RV girls running high heading into sub-section championships: Varsity girls won league; boys placed third at CVC meet
Nov. 1—The River Valley High girls cross country team will travel to Calaveras County for the Sac-Joaquin Section sub-section championships on Saturday as the No. 1 team in the Capital Valley Conference.
The Falcons went back-to-back last week at the CVC cross country championships after it cut second place Bella Vista's score in half with a league-low 25 points to capture the CVC at Maidu Regional Park in Roseville.
Emma Thiara, Nevaeh Brown and April Anguiano finished one-two-three, respectively, in the varsity girls 5K. Thiara set a new school record with a mark of 18 minutes, 10.7 seconds to finish tops in the field and earn league MVP. It's the first time a runner from River Valley has claimed the top honor in the CVC since 2015, according to River Valley head boys and girls cross country coach Swarnjit Boyal.
The River Valley top-5 finished among the field's top-15 at league.
Boyal, a national-level competitor while a student-athlete at River Valley and in college, said the unbeaten varsity girls are looking to be the first team ever from Yuba City to qualify as a team at the upcoming CIF state championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Brown and Anguiano are each first-team all-conference heading into the subsection meet, which leads directly into the SJS championships Nov. 11 in Folsom and eventually the state meet on Nov. 25.
Each varsity division will qualify 10 teams and 10 individuals into the SJS championships from the sub-section meet, according to section bylaws.
To qualify for state, a Division II team, like River Valley and Yuba City must finish in the top-4 at the SJS championships.
The top three D-II boys teams qualify for Woodward Park in Fresno over Thanksgiving weekend.
River Valley varsity boys
The Falcons finished third in league behind its top finisher Kavan Boparai, who finished 11th overall in 16:35.1 to claim a spot on the all-league second team. Boparai was joined by teammates Tyler Gorda and Brysen Kinerson, who placed in the field's top-20 with marks of 17:31.3 and 17:40.1, respectively.
Joseph Thomas (Yuba City) was the other area second-team honoree.
Bella Vista won the league, edging out Woodcreek. Yuba City placed fifth.
The varsity girls D-II sub-section race begins at 12:40 p.m. Saturday, while the D-II boys run at 1:20 p.m.
