Derek Luna, Addyson Johns Win Clovis Invitational Championship Titles

California runners took home both individual championship titles Saturday. Plus, Mountain View’s boys claimed the team victory, while Crater’s girls set a Woodward Park team record ahead of Buchanan and St. Francis.

Saturday’s runners lined up under partly cloudy skies for a cooler start to the 47th ASICS Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno, California. But the championship fields brought the heat when it came to the competition. Derek Luna emerged from a field that included Cooper Stream, William Thompson, and Blake Bay to claim the boys’ championship 5-kilometer win.

Joining Luna with an individual title was Addyson Johns in the Bill Buettner Girls Championship.

The bar was already set high in the boys’ championship race after Jackson Spencer set the course record of 14:16.9 last year.

Woodbridge’s Aidan Antonio led at the first mile in 4:36.4, while Luna, a senior at Rio Mesa, sat in sixth position. By the 2.1-mile checkpoint, Luna had moved to the front—but only barely. His 9:58.1 split put him one-tenth of a second ahead of Crater’s Garrett Faught, with Davis junior Elias Thronson less than a second behind.

Luna pulled clear before the finish, winning the title in 14:30.0. Thronson finished second in 14:35.2, followed by Faught in 14:39.7.

Fresno Christian’s Blake Bay and La Serna’s William Thompson rounded out the top five in 14:42.2 and 14:46.2, respectively. The first 11 athletes to cross the finish line all ran under 15 minutes.

For the boys’ team title, Mountain View took the win with 107 points, ahead of Woodbridge with 140 and Granada with 145. Mountain View had five scorers finish between 15:15.5 and 15:27.6, a spread of just 12.1 seconds that helped secure the win.

In the girls’ race, Santiago sophomore Addyson Johns fought for the win after finishing as California’s top runner in the Woodbridge girls’ Sweepstakes. Johns led through the first mile in 5:13.0, with St. Francis sophomore Alyssa Gutierrez just one second behind. Gutierrez has had a solid season so far, including winning the Nike Portland Championship 5K in 17:06.9.

Ontario senior Isabella Ruiz then took a narrow lead, with Johns on her heels. Johns regained the lead over the final stretch, winning in 16:50.8 and finishing 5.1 seconds ahead of Ruiz, who crossed in 16:55.9.

Johns’ performance moved her to fourth in Clovis meet history.

Crater junior Adley Damon took third in 17:00.1. Gutierrez finished fourth in 17:01.0, less than a second behind Damon, while Crater senior Brynn Davenport took fifth in 17:03.7.

Crater’s combined time of 1:27:25 broke the Woodward Park girls’ team record of 1:27:49 set by Trabuco Hills at the 2024 CIF State Championships. Crater took home the girls’ team title with 55 points, followed by Buchanan with 65 and St. Francis with 126.

The CIF State Championships return to Woodward Park on November 28.