2017 Supercross Varsity Races

Varsity Girls Race

This race turned out to be the tightest race of the day.  It featured 2 highly ranked teams from differenrt CIF sections.  Madera, a division 1 program, had made the long drive up from the Central Section on race morning to face the defending Sac Joaquin Section division 4 champions, Hughson.  Neither team ran a full squad on the day.  Madera's top runner, Unique Ford, did not make the trip and Hughson rested #5 runner, Jessie Lawrence (ankle) and #4 Runner, Kinsey Langley (pneumonia). Nonetheless, these teams were clearly the class of the field, as 6 of the top 7 places in the 112 runner field were taken by athletes from either Hughson or Madera.

Mavleen Mann (549) got out strong and went on to win.

Early on, Linda Perez and Olivia Zambrano of Madera held a commanding lead over the field.  Just after the 1K marker, Mavleen Mann of Pitman moved into 3rd place and began to gain on the leaders.  Meanwhile, further back in the pack, Emily Fife, Elizette Ysias, and Esmeralda Campos were beginning to move up in the field.  By the time the runners had exited the arboretum, Mann had caught the 2 runners from Madera, and went on to win in convincing fashion.  Meanwhile, Hughson's top 3 had moved into positions 4-6 in the race and went on to finish in those spots.  

Myrka Banuelos of Modesto finished 8th. 

By the end of the race, it was not clear which team had come out on top.  Both teams' top 3 girls were vey evenly matched, so the team battle came down to the 4th and 5th runners.  Madera had a slightly better 4th runner on the day, but Hughson's 5th runner, Kylee Sullivan was significantly better than Madera's.  When the scores were added, Hughson had escaped with a one point victory 69-70 over the Coyotes of Madera.

Varsity Boys Race

Ryan Weidman led Enochs to the team title.

In the boys race, Gursharan Singh of Madera grabbed an early lead.  Singh pushed to extend that lead throughout the first mile of the race.  As the race entered the arboretum, Noe Reyes of East Union began to move up strongly.  Noe has some course knowledge at Supercross.  He was featured on the all time top 15 lists for both frosh soph and varsity boys prior to the start of the race, so he knew when to hold back and when to go hard.  Reyes caught Singh as the two exited the arboretum and put 11 seconds into his rival before they had reached the finish line.

The team battle was never really in doubt.  Ryan Weidman of Enochs ran a strong race to place 3rd overall and lead his Eagles teammates to the victory over Pleasant Grove.  Enoch's pack of Branden Zwhalen, Chris Mariscal, and Andrew Keyes sealed the deal for Enochs with 16th, 17th, and 18th placings overall.