By Coach Jay Stepp
Cadence Youngman and Elijah Ocegueda will be representing Yucca Valley High School in Fresno this weekend at the cross country state championships.
Youngman got the ball rolling when she blasted her way to a ninth-place finish at CIF Finals in Riverside. Her time of 18:13 took down Jazmin Angeles’ record by 1:12. She becomes the seventh girl to earn All-CIF honors and the third to medal.
After Youngman got the day started in the right direction, the boys towed the line looking to secure a spot in the state championships. Ocegueda jumped out with the leaders hoping to pull his team along. He blazed around the course in 15:38 just missing Yucca Valley’s course record by four seconds, but good enough to place 14th and earn a trip to the state championships. His effort also earned him All-CIF honors and becomes the third boy to medal.
Coach Jay Stepp said, “Unfortunately for our team, the Trojan season ended just short of the state championships. The biggest culprit to our shortcomings was illness. Three of the seven guys were unable to practice all week and didn’t know if they would run on Saturday. A fourth runner had a severe cough that kept him from fully being able to train during the week. There are 106 schools in the Southern Section Division 4. Of those 106 schools, 24 get to compete in the finals and the Trojans were 16th.”
He added, “It’s on to Fresno and the State Championships this Saturday. Yucca Valley will be well represented by these two individuals in their final race of the season.”
