaus County record time of 17:19 for the course at Woodward Park in Fresno. Photo Contributed

The varsity Bruin basketball boys put a couple of wins on the books during the past week, with a lopsided 71-17 victory over Le Grand getting them started on the right foot on Dec. 11.

They then traveled to Waterford for a Dec. 12 match and won that one by a 49-33 final. Against Denair on Dec. 13, the boys fell in a hard-fought game, losing 64-61 to the Coyotes.

For the varsity girls, they had a busy week and also started with a win, 75-56 over Valley Christian on Dec 11.

The varsity Lady Bruins lost their next two, falling 49-31 to West Campus on Dec. 12, then battling and coming up just a little short against Bear River on Dec 13, 40-34. They got back on track on Dec. 15, with a 55-44 win over Enochs.

 

Soccer

The varsity soccer boys had a flurry of contests, taking a Dec. 9 loss to Hughson, 3-2. Then they played four games over two days, falling 2-0 to McClatchy on Dec. 12 before winning a 2-0 contest with Laguna Creek. On Dec. 13, they lost a pair of games, 3-1 to Edison and 1-0 to Elk Grove.

For the varsity girls, it was a much lighter schedule, their only recent contest on Dec. 9 against Hughson going in the loss column, 4-1.

 

Cross Country

Riverbank’s Giselle Fernandez continued to shine on the big stage for cross country in late November into early December.

“Giselle finished second at the state cross country meet on November 29,” said her coach Monte Wood. “Her time of 17:19 broke her own school record and the Stanislaus County record. She ran the 13th fastest time in the state across all divisions.”

Fernandez went on to compete at the Brooks West Regional Championships on Saturday, Dec. 6. The top 10 runners qualified to the National Championship Race.

“She placed eighth overall in a tight race amongst the best runners from eight western states,” Wood noted, with her eighth place showing earning her a spot in the Brooks National Championship race.

Wood pointed out that she is only the second local runner ever to make the National Championship race. The other was her brother German Fernandez in 2007.

 

Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.