Stallions win cross country dual
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
From left, Madera South runners Isaac Chavez, Dylan Devine, Adrian Hipolito, Videl Luna and Ulysses Vega, begin Friday’s triangle meet race against Bullard and Matilda Torres. The Stallions placed eight runners in the top nine positions.
In its second meet of the season, the Madera South boys and girls cross country teams picked up victories against County/Metro Athletic Conference foe Bullard-Fresno after running on the Madera South campus.
The boys team scored 18 points to beat the Knights and Matilda Torres while the girls team overtook an undermanned Knights team for the win. Torres finished second in the boys race, ahead of Bullard.
“The girls race, we let them do whatever they wanted,” coach Sky Fierro said. “The boys race, we had a little bit of strategy for them and they accomplished that to a tee.”
Isaac Chavez paced the boys race and led Madera South with an individual win. Adrian Hipolito was five seconds back in third place.
“We wanted them to control their first mile,” Fierro said. “We gave them a pace and it was a race after the mile marker. In cross country, 1-5 win so the fourth and fifth person is more valuable than everyone thinks. Everyone sees the 1 and 2 come in and think it’s all great and forget about the 4 and 5. From a coaching aspect, you are worried about where that 4 and 5 are coming from.”
Bullard placed third to interrupt Madera South’s dominance in the race. The Stallions placed eight runners in the first nine spots.
Vidal Luna placed fourth, 10 seconds behind Chavez. Dylan Devine, in his first race of the year, was two seconds behind Luna for fifth and fourth on the team.
Ulysses Vega was the Stallions’ fifth runner and led a pack of Stallions in sixth place, more than 20 seconds behind Devine.
German Villavicencio was five seconds behind Vega in seventh. Estevan Medina was eighth, two seconds behind Villavicencio and Esaud Vargas was almost two seconds behind Medina in ninth.
For good measure, Angel Cobian was 11th and Armando Guzman placed 12th.
Alvino Diaz was the first Matilda Torres runner in 13th place. Ozzy Hernandez was 15th and Bryan Perez placed 16th for the Toros, who placed second ahead of Bullard.
Bullard’s Abigail Spain torched the field in the girls race. She finished more than 30 seconds ahead of the second place runner, Madera South’s Jaydah Aguilar.
After another Bullard runner, Adriana Ruiz placed fourth for the Stallions, almost 30 seconds after Aguilar crossed the finish line.
Guisel Santos placed third on the team in fifth place, more than 35 seconds behind Ruiz. Milca Martinez was the fourth Stallion across the line, 20 seconds behind Santos.
Alannah Dela Cruz finished the Stallions’ scoring in 10th place. Jade Jimenez was 11th and Evangelina Mejia placed 12th.
Zuly Martinez led the Toros with a ninth place finish.
The dual meets are a little different than what the Stallions are used to, but Fierro said the team will make the most of it.
“This is a lot different for Madera South, in general,” he said. “In previous years, it was looking for the biggest races possible against the best competition in the state. These dual or tri meets are different. It’s cool because it mixes it up for the guys. There’s not much room for error. That one position can mean a win or loss.”
The Stallions travel to today Edison for their first meet off campus beginning at 3 p.m.
