Bulldog boys dominate Vaquero Stampede

By Joe Naiman

Not only did Ramona High School’s boys cross country team take first place in the junior-senior division of the Vaquero Stampede at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside, but the Bulldogs had the top four finishers.

Senior Dylan Blankenbaker, junior Forrest Riley, senior Alec Richardson, and senior Donnie McKay finished within five seconds of each other.

“It was like a blue wall coming in,” said Assistant Coach Sherri Cortez.

The junior-senior course was 2.15 miles. Blankenbaker had a time of 10:33, Riley took 10:35, Richardson’s time was 10:37, and McKay spent 10:38 on the course.

“That was pretty awesome,” Blankenbaker said. “We all just worked together...We had a good time.”

Two other Bulldogs finished in the top 10: Senior Graham Gantzer had a ninth-place time of 11:06 while junior Cory Thomas finished 10th at 11:07. Ramona’s seventh runner, junior Josh Spieker, took 11:32 and finished 21st.

“It was a good race for our team, good season opener,” Blankenbaker said.

The junior-senior race had a total of 118 runners, and nine of Ramona’s 13 runners finished in the top quarter of the field. Junior Tristan Stidham’s time of 11:45 gave him 24th place while senior Ian Pedlow was 27th after completing the course in 11:47.

Ramona’s boys took second as a team in the 1.65-mile freshman-sophomore race while seven of the 10 runners placed in the top half of the field. Freshman Collin Uekert was