2023 XC - Clovis Invitational 5 (Girls, Championship)

This is the Bill Buettner Girls Championship race (Race 5) from the 2023 Clovis Cross Country Invitational, hosted by Clovis High and sponsored by ASICS at the famous 5K Woodward Park course in Fresno, CA. This race featured several of the top ranked California individual athletes and many of the top teams that will be vying for CIF state championships on this same course over Thanksgiving weekend, including JSerra Catholic which is ranked top 5 nationally. Because CIF competition is based on school size, the Championship races at Clovis are a unique opportunity for top athletes across divisions to compete head to head.

In this race, Sadie Engelhardt, CIF 2023 800M and 1600M champion, and Rylee Blade, CIF 2023 3200M champion, take to the front by 400M out and battle throughout. Engelhardt creates a bit of a gap in the second mile, but Blade closes coming down the rolling hills and they run side-by-side with 800M to go. Engelhardt has another gear and creates a six second gap by the finish - winning in 16:39 for a new personal 5K and meet record. Blade places second in 16:45.

In the team battle, all eyes were on JSerra Catholic, ranked in the top 5 nationally - and they didn't disappoint. Although defending D1 CIF champion Buchanan had a slight lead at the 1 mile, JSerra led with 57 points at the 2.1 mile and closed for a team win of 72 pts and time of 90:32 at the finish. Ventura High worked their way up from 4th place at the 1 mile, to 3rd at 2.1, then to 2nd at the finish.

Top 9 Athletes:
1 Sadie Engelhardt 11 Ventura (SS) 16:39.3
2 Rylee Blade 11 Santiago Corona (SS) 16:45.8
3 Payton Godsey 12 Oaks Christian (SS) 17:05.5
4 Chiara Dailey 10 La Jolla (SD) 17:07.3
5 Hanne Thomsen 11 Montgomery (NC) 17:23.1
6 Ashlyn Boothby 12 Scotts Valley (CC) 17:25.8
7 Maya De Brouwer 11 La Canada (SS) 17:38.8
8 Braelyn Combe 10 Santiago Corona (SS) 17:49.8
9 Arielle Avina 10 Murrieta Valley (SS) 17:51.9

Top 5 Teams:
1 JSerra Catholic (SS) 72 1:30:32 8-9-14-18-23-53-89
2 Ventura (SS) 113 1:30:46 1-10-21-31-50-66-85
3 Buchanan (CS) 128 1:32:07 12-20-27-34-35-44
4 Santiago Corona (SS) 128 1:31:22 2-6-30-42-48-55-139
5 Los Altos (CC) 165 1:33:14 17-32-37-39-40-69-93

For complete results see Finished Results: https://www.finishedresults.com/meets...

(mh/brizz)