Trojans get season started on right foot at Sierra Invitational

Oak Ridge's cross country team has high expectations for both the boys' and the girls' teams this season. On Saturday the team kicked off its season at the Sierra Invitational at Sierra College, facing runners from 39 other teams, which featured plenty of good competition. Of the eight races held on the day, Oak Ridge dominated the competition, winning five of them. The Trojans won three of the four boy races, winning the senior, junior and sophomore races, while also placing first in the junior and freshmen girl races. Oak Ridge's teams scored 56 points on the day, as the Trojans took home the top team trophy for the Sierra Invitational. "It was a fabulous team effort by our athletes," Oak Ridge coach Rob Fairley said, as the teams raced on two miles of oak woodlands behind Sierra College featuring a winding dirt path with some hills. The top-10 finishers in each race earned a medal. The freshman girls placed first and had three runners in the top-10: Cameron Fechter (second, 12:28.30), Addie Yip (third, 12:41.80) and Serapha O'Sullivan (10th, 13:49.60). The freshman boys finished in third place as a team but had no one finish in the top-10. Oak Ridge sophomore girls' didn't have a team score because they only had four runners compete. Three of them, however, placed in the top-10: Guiliana Martino (third, 12:13.40), Lauren Tiedeman (fourth, 12:20.60), Elise Sale (seventh, 13:22.40). The Oak Ridge sophomore boys took first with one runner placing in the top-10, as Ben Gutierrez placed 10th in 11:20. The junior girls also placed first and had three runners finish in the top-10: Maya Day (fourth, 12:19), Emi Madsen (seventh, 12:41.50) and Sutton Paulsen (10th, 13:22.50). In the junior boys' race, Oak Ridge again placed first as Dax Whann ran fifth in 10:57.60. Oak Ridge only had two girls compete in the senior girls' race, but Adriana Ingargiola placed fifth in 12:09.00. The senior boys at Oak Ridge placed four of their five scoring runners in the top-10 to place first in their race: Roman Zamora (third, 10:13.80), Wesley Ewing (fourth, 10:26.10), Thomas Capelli (fifth, 10:26.50) and Bailey Van Leemput (10th, 10:46.50).