San Benito sophomore Vanessa Estrada and Anzar senior Aaron
Hsia-Coron will compete Saturday in the CIF State Cross Country
Championships at Fresno’s Woodward Park.
HOLLISTER
San Benito sophomore Vanessa Estrada and Anzar senior Aaron Hsia-Coron will compete Saturday in the CIF State Cross Country Championships at Fresno’s Woodward Park.
It will be the fourth time Hsia-Coron has advanced to the year-end state meet, although it will be the first time for Estrada, who qualified after finishing in fourth place overall in the Central Coast Section Division I Championships at Salinas’ Toro Park two weeks ago.
Estrada led San Benito with an 18:58 at CCS, which was a personal record for the Baler sophomore at the Salinas course. Two weeks prior, at the Tri-County Athletic League Championships, Estrada earned the individual league title when she ran a 19:10 at Toro Park.
For what it’s worth, San Benito’s first meet of the season was the Earlybird Invitational at Toro Park, where Estrada finished third among sophomores with a 19:43.
Saturday’s state meet in Fresno will be the culmination of nearly four months worth of training for Estrada, who, for the first time, will compete among the state’s best.
The Division I girls race will begin at 11:10 a.m.
For Hsia-Coron, this will be his fourth trip to the state meet, although it will be the first time he is competing as an individual. The last three years Hsia-Coron has been joined by his Anzar teammates, but the Hawks fell short of qualifying this season, finishing fourth in the Central Coast Section Division V Championships.
Hsia-Coron, though, finished second overall in Division V with a 16:56, some 44 seconds behind first-place finisher James Palaniuk of York, but roughly 37 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Arnaud Kpachavi of Woodside Priory.
The CCS time for the Anzar senior was a slight improvement from the 16:59 he clocked at the Mission Trail Athletic League Championships on Nov. 4, which was also held at Salinas’ Toro Park.
Having competed each year at state, Hsia-Coron has improved every year as well, finishing 55th overall as a freshman in 17:32; finishing 33rd overall as a sophomore in 16:55; and finishing 22nd overall as a junior in 16:47.
The Division V boys race will begin at 10:40 a.m.
