ROCKLIN — Middletown High School cross country runners placed first in one division and second in another Saturday during the annual Del Oro Invitational at Rocklin.
Evan Macklin won the junior varsity boys 2-mile race in 11 minutes, 26.20 seconds, topping a field of 43 runners. Macklin finished 3.6 seconds ahead of runner-up Joseph Johnson of Folsom (11:29.8). The top four finishers were separated by only 9.5 seconds.
Macklin was one of six Middletown runners competing in the UV boys race as the Mustangs placed fourth as a team behind Folsom, Rio Americano and Ripon. Dean McComas came in 12th (12:47.60), Baron Chang was 16th (13:06.90), Bryton Caviness was 23rd (13:53.00), Caden Gotz was 24th (14:17.50), and Aidan Cadwallader was 40th (16:22.40).
In the JV girls 2-mile run, Cat Barriga of Middletown came in second out of 20 runners in 14:02.10 while older sister Issy Barriga was sixth in 14:42.50. Also for the Mustangs, Olivia Gallagher placed 18th in 17:44.70.
Maeve Klement of Argonaut High School took top honors in 12:05.80.
In the varsity girls 5,000-meter race, Middletown’s Nicole Pyzer (20:43.70) and Maya Leonard (21:55.70) finished 32nd and 41st, respectively, out of a field of 62 runners.
Riley Chamberlain of Del Oro High School finished first in 17:39.30.
In the varsity boys 5,000, Middletown’s Xander Romero took 50th out of 85 runners with a time of 18:59.70. Also for Middletown, Parker Boden was 63rd (19:56.40), Javier Perez was 77th (21:54.80) and Kenny Carter was 85th (24:46.70).
Middletown hosts its final Coastal Mountain Conference home meet of the season Wednesday beginning at 3:30 p.m. at Six Sigma Ranch and Winery near Lower Lake. The Mustangs will honor their seniors prior to the race.
