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Varsity girls begin race (left to right) Mariah Dockum, Esmeralda Zuniga, Yesenia Arciniega, Andrea Castaneda, Rebekah Messing. Melanie Ouellette | SMHS
Omar Gallego taking strides during last week’s meet. Maryssa Sanchez | SMHS
Patrick Lopez competes in the local meet. Maryssa Sanchez | SMHS
San Manuel Miner
Andrea Castaneda and Patrick Lopez both finished near the top of the Miners’ first two meets of the season.
Castaneda finished fourth and Lopez was third at the season-opening multi-meet at Benson on September 1.
The duo was among four Miners’ medalists at the 27th Annual San Manuel Cross Country Invitational on September 9. Ten teams competed at this year’s event with Safford taking first place in both the boys and girls races. The Miners boys’ team took fourth and the girls tied for seventh.
Other Miners’ medalists, in addition to Castaneda (6th) and Lopez (5th), were Juan Ortega (11th) and Carlos Salas (17th).
Andy Luberda (1149 Posts)Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management.
Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles.
In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014.
He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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