Santa Rosa’s Stamps Wins Third Title

FRESNO —  Julia Stamps of Santa Rosa High did something no one else has done and then some Saturday in the state cross-country championships at Woodward Park.

The Stanford-bound runner won an unprecedented third consecutive Division I girls’ title with a time of 16 minutes 43 seconds over the 5,000-meter course to trim two seconds from the course record she set in last year’s meet.

The victory made Stamps one of two girls to win three Division I titles. The other was Agoura’s Deena Drossin, who won in 1987, ’89 and ’90.

The McFarland High boys also posted a history-making victory as the Cougars won an unmatched fifth consecutive title with a 29-120 win over second-place Holtville in Division V.

Paced by second-, seventh- and eighth-place finishes of Jose Perezchica, Rudy Cavazos and Rudy Ballardo, McFarland became the first team to win five consecutive state titles in any sport. The Cougars’ previous four championships had come in Division IV.

In other races, Yucaipa won its second consecutive Division II girls’ title, the Ojai Nordhoff girls won Division IV, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula boys won Division I.