Sports Brief: Avila, Velarde solid at state

San Benito’s Steven Velarde and Anzar’s Diego Avila were the top local finishers in Saturday’s CIF State Cross-Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Velarde’s time of 16:01 placed him 52nd out of 194 runners in the Division I race at the 3.1-mile course. Velarde improved upon his state finish from a year ago, when he placed 64th in a time of 16:05.
Avila’s time of 17:02 was good enough for a 37th-place finish out of the 198 runners in the Division V race.