First published in the Dec. 1 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
The St. Francis High School varsity boys’ cross-country ended its historic season by winning the State Division IV meet at Woodward Park in Fresno — the first state title in school history.
“The guys and I were extremely happy. We qualified for the state meet for the first time since 1995 last season and guys were hungry for more. They set a goal for themselves of coming back up there and competing for a title and that’s exactly what they did,” SFHS head coach Pat Donovan said.
The Golden Knights breezed through the 3-mile race, finishing with 93 points, led by senior Hayden Owen in 14th with a 15:41.0 time. Juniors Luke Metcalf (15:46.7) and Samuel Franco (15:55.5) finished 17th and 22nd, respectively, while senior Noe Barraza was 38th with a 16:20.8 time. Sophomore Auge Martin (16:31.0) claimed 51st, while sophomores Aidan Guzman (16:38.0) and Axel Gonzalez (17:09.6) finished 65th and 95th, respectively.
In another historic first, the Golden Knights captured the team’s first CIF Southern Section Division IV title at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on Nov. 19. St. Francis scored 76 points and boasted a pair of top 10 finishers en route to qualifying for the CIF-SS State meet.
“That was the first time the school had won a CIF division title in cross-country; the best we’ve done was runners-up in 1995,” Donovan said. “We came into the season with three goals: win the Mission League, win CIF and win the state. The guys checked all three boxes off their list.”
Owen led the team with a 15:10.9 time in fifth place, while Metcalf finished 10th with a 15:32.9 time. Franco (15:55.2) claimed 18th, while Barraza (16:09.9) and Guzman (16:12.8) placed 26th and 28th, respectively. Gonzalez (16:24.5) and Martin (16:42.3) rounded out the group in 36th and 53rd, respectively.
