St. Francis had a sensational outing at last weekend’s Clovis Invitational, held on the CIF State Championship course at Woodward Park in Fresno.  The Golden Knights went into the race ranked 4th in Division 4 in both Southern Section and the State.

The Golden Knights won the Small Schools Varsity Boys race with a score of 86 points.  They bested 3rd ranked Cathedral High School (103), 6th ranked Albany (263), 7th ranked Scotts Valley (165), and 8th ranked Oaks Christian (217).  Their team time (1:20:57) is the fastest in school history at the Woodward Park course.  CIF State Division 4 1st ranked St. John Bosco won the Medium Schools race with a team time of 1:21:16, 19 seconds slower than the Golden Knights on the same course.

St. Francis was led by Senior Hayden Owen who set a new St. Francis Cross Country Record for Woodward Park in 15:29.7 and placed 3rd overall in the race.  Hayden annihilated the previous school Woodward Park record by 20 seconds, moving former St. Francis standout Kevin Koeper to 2nd all the SF All-Time list (15:50, 1995).  Junior Luke Metcalf moved to 3rd on the All-Time list with 15:43.7 (12th), and Junior Samuel Franco moved to 6th on the All-Time list in 16:20.9 (18th).  Three other Golden Knights broke 17 minutes on the course: Senior Noe Barazza in 16:33.5 (29th), Sophomore Aidan Guzman in 16:38.6 (33rd), and Sophomore Axel Gonzalez in 16:55.4 (47th).   Sophomore Auge Martin rounded up the St. Francis squad running 17:61.1 for 59th place in the 264 runner field.

The Golden Knights return to action with their 2nd Mission League Cluster Meet on Monday, Oct. 10.