VALLEY MILLS – With the varsity girls leading the way, the Clifton boys and girls high school and middle school cross country teams turned in strong performances at the Valley Mills Invitational held at the high school campus last Saturday morning.
Senior Daniella Gaona captured the individual silver medal to lead the Lady Cubs to a second place finish as a team with 65 points, well behind meet champion McGregor with 25 and ahead of host Valley Mills with 76.
“We wrapped up the weekend of sports in Valley Mills with a solid showing at their Invitational,” said Clifton cross country head coach Ryan Hunt, who had varsity, junior varsity and middle school teams competing. “We had three teams finish in the top three of the team standings. We also came away with eight individual medalists for the meet.”
Sophomores Kasandra Gaona (19th) and Kamryn Zint (20th) contributed top 20 runs, followed by juniors Autumn Estrada (31st) and Katelyn Hunt (34th). For the Clifton varsity boys, sophomore Jorge Rodriguez led the way with a 12th place finish, followed by freshman Payton Urbanovsky (34th) and junior Jordan Rodriguez (36th). In the Junior Varsity Division, Lady Cub sophomores Katie Jewel (12th) and Brianna Prescher (15th) placed in the top 15.
The Clifton middle school boy won the team title, led by Eddie Gaona (1st), Andres Devora (2nd) and Clay Kennedy (3rd), while the Lady Cubs placed third as a team behind strong runs by Laylah Gaona (8th) and Jocelyn Ramirez (9th).
With only three days rest, the Clifton boys and girls cross country teams will compete at the Keene Invitational Wednesday morning at Rex Callicut Park.
“The next high school meet in Keene will be a big test for us,” Hunt said. “All of the teams from our district will be running there so we can see where we stack up.”
Photos courtesy of SANDRA VASQUEZ GAONA
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