Merced-area runners headed to Sac-Joaquin Section meet

Three local cross country teams qualified for the Sac-Joaquin Section Cross Country Meet.

The Merced High School girls will join the Buhach Colony and Golden Valley boys in Folsom on Saturday after their performances at the subsection championships at Frog Town on Saturday.

The sixth-place Bears were led by Quinn Hagerman and Ciara Colon to qualify as a team in the Division II race. Hagerman finished third overall with a time of 18 minutes, 54 seconds. Colon finished 10th in 19:38.

In the Division II boys race, 10th-place Buhach Colony was paced by Jose Prado (16:57). The Golden Valley boys finished ninth in Division III.

Merced’s John Hagerman (16:41) and Atwater’s Raul Flores (17:07) qualified as individuals in the Division II race.

Five area girls qualified in the Division III race: Los Banos’ Leslie Hernandez (20:44), Golden Valley’s Josette Vigil (22:05.1), Los Banos’ Alyssa Catalan (22:05.9), Pacheco’s Haley Merrell (22.19) and Golden Valley’s Samantha Perez (22:27).

Immanuel Wright helped the Golden Valley boys qualify for sections with a 20th-place finish and a time of 17:26 in the Division III race.

Los Banos’ Jensen Chase (18:00) qualified as an individual in Division III.

Girls water polo

El Capitan 19, Bear Creek 9 in Merced – The top-seeded Gauchos cruised to a quarterfinal win in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs. Alex Jasso paced El Capitan with five goals. Hope Stokes, Madison Nolen and Makenzie Wenham each scored four goals. Marion Carpenter had five assists.

El Capitan will face No. 4 Lodi in the semifinals Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at Tokay High in Lodi. The Flames defeated No. 5 Buhach Colony 10-5 on Friday.

This story was originally published November 6, 2016 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Merced-area runners headed to Sac-Joaquin Section meet."