San Benito sophomore Vanessa Estrada, competing in the CIF State
Cross Country Championships for the first time, recorded a 19:00.4
on Saturday at Fresno’s Woodward Park and finished 76th out of 190
runners in the Division I girls race.
HOLLISTER
Vanessa Estrada officially has her feet wet.
The San Benito sophomore harrier, competing in the CIF State Cross Country Championships for the first time, recorded a 19:00.4 on Saturday at Fresno’s Woodward Park and finished 76th out of 190 runners in the Division I girls race.
“I got a taste. I know what to expect,” she said on Sunday night.
The 19-even, which comes just two weeks after Estrada clocked an 18:58 at the Central Coast Section Championships, positioned the second-year runner 182nd overall out of a total of 943 runners on Saturday.
Afterward, Estrada said she wasn’t pleased with her time at state, as she was trying to top the 18:58 she set just two weeks prior — her best time this season over 3.1 miles.
“I felt like I could have done so much better. I could have pushed it,” she said. “But I think my nerves got the best of me. I felt a little overwhelmed.”
Estrada delivered a solid first mile during Saturday’s race. San Benito girls coach Josh Morales said he recorded a first-mile split time of 5:25 for Estrada, which placed her roughly five or six seconds behind the eventual winner of the Division I race, freshman Sarah Baxter of the Southern Section’s Simi Valley High.
Baxter ended up finishing first overall in a time of 16:56.9.
But it was the second and third miles where Estrada fell from the lead pack, although her overall time ended up being just a few seconds shy of her personal best.
“She wasn’t really driving,” Morales said.
Estrada confirmed as much afterward, noting that she was running in a comfortable state.
“And I started zoning out,” she said. “I kind of was in my own little world.”
The sophomore harrier’s time and place in the Division I race held true with many of her CCS counterparts, though. Wilcox’s Lalida Maokhamphiou, who finished two spots behind Estrada in sixth place at CCS, finished in 18:59.6 on Saturday, while Gunn’s Erin and Sarah Robinson, who earned second- and third-place finishes at CCS, respectively, recorded times of 18:57.7 and 18:58.7 at state.
However, Jessie Petersen of Carlmont, who earned the CCS Division I individual title two weeks ago with an 18:23, improved by approximately 49 seconds at state. She finished with a 17:33.3, placing her 10th overall and eighth in the Division I race.
As for Estrada, she still has two more years of cross-country running, and her 19:00.4 on Saturday was certainly a strong start.
“She did good for her first time,” Morales said. “She has never run there before. She didn’t know what to expect.”
In comparison to other San Benito runners of years past, Estrada’s time on Saturday bodes well for the future. In 2004, then-junior Amanda Boyd ran an 18:57 at state for the Balers, positioning her 26th in Division I, while then-sophomore Courtney Allen recorded a 20:04 in 2006, placing her in 112th in Division I.
“Two more years,” said Estrada, who thanked her family, teammates and coaches Josh and Jess Morales for this season’s success. “Next year, I want to go to state again. I’m gonna do what it takes to get to state and I want to improve upon my time.
“Next year, I want to get top 20.”
