The school year is winding down but there are some Riverbank Bruin athletes still busy with their spring sports. Action continues for RHS track and field, the softball squad and the tennis team. Golf has ended its campaign, with the boys recently taking part in the Mother Lode League tournament. Here is a wrap of the competition.
TRACK AND FIELD
Riverbank’s varsity boys won the Mother Lode League Championship Meet this past week, placing first among six teams with a score of 169, just four points ahead of Bret Harte High School.
“The meet title came down to the final event of the night — the 4x400-meter relay — where sophomore Eder Ramirez Ventura, senior Alejandro Ochoa Silva, senior Alex Melo, and junior Armando Garcia came away victorious securing the final 10 points to take the final lead,” said RHS coach Sam Gong.
However, it was a total team effort from the Bruins that resulted in the championship, said Gong.
Senior TreyVon Martinez and junior Maveryk Redmon set big personal records (PR’s) in the shot put for 2nd and 3rd place scores, sophomore Jackson Hammond set a big PR in the discus for 2nd place and Redmon also set a PR in the discus for a 5th place score. Juniors Enrique Garnica and Adrian Madrigal secured a pair of 2nd place scores in the 100 meter and 400-meter sprints, respectively, while Madrigal also won the long jump. Eder Ramirez Ventura and Alejandro Ochoa Silva took 4th and 5th place, respectively, in the 400 meters. Alex Melo set big PR’s in the 110-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles to place 4th and 3rd in the events. Sophomore Andrew Franco set a PR in the 300-meter hurdles to capture 5th place.
“Then the Riverbank distance boys took over in the 800-meter race taking the top four places, in first place Armando Garcia followed by senior Gustavo Ortiz Rodriguez, Eder Ramirez Ventura, and Alejandro Ochoa Silva. Garcia also took second in the 1600-meter race and Ortiz Rodriguez took fourth,” said Gong.
Senior Matt Santana made a comeback from an early season injury to take 3rd in the 1600 meters and 2nd in the 3200 meters. Sophomores Yael Montesinos and Spencer Osako set big PRs in the 3200 meters to secure 3rd and 5th place, respectively.
“Freshman Danny Winchell took an impressive fourth place finish in the pole vault as the lone underclassman in the competition,” noted Gong. “The 4x100 meter relay team of sophomore Andres Lujano, Madrigal, Melo, and junior Daniel Orunja ran a season best time for the third place score, and the 4x800 meter relay team dominated the event taking first place.”
Gong shared that the Bruin athletes “showed incredible determination and composure under pressure, ultimately securing the league championship in thrilling fashion.”
The victory moved the Bruins to a season record of 9-1, a tie with Bret Harte High School, securing a League Co-Championship Title.
Riverbank’s varsity girls took 2nd place in the team scoring at the league championship meet.
“Senior Giselle Fernandez continues to shine winning the 800, 1600, and 3200, and anchoring the 4x800 relay team to a win,” Gong said. “Senior Gianna Cruz took second place in the 800 and 1600, also running a leg of the 4x800 relay.”
Senior dual athlete Maya Guzman – active in softball as well as track and field during the spring – took 3rd in the long jump, 4th in the high jump, and 4th in the shot put. Sophomore Isabella Valenzuela took 3rd in 300-meter hurdles. Junior Antoinette Wilkerson took 6th in the 800 meters. Freshman standout Yazmin Dominguez took 2nd in the 100-meter hurdles and 4th in the 300-meter hurdles.
“The coaching staff is incredibly proud of the team’s character and commitment,” Gong said.
Many of the Bruin track and field athletes will continue on to the Division 5 meet, being hosted at Riverbank on Wednesday, May 13 starting at about 1 p.m.
SOFTBALL
The Lady Bruins – while having a tough go of it in the Mother Lode League this season – are in the postseason and are scheduled for an opening round game on the road. They head to Bradshaw Christian in Sacramento for a 4 p.m. start on Wednesday, May 15.
The game is part of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 6 playoffs and Riverbank, as the number 13 seed, plays at number four Bradshaw Christian. Winner of the May 13 game is back on the field for the quarterfinals at 4 p.m., Friday, May 15 to take on the winner of the number five Hilmar-number 12 Mariposa County first round match up.
Top seed Amador has a first round bye, while other teams in the bracket are Stone Ridge Christian, Summerville, Linden, Colfax, Bear River, Bret Harte, Ben Holt College Prep Academy, Western Sierra Collegiate Academy, Argonaut and Big Valley Christian.
Semifinal round games are May 19 with the championship game on Saturday, May 23.
CO-ED TENNIS
A trip to the Section final awaits the Riverbank tennis team, as they got victories in the first, second, and third round contests.
“We will be playing Amador at Stockton’s Oak Park courts Thursday (May 14) at 1 p.m. for the Section title,” said head coach Bruce Edwards.
In the first round, Riverbank easily defeated Liberty Ranch, taking the match by an 8-1 final.
“Against Liberty Ranch we lost in only boys singles number two, that being sophomore Elijah Zamora, in a third set,” Edwards explained, adding that Zamora would go on to win both his next two matches, prevailing over Armijo and Orestimba opponents, both in a third set.
In the quarterfinals, Riverbank defeated Armijo by a 7-2 final and the semifinal match against Orestimba saw the Bruins just get past the Warriors, 5-4.
“Each match got progressively more intense as the strength of teams got better,” Edwards said. “Against Armijo both our number one single players lost, Nathalie Garcia and Victor Jacobo, against very good players that had been playing for many years.”
The Armijo number one girl, a senior, started playing at age four, said Edwards, while the freshman number one boy was USTA ranked.
“It was Nathalie’s first lost and it was very close,” noted the coach. “Nathalie and Victor started tennis as freshmen at Riverbank.”
Against Orestimba, the Riverbank girls had a rough time, losing girls singles one (Nathalie Garcia) and singles two (Emily Ramirez) as well as doubles number one (Ava Maez and Isabel Fernandez) in close matches. The team also lost the boys number two doubles (Jeancarlo Torres and Mateo Ibarra) in another close match.
“In three of those matches we lost, the seniors had just gotten out of an AP final that had lasted three hours and started late and got out late. As a result, they were rushed and warm up routine was compromised,” Edwards pointed out. “We had two close matches that we won in boys doubles one and singles two.”
Elijah Zamora took a 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 win in the boys number two singles; the boys number one doubles team of Omar Gomez and Eduardo De Los Santos took the win, 6-2, 2-6, 10-6.
“We were stronger than them in the other matches we won, boys singles one, girls doubles two, and mixed,” Edwards said.
Boys number one singles player Victor Jacobo won 6-2, 6-3; girls number two doubles Dani Garcia and Esmeralda Gomez won 6-4, 6-1; and mixed doubles Felix Pasillas and Noemy Torres won 6-3, 6-1.
BOYS GOLF
The Bruin golf boys closed out their spring season a couple of weeks ago.
“Our 2026 season came to an end on April 28 when our league tournament was held at Copper Valley Golf Club,” said head coach Ismael Mercado. “We compete in the Mother Lode League.”
This year’s team was made up of one senior, Dylan Gonser; three juniors, Alejandro Cabrera, Ivan Jimenez, and Geovanny Meneses; two sophomores, Will Johnson and Erik Guzman; and one freshman, Jonathan Ulloa.
“We are somewhat of a very young team,” said the coach. “We competed in every match and we are looking forward to continuing our growth into next year.”
Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.
