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ANGELS CAMP — A 22-minute-plus finish in the 2006 Sac-Joaquin Section Subsection race at Frogtown stopped Patterson High runner Amanda Moreno from earning a bid for the elite section meet.

An improvement of roughly 45 seconds from last year’s race at the 3.1-mile course Saturday helped change all that, as Moreno joined teammates Eduardo Chin and freshman Jack Relva in qualifying for this weekend’s section meet.

Moreno finished 37th among 120 Division III girls runners with a time of 21 minutes, 59 seconds.

“I’m really excited to qualify,” Moreno said. “I wanted to end on a good note and make it farther than I did last year. That would make me feel like I improved.”

The top eight teams and the top 10 runners who are not on a top-eight squad advanced to Saturday’s section meet. Moreno was the seventh of 10 individual qualifiers.

Moreno ran the first mile in 6:18 and remained in the front third of the pack for the rest of the race.

Teammate Samantha Kramer finished second among the four-member Patterson girls contingent in 23:07, which placed her 51st. She missed qualifying for the section meet by about seven seconds.

“I guess a few seconds make a huge difference,” Kramer said. “This was my first time running the course, so I didn’t know what to expect. I kind of took my time in the hills because I didn’t want to tumble down the hill.”

Melissa Vega, who normally runs on Moreno’s heels, got off to a strong start but couldn’t sustain her torrid pace as she contended with the hills and unseasonably warm temperatures. She finished 67th with a time of 24:34.

“I was surprised about my finish because we ran hills all week in practice, and I thought it would pay off,” said Vega, a junior. “I didn’t think starting off would really matter, but I still have next year, and I still have track.”

Vanessa Lazcano rounded out the girls squad with a finish of 28:46.

Chin ran a personal best time on the hilly Frogtown course with a finish in 18:19 to headline the boys contingent, which also included Jorge Vazquez, James Dimter and Evan Bachelder.

The team’s top runner, Jose Cortez, was slated to take the SAT on Saturday, leaving Chin to lead the charge.

“I think that I actually do better in hills,” said Chin, also a starter on the varsity soccer team. “Since Jose was gone, I think I had to be No. 1 to help out and inspire my teammates. We got to have someone take charge.”

Chin’s 35th-place finish mirrored Moreno’s feat, positioning him as the ninth qualifier not on a qualifying team.

Vazquez used a late surge to finish in 68th place among 165 runners in 19:29. Dimter took 80th place in 19:46, and Evan Bachelder returned from a week in Indiana to finish in 22:27, good for 132nd place.

Relva finished 10th out of 40 runners in the Division III freshmen boys two-mile race with a time of 13:02.

“I was storing my energy for the hills,” Relva said. “Doing a lot of running in the hills this week helped a lot. Once the hills were done, it was a pretty flat course. If the section meet course is the next step up from here, I’m sure it’ll be hard.”

Patterson coach Dave Klein welcomed his squad’s effort from top to bottom.

“We did the best we could,” Klein said. “We had a great season; I’m proud of them. They all worked hard, and that’s what it’s all about.”