Preps plus: Names and News

Ankhelyi wins girls cross country title

Vista del Lago's Madeleine Ankhelyi, one of the state's top distance runners, had another dominating performance, but it wasn't enough to prevent her team from being upset at the Sac-Joaquin Section cross country championships Saturday in Folsom.

Ankhelyi won the girls Division III race, covering the 3.1-mile Willow Hills Reservoir course in 17 minutes, 44 seconds, the best time among those competing in the five girls divisions.

But even with Vista del Lago's Clare Carroll (18:46) finishing second, Del Oro upset the Eagles 45-47.

Del Oro, led by Megan Gentes (19.00, third), Lizzie Meredith (19.20, fifth) and Maddy Lyons (19.21, sixth), snapped Vista del Lago's two-year reign as champions.

Other highlights:

Division I – Davis freshman Fiona O'Keeffe won the girls race in 18.08, but St. Francis' Lauren LaRocco (second, 18:22), Madison Rawson (third, 18:34), Eleanor Ferguson (sixth, 18:51), Miranda Myers (seventh, 18:52) and Peyton Bilo (eighth, 18:54) finished in the top eight to lead the Troubadours to the team title over Davis 23-43.

Davis senior Jack Scranton won the boys race in 15:50 to lead the Blue Devils to their eighth team title in nine years.

Division II – Granite Bay senior Trent Brendel ran the fastest time of the day, 15:35, to win the boys race. Seniors Sean and Patrick Jagerson finished second (15:44) and seventh (16:10) to lead Del Campo to the team title for the fourth year in a row.

Granite Bay freshman Maggie Bell won in 17:45, the second-fastest girls time, all divisions. Bella Vista won the team title.

Division III – Placer's Toby Qualls (15:49) finished second and El Dorado's Sean Gregg third (16:05) to lead their teams to first- and second-place finishes in the boys competition.

Rio Americano girls win water polo crown

Rio Americano's girls water polo team returned to the section Division II championship Saturday at Woodcreek High School after a one-year absence.

The Raiders defeated Oakdale 7-3 to win their 10th D-II section title in the 11 years the division has existed. Last year, Oakdale snapped the Raiders' streak at nine by beating Rio Americano 4-2 in overtime in the semifinals. Del Oro beat Oakdale 10-7 for the title.

The Raiders were led by goalie Avery Dotterer and leading scorers Emily Perry, Emmy Savidge, Maigrie McDougal and Celeste Brown.

• Rio Americano's boys also won, defeating neighborhood rival El Camino 6-3. It was Rio's third consecutive boys D-II title and second straight in the finals over the Eagles.

• Davis defeated St. Francis 9-8 for the D-I girls title. It was the ninth consecutive time the teams have met in the D-I finals, and Davis has won five consecutive times.

• The Davis boys made it a D-I sweep with a 13-5 win over Granite Bay.

– Bill Paterson

• Read more articles by Bill Paterson

Order Reprint