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Lady Dragons run to SCL win, X-country boys nipped, Conner cruises; Sonoma water polo teams edged

With only the official-scoring-minimum five runners, Sonoma Valley High School’s girls’ cross country team doesn’t have much room for error on the course when competing.

But the lone five Lady Dragons have combined for two straight strong outings, first having finished 18th out of 38 schools at last Saturday’s Crystal Springs Invitational, and then, on Wednesday, they pulled off a big upset by beating Windsor 27-28 in a Sonoma County League road dual-meet. To show the rate of their improvement, the Sonoma girls lost to the same Jaguar team by 10 points in a nonleague meet.

Leading the victorious Lady Dragon runner on the 2.53-mile Foothill’s course in Windsor were junior Gianna Biaggi’s third-place finish in 19 minutes, 37 seconds; junior team-captain Serena Spry’s fourth in 19:57; junior Laura Amador’s fifth in 20:01; freshman Hanna Lemaire’s seventh in 21:17; and junior Hannah Cenci’s eighth in 21:57.

In the SCL boys’ race, Sonoma’s senior star runner and team captain, Alex Conner, was an easy winner en route to breaking the course record. But, for the second league meet in a row, the Dragon cross country boys were nipped by one point, with Windsor surviving by a 27-28 final.

Pacing the Dragons were Conner’s first-place finish in a record-time of 14:21; senior Steven Wedell’s sparkling second-place in 15:41; sophomore Christian Martinez’s sixth in 15:53; junior Chris Tose’s ninth in 16:18; sophomore Owen Ljung’s 10th in 16:34; junior Liam Casey’s 15th in 17:08; sophomore Keegan Ginter’s 16th in 17:15; junior A.J. Lemaire’s 17th in 17:34; junior Peter Gray’s 18th in 17:53; junior Greg Maggioncalda’s 20th in 18:05; sophomore Trey Garcia’s 23rd in 19:19; senior Taylor Patterson’s 28th in 22:28; frosh Return Bongiovanni’s 29th in 22:32; and sophomore Bailey Zellers’ 34th in 24:40.

The Dragon boys’ and girls’ teams will next host SCL foes Analy and El Molino in tri-meets at 4 p.m. this Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the Maxwell Farms Regional Park course.

 

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Sonoma’s boys’ and girls’ water polo teams turned in improved and upbeat performances against Redwood Empire League rival Cardinal Newman Wednesday afternoon the Sonoma Aquatic Club pool, but, unfortunately, they came up short on the final scores.

For the second consecutive week, the Sonoma girls dropped a late-match hearbreaker as Cardinal Newman scored three un-answered fourth-quarter goals to escape the Valley with a 13-11.

Pacing the Lady Dragons were standout senior captain Ghitta Ferrara’s seven goals, and juniors Rose Greenberg’s and Zoe Gaarder’ two goals each.

As for the Sonoma boys, they jumped out to a 2-0 lead and played well through the first half, before fading in the third and fourth quarters and Cardinal Newman snared a 28-8 win.

The Dragons were paced by sophomore Jesse Summers’ three goals, junior co-captain Arthur Morgan’s two goals, and one goal apiece by junior co-captain Chase Campion, junior Sebastian Amara and sophomore Miles Hagin.

Sonoma’s water polo boys’ and girls’ squads will host REL foe Marin Academy in their home finales at 4 p.m. this Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the Sonoma Aquatic Club pool.