The Golden Valley High girls cross country enters this season with some extra motivation. The Cougars just missed out on a trip to the CIF State Meet as a team by just one place last year at the Sac-Joaquin Section Finals. The Cougars are determined to make that trip to Woodward Park in Fresno this year and they started the Central California Conference season in dominant fashion on Wednesday at the first center meet at Atwater High.

 

Golden Valley claimed five of the top six spots with senior star Fernanda Cortes earning the win with a time of 18 minutes and 7 seconds. Merced High junior Eleanor Hampton (18:20) placed second and then it was the Cougars earning the next four spots with Chelsea Chavez (18:51), Gabriela Hicks (18:59), Aubri Villa (19:08) and Katerin Ortiz Nunez (19:55) all crossing the finish line one after another as Golden Valley ran away with the team victory with 19 points. Atwater finished second with 51 points. 

 

“We want to make it back to state,” said Cortes, who was a sophomore in 2024 when GV advanced to state as a team. “We were one place off last year and everyone is hyped about it. Everyone is ready to give it their all.”

 

Atwater won the boys race, edging out Golden Valley by just two points 32 to 34 in the team race. The Falcons were led by junior Yair Gonzalez, who set a school course record in winning with a time of 15:18. Gonzalez and Golden Valley senior James Barajas were neck and neck for the final stretch with Gonzalez earning a three-second victory. 

 

“When the crowd is cheering you on, it's really pretty fun,” Gonzalez said. “It gives me an extra boost. Today I really wanted to see what Golden Valley was going to give us and I’m glad we won.”

 

The Falcons earned four of the top nine finishes with Lucah Sherman (15:50) Isaian Vargas (15:51) earning third and fourth place, respectively. Golden Valley’s Dominic Urteaga finished third with a time of 15:48.

 

The girls race saw Hampton surrounded by five Cougars as the front group broke away from the pack early. Cortes had just set the Atwater course record with a time of 17:02.2 a few weeks ago. The junior’s job on Wednesday was to back off the throttle and help set the pace for the rest of her teammates.

 

Golden Valley coach John Wooding says it’s special as a coach to have an athlete like Cortes as a team leader. “It's definitely something most coaches will never get used to when you have someone running at that level,” Wooding said. “She definitely backed off the pace today to help her teammates along, and having an athlete who can do that and still finish up in first is very, very nice.”

 

Cortes advanced to state last year as an individual qualifier. She has spent her offseason running 50 to 55 miles per week to prepare for this season. “I've worked every day all summer and I've hardly taken any breaks,” Cortes said. “I've worked really hard.”

 

Cortes has dropped about a minute off her times from last year early on this season. She’s turned in times that are top 20 in the nation. Wooding has had to tell Cortes it’s okay to back off her training from time to time. 

 

“That girl never stops,” Wooding said. “She is constantly running, trying to get better, looking for anything that could possibly make her a better runner. “She’s not even the same runner as last year. It's night and day. I mean, she finished up her sophomore year as our number one at the state championships, and she hasn't really had an off race since. She's really turned into a phenomenal little runner, and I look forward to where this season goes for her.”

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.