ONTARIO — Three years ago, Santiago’s Rylee Blade came to the Fleet Feet Inland Empire Challenge not sure if she was a runner or a soccer player. She left her final Inland Empire Challenge on Saturday as a four-time champion. Rancho Cucamonga’s Nicole Alfred finishes second at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:47.9 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Santiago’s Audrey Buckley finishes third at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:50.7 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Ayala’s Phoebe Kim finishes fifth (17:54.1) at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:51.2 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Riverside Poly’s Olivia Bollenbach finishes ninth (18:14..8) at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Chino Hills’ Michelle Ramos at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:57.8 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) King’s Natalie Drewitz finishes sixth at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:54.2 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) King’s Elizabeth Jacklin finishes seventh at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:57.8 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Ayala’s Phoebe Kim finishes fifth (17:54.1) and La Quinta’s Saveyra Guerrero fourth (17:51.2) at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:51.2 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Santiago’s Taylor Davis (right) at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Etiwanda’s Alyssa Wyatt at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Etiwanda’s Alyssa Wyatt and Rancho Cucamonga’s Nicole Alfred run at the beginning of the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Centennial’s Tiffany Mendez and Riverside Poly’s Josephine Madril Madril run at the start of the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) La Quinta’s Saveyra Guerrero finishes fourth at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:51.2 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Santiago’s Audrey Buckley finishes third at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:50.7 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Santiago’s Audrey Buckley finishes third at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:50.7 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Rancho Cucamonga’s Nicole Alfred at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade leads the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Norco’s Natalie Conde, Santiago’s Audrey Buckley, Taylor Davis, and Rancho Cucamonga’s Nicole Alfred chase the leader at the beginning of the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade wins the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet with a time of 15:49.5 at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade leads the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade leads the pack at the beginning of the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes at the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Show Caption1 of 21Rancho Cucamonga’s Nicole Alfred finishes second at the Brenda Martinez Girls Sweepstakes with a time of 17:47.9 during the Inland Empire Challenge cross country meet at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park in Ontario on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (Photo by Milka Soko, Contributing Photographer) Expand As expected, Blade blew away the field in winning the Brenda Martinez girls sweepstakes race at Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park. Blade finished with a time of 15 minutes, 49.5 seconds to beat senior runner-up Nicole Alfred of Rancho Cucamonga by nearly two minutes (17:47.9). “My freshman year, I didn’t take it (running) too seriously,” Blade said. “Honestly, I kept wanting to go back to soccer. Just the fact that I was able to get out there and pull off that win, it helped me get this four-year (winning streak), which was one of my goals after I won it my freshman year.” Blade’s first win in the streak was at Glen Helen Regional Park, before the event moved back to Cucamonga-Guasti in 2022. Saturday was her best time in the race, beating out her time last year of 16:02.7. “My coach gave me a pace for the first mile and to stick with that so we could work on it for weeks in advance,” Blade said. “It wasn’t about running a super-fast time, which I wasn’t expecting that time. It was more trying to do the strategy my coach told me and to work on my race execution.” About the only other runner who could’ve pushed Blade would have been her junior teammate Braelyn Combe, who was second last year, but had a scheduled week off from competing. Despite Combe’s absence, Santiago still won the team title with 51 points, easily beating King (99) and Ayala (116) to win back-to-back titles and for the third time in four years. Santiago became the fourth school to repeat as girls champion in the event, which began in 2001. The Sharks joined Murrieta Valley (2003-05), Redlands (2007-08), and Great Oak (2011-13 and 2017-18). The event includes only schools from Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Taking Combe’s place as Santiago’s No. 2 runner Saturday was senior Audrey Buckley (17:50.7), who finished third. It was her best finish, surpassing a fifth-place finish as a freshman. “My strategy was to stay under control the first mile, because typically I go way too fast the first mile,” Buckley said. “So I went about 10 seconds slower than I normally do (for the first mile) and I just tried to stay with the pack. It was definitely a tight race, really close.” Related Articles High School Sports | CIF-SS girls flag football playoff pairings: First-round matchups High School Sports | Temecula Valley girls volleyball team tabbed for CIF Southern Section Division 1 playoffs High School Sports | Western Christian, Roosevelt flag football teams make Division 1 cut for inaugural CIF-SS playoffs High School Sports | Dane Weber leads Chaparral football team to victory over Norco High School Sports | Centennial football team knocks off Murrieta Valley in showdown of top Inland teams The gap between second place and eighth in the race was just 11.1 seconds. Although she never beat Blade at the Inland Empire Challenge, Alfred was also very consistent. She was runner-up three years ago, finished fifth as a sophomore, and fourth as a junior. “My strategy was to go out fast and settle in with that group (for second place), then just race the last half of my race,” Alfred said. Alfred said she did have low expectations for Saturday since she is coming off an ankle injury and only had one other race this season. “I wasn’t expecting that (second place),” she said. “To race one of my best finishes was pretty hopeful (for the rest of the season).”