Bulldog girls win Vaquero Stampede frosh/soph division

By Joe Naiman

Ramona High School girls cross country Coach Kim Toth received her first high school meet victory Sept. 1 when the Bulldogs had the top freshman/sophomore team performance in the Vaquero Stampede meet at Lindo Lake Park in Lakeside.

“It was a very exciting day for both Coach Steve (boys Coach Steve Albanese) and I,” Toth said. “The athletes all did really well.”

Ramona’s boys won the junior/senior race and the freshman/sophomore race. Toth had eight freshman and sophomore girls but only three juniors and no seniors, so Ramona did not have enough runners in the junior/senior race for a team score.

“Overall all the kids did really well,” Toth said. “They all started out very conservatively. They still had enough at the end to pick off a couple of runners.”

Both girls races ran on a 1.65-mile course. The top 25 finishers in each race earned medals. Anna Mazzola was Ramona’s only medalist in the junior/senior race. She finished first for Ramona girls with a time of 10:07, placing fourth in the race.

Four of Ramona’s girls medaled in the freshman/sophomore race.

“That was pretty awesome for our first race of the season,” Toth said.

Toth was also pleased with the technique of her top four freshman/sophomore girls.

“At the mile split they were right together, which was nice to see,” she said.

Ramona freshman Ciara Lucas had a time of 10:52, which placed fourth overall. Lucas had previously competed for the Olive Peirce Middle School team.

“She’s run pretty well,” Toth said. “I knew that there was some potential there.”

Sophomore Cassidy Blankenbaker had a time of 11:01, sophomore Arianna Ruland finished the course in 11:15, and freshman Perla Cruz completed the race in 11:23.

The Bulldogs will have this weekend off and will spend Sept. 15 at the Mount Carmel/Movin’ Shoes Cross-Country Invitational meet in San Diego.