Toby Qualls, a varsity boys cross country athlete, finished in first place at the subsection meet at Frogtown near Angels Camp Saturday. 
 

Qualls led the non-ranked Hillmen to a victory over two top-ten, state-ranked schools in a field of 31 teams. The top ten schools at the meet advance to next Saturday’s section meet in Folsom. 
 

Qualls’ time of 15 minutes, 52 seconds helped Placer earn its winning score of 73. Will C. Wood (85) was second and El Dorado (91) third, both of which are ranked. 
 

Qualls was followed by Gama Gomez (seventh, 16:28), Josh Mason (17th, 17:01), Viktor Dorofeyev (21st, 17:04) and Zach Stelzer (17:14).
 

“I think this was just what we were looking for,” coach Randall Fee said. “It shows us our individual matchup for the section meet. We know now we have to group a little better at sections. I feel we’re right where we want to be going into sections.”
 

Placer’s varsity girls finished 10th, good enough to qualify for the sections, too. 
 

They were led by Ruth Braica (46th, 22:21), Kyra Hostetler (48th, 22:24) Halle Ralls (49th, 22:32), Macaylea Mitchell (52nd, 22:38) and Marci Baker (55th, 22:50). 
 

The JV boys, consisting of all varsity boys who didn’t finish in team’s top seven, finished in first out of 24 schools. They were led by Garrett Jordan and Riley Bushong. 

 

Football

 

Golden Sierra (7-3 ), the No. 2 seed in Div. V, earned a bye in the playoffs. It will host the winner of No. 6 Rio Vista at No. 3 Le Grand. Golden Sierra is coached by Placer High baseball coach John Hilton.