Atwater cross country team headed to CIF state meet

The Atwater High School boys cross country team on Saturday qualified for the CIF State Championships for the first time in 23 years.

The Falcons finished third in the Division II race at the Sac-Joaquin Section Meet at Willow Hill. Atwater (99 points) finished behind Del Campo (58) and Del Oro (72).

Leading the Falcons was junior Alex Vargas, who finished 12th in 16 minutes, 57 seconds. Spencer Jacobs (22nd, 17:19), Ozzy Nava (27th, 17:23), Andres Quezada (29th, 17:24) and Francisco Gloria (31st, 17:24) helped Atwater advance to Fresno for the meet on Nov. 29.

Also qualifying for state was Atwater senior Jackie Magana, who finished fifth in the Division II girls race with a time of 19:54. The Falcons finished seventh with the help of seniors Marisela Rodriguez (34th, 21:49) and Evelin Espinosa (42nd, 22:11).

Merced junior Daniel Ambriz qualified with a fifth-place finish in Division I. Ambriz crossed the finish line in 16:18.

Hilmar senior Kenzye Spears also punched his ticket to state with a third-place finish in the Division IV race with a time of 16:49.

This story was originally published November 16, 2014 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Atwater cross country team headed to CIF state meet."