Merced’s Ambriz wins section cross county title

Daniel Ambriz’s stellar season continued Saturday when the Merced High School senior won the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II cross country individual championship at Willow Hills in Folsom.

Ambriz finished the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 54 seconds. He became the first Merced runner to win a section cross country title since Brian Wilkerson and Grace Durnell in 1992, according to Bears coach Tim Hagerman.

“It’s really special for me, especially with it being my last year,” said Ambriz, who also won the sub-section Division II title last week. “It’s been a goal of mine this season. I really wanted it.”

Ambriz usually likes to set a quick pace early, and that’s what he did Saturday.

“That’s my strategy,” he said. “Talking to my coach, I wanted to do the same thing I did at sub-sections.”

Ambriz advanced to the CIF State Cross Country Championships on Nov. 28 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

“Last year, I went to state and didn’t do that well,” Ambriz said. “This year, I feel more confident, so hopefully I can go to state and do better.”

Other notable finishes by local runners on Saturday:

Atwater senior Alex Vargas just missed qualifying for state with a 10th-place finish in the Division II race. Vargas finished in 16:45, one second behind Whitney’s Jeremy Pond, who grabbed the final individual qualifying spot. Falcons teammate Ozzy Nava placed 23rd in 17:13.

Merced freshman Quinn Hagerman placed 11th in the Division II girls race in 19:20. Sophomore teammate Ciara Colon finished 23rd in 20:14.

In the Division IV girls race, Livingston senior Daisy Perez placed 12th in 20:42, and Hilmar’s Arianna Lara-Chavez finished 18th in 21:12.

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Merced’s Ambriz wins section cross county title."