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Chapala athletes delivered standout results in recent competitions, capturing top finishes in track and field, competing in youth golf, and maintaining a strong presence in collegiate basketball, along with performances that yielded personal bests.
In track and field, Bartha Alicia López Cruz of Team XC won first place in the women’s 40-49 category in the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) race at the Bimbo Global Race Guadalajara 2026. The runner finished in 43 minutes and 44 seconds, placing 27th overall. The competition was held on Sept. 27 in Zapopan, with departure and arrival at the Andares shopping center, and a round trip along Avenida Patria, from Andares to Eva Briseño Street, as well as Avenida Acueducto.
That same day, Alberto Arrayga Jiménez won first place in the Men’s Master B division (ages 45 to 59) at the 2026 PROAN Half Marathon, held in Lagos de Moreno. Arrayga, a member of the Energy in Motion Athletics Club, completed the 21 kilometers (13 miles) in 1 hour, 16 minutes and 20 seconds, improving on his 2025 time of 1 hour, 17 minutes and 18 seconds. He shared the podium again with Sergio Betancourt García, this time in first place, after both finished in reverse order last year.
In golf, eight-year-old Bárbara Ochoa Díaz represented the Chapala Country Club at the XVI Copa Centro, the first competition of the 2026-2027 season of the National Youth Committee of the Mexican Golf Federation. The young Chapala native competed in the girls’ 8-9 age category and finished in 10th place with a cumulative score of 133 strokes, following rounds of 48, 42, and 43. The tournament was held from Sept. 24-27 at the Club de Golf San Gil, in San Juan del Río, Querétaro.
Meanwhile, in college basketball, Fernando Rivera Gucho and Ramiro Emanuel Ordaz López continue their sporting careers while studying law at the University of Cuauhtémoc by playing in the ABE League Division II. The ABE League, created in 2013, currently brings together 113 teams across its I and II divisions in both women’s and men’s categories.
Fernando has played two seasons in the league, while Ramiro Emanuel joined the team in January. Both have represented Chapala and Jalisco in regional, state, and national tournaments. As members of the Avengers team, the two were part of the squad that won the 2022 ADEMEDA National U19 Men’s Championship and later the 2023 State Basketball League title.
Translated and edited by Debra Fairbanks
