Woodward Park, Fresno

At the start of the 2023 cross country season, Coaches Tim Seaman and Thom Hunt knew this was a building year and expectations were set at optimistic but cautious levels. However, both men's and women's team composed on mostly freshman, were eager to surprise and out do their critics. The two Pacific Coast Athletic Conference runner up teams, finished strong at the SoCal Regional Championships. The Women's team, taking the course first, finished in a surprising 8th of 28 teams and earned their spot of one of the fourteen teams invited to the 3C2A State contest. Enjoying the euphoria of the accomplishment and always nudging the men's team on, the women challenged the men to do better in team rankings in their race. Not to shy from a challenge, the men from Cuyamaca College answered the call. The team finished in 7th place and also earned their ticket to the state meet in two weeks time.

Woodward Park's cross country course is rapidly becoming world renown with several local, state and national events held there. For many of the Coyotes, it was familiar territory from their high school state competitions. However for some, it was the first time seeing the course and making the five hours trip north.

Both races started with twenty-eight of the best teams from the state. Additionally, there were 28 individual qualifiers not representing a full team on the line. All told, both races started at capacity. One hundred of sixty-seven women took to the course while one hundred and eighty-two men. 

For the women, Daycia Fielden was the Lady Coyotes' top runner. Daycia finished in 42th place overall. Dominic Rizzo was the top finisher for the Coyote men. Dominic finished the four mile course in 56th place overall in a time of 21:41.11

Women's 5K

Daycia Fielden - 42nd - 19:57.73

Mwamini Shabani - 74th - 20:42.48

Maua Mloko - 99th - 21:22.85

Daisy Tamayo - 112th - 21:42.49

Viviana Cuadras - 141st - 23:23.43

Reese Ford - 164th - 26:01.29

Men's 4-mile

Dominic Rizzo - 56th - 21:41.11

Steven Valadez - 65th - 21:55.35

Paolo Katanchi - 89th - 22:13.25

Christopher Angel Juarez - 104th - 22:23.11

Elijah Jordan - 108th - 22:29.11

Brian Truong - 155th - 23:31.56