In recent action, the co-ed Riverbank Bruins tennis team earned the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I championship banner.

Also, there were some top performances – including a Division 3 championship for Giselle Fernandez – as the track and field team competed in the finals at Hughes Stadium, Sacramento City College.

TENNIS

In what head coach Bruce Edwards termed “a very close, stressful match,” Riverbank won the Division I Section Championship by a 5-4 final against a strong Amador team, the defending Section champions.

“This is our first Section Championship in eight years for all the sports at the high school and the last one was also in tennis,” said Edwards.

The coach added that, the morning of the May 14 competition, “the entire school lined up outside to form a path on both sides from the gym and kept clapping as they sent us off to the match” in Stockton.

Just prior to the walk to the bus, the RHS Boosters fed the team breakfast in the gym.

The most intense match was the number two girls doubles, said Edwards, with partners Esmeralda Gomez and Daniela Garcia engaged in an epic battle.

“The match started at 1 p.m. and finished at about 4:30 p.m., which is the longest match I have seen in 30 years of coaching,” the coach explained. “The girls lost the first set 5-7 and then were able to fight back and win the second set with the score of 7-5.”

There was a 10-minute break before playing a full third set, giving players for both schools a chance to catch their breath.

“Unknown to them the overall team score was 4-4 as our mixed team of Noemy and Felix had kept us in the running with a win,” Edwards said as Gomez and Garcia returned to play the third set.

“Both Amador and Riverbank teams were outside the courts cheering for their doubles girls and very nervous and tense as the championship would be determined by the least experienced girls,” Edwards noted. “Riverbank got off to a great start with three quick wins to be ahead 3-0, but Amador came back and went ahead 4-3.”

Riverbank tied it at 4-4, Amador went up 5-4 and Riverbank was able to forge a 5-5 tie.

When they went ahead 5-4, Amador had two match points for the game, set and team championship.

“Everyone from Riverbank was worried, anxious, and maybe scared. Even the AD (Athletic Director) Juan Harvey was pacing and had to look away because he was nervous,” Edwards said.

Riverbank took advantage of a couple Amador miscues to force the 5-5 tie.

“The momentum had shifted. The girls went on to win the next game so the score was 6-5,” Edwards explained. “In the final game RBK was up 40-30 and won the next point for the overall win. The team went wild; crazy jumping up and down and cheering.”

And although that was the final and deciding match, the coach said the Bruins would have never even been in a position to win had it not been for the boys number two doubles (Jeancarlo Torres and Mateo Ibarra) winning a close match with a tie breaker, and Emily Ramirez in girls number two singles, coming back in the first set being down 5-3 and winning 7-5 and 6-0. Also, Victor Jacobo in number one boys singles won being down in the first set and fighting back to win 6-4 and 7-5, and the strong mixed doubles team of seniors Noemy Torres and Felix Pasillas easily winning their mixed doubles.

“Even the other matches that we lost were close. Overall Riverbank won 96 games and Amador won 93; very evenly matched,” Edwards said. “This team has created a great memory for the players, parents and staff that attended. They have given the school another section banner as well.”

TRACK AND FIELD

Head coach Sam Gong said there were some outstanding efforts from Riverbank athletes at the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V Track and Field Finals.

Riverbank hosted the trials on May 13; several moved on to the finals at Sacramento City College on Saturday, May 16.

“The Bruins were led by senior Giselle Fernandez, who captured the Division V championship in the girls 1600 meters with a winning time of 4:57.43,” Gong said. “She ran the fastest time of the day and will compete at the Masters Meet on Saturday, May 23 at Folsom High School, for a chance to qualify to the State Meet for a third time.”

Maya Guzman was the other Lady Bruin on the podium this past Saturday, capturing a second-place finish with a leap of 16’9.25” in the long jump.

On the boys side, junior Armando Garcia placed third in the 800 meters, running a season-best 1:58.70 to earn a spot on the podium.

“Riverbank’s boys 4x400-meter relay team of Adrian Madrigal, Eder Ramirez Ventura, Alex Melo, and Armando Garcia earned a podium second place in Division V with a time of 3:34.87,” noted Gong.

Additional Riverbank results included:

Boys

Matt Santana — 12th place, 1600 meters, 4:52.71

Eder Ramirez Ventura – Eighth place, 800 meters, 2:05.66

Danny Winchell — Pole Vault, No Height

Girls

Gianna Cruz — Seventh place, 800 meters, 2:30.67

Maya Guzman — Fifth place, Shot Put, 31-1.75 (Personal Record)

“Riverbank athletes delivered strong performances across multiple events and represented the program well on one of the section’s biggest stages,” Gong said.