HAYWARD >> Kelseyville High School freshman Andre Williams didn’t make the cut for the CIF State Cross Country Championships this time around, but he’s certainly headed in the right direction.
Williams and senior teammate Roberto Lozano turned in solid performances on Saturday during the Division IV boys’ race at the North Coast Section Championships at Hayward High School, finishing 23rd and 26th, respectively, out of a field of 107 runners.
The top three teams in Division IV and top five individual runners not members of the top three teams advance to the state meet this coming Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Williams covered the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes, 50.4 seconds and needed a time of 16:12.4 to qualify for the state meet. Lozano was not far behind his teammate at 16:53. While it was Lozano’s final chance to move on to Fresno, Williams still has three more opportunities. He won the North Central League I individual championship this season, going undefeated during the dual-meet season, while also leading the Knights, along with Lozano, to a NCL I championship.
Sir Francis Drake High School of San Anselmo won the Division IV boys’ team title. The individual winner was Jeremy Leary of Sir Francis Drake at 15:17.1.
Division IV girls
Yareli Lozano of Kelseyville was the only Lake County girl competing in Division IV and the sophomore placed 85th out of 96 runners in 23:44.5.
Piedmont claimed the team title. Morgin Coonfield of McKinleyville won the race in 17:01.7, more than two minutes ahead than runner-up Erin Hong of Piedmont (19:01.8).
Division V boys
Middletown senior Diego Munoz had the fastest time among the Middletown and Clear Lake runners competing in Division V. Munoz placed 67th in a field of 180 runners with a time of 17:47.3. As a team, the Mustangs placed 15th out of 18 schools.
Clear Lake was one runner shy of a complete team (five). Leading the Cardinals were Hunter Daily in 87th place (18:21.6), Brandon Dickey in 92nd (18:33.7) and Dylan Bennett in 97th (18:43.8).
Also for Middletown, Tanner Tarelli was 98th in 18:44.7 and Jacob Olson was 102nd in 18:59.7.
Marin won the team title while Cooper Teare of St. Joseph Notre Dame (Alameda) was the individual winner at 14:46.4.
Division V girls
Tiyanna Meese of Middletown missed a state berth by 25.5 seconds while finishing 24th out of 140 runners in the Division V girls’ race. Meese finished in 20:26.6 to lead the Lake County contingent. Clear Lake’s Meghan Beare came in 64th in 22:05.8, Kailei Foltmer of Middletown was 77th in 22:47.5, and Rainey Vanoven of Clear Lake, a freshman, was 88th in 23:25.9.
Middletown and Clear Lake placed 15th and 16th among the 18 complete teams taking part. St. Joseph Notre Dame came in first. Rylee Bowen of Sonoma Academy (Santa Rosa) won her second straight individual title, finishing the race in 17:29.7.
