After two second place finishes her first two years of high school XC, Mayfield soph Audrey Suarez made it to the top of the podium with her 17:24 win in the Div IV race as Saturday’s CIF Divisional Championship Finals in Riverside.  Audrey’s time was short of her course PR and #2 All-Time SGV 16:54 from last year, but it was a solid three second win.

Audrey was the SGV’s only podium athlete this year, but she led a group eight girls to All-CIF (Top 15) Honors in the biggest & strongest regional meet in the world. This was Suarez’s third All-CIF award, and she is joined in that honor by Lily Miller (Jr, Vivian Webb) who was 5th/18:49 in Div V – her third straight fifth-place finish!  Here’s the full list…

Three other SGV girls earned their second All-CIF honor - Maddie Coles (So, Claremont) – 7th/17:16 in Div II, Azalea Seguara-Mora (Sr, Claremont) 9th/17:21 and Ellaney Matarese (Jr, La Canada) – 15th/18:30 in Div IV

Div II – 17:16 – Maddie Coles (So, Claremont) – 7th
Div II – 17:21 - Azalea Segura-Mora (Sr, Claremont) – 9th
Div II – 17:24 - Angie Gushue (Jr, Claremont) – 11th
Div IV – 17:24 - Audrey Suarez (Jr, Mayfield) – 1st
Div IV – 18:09 - Sydney Morrow (So, South Pasadena) – 6th
Div IV – 18:30 - Ellaney Matarese (Jr, La Canada) – 15th
Div V – 18:49 - Lily Miller (Jr, Vivian Webb) – 5th
Div V – 19:22 - Alessia Checcone (Jr, Poly) – 10th

All eight girls advanced to the California State Meet, Morrow, Matarese, Miller and Checcone as individuals and the rest with their teams.

Performances were slower overall this year, so there were few additions to the SGV All-Time Performers list on the Riverside Course. Here the athletes who joined or moved up the list at Finals or Prelims.

•    6th/17:21 - Azalea Segura-Mora – Sr, Claremont
• =7th/17:24 - Angie Gushie – Jr, Claremont
• 20th/17:48 – Isatu N’Daiye – Sr, Claremont
• 31st/18:09 - Sydney Morrow – So, South Pasadena
• 36th/18:18 - Abbie Laurel – So, Walnut
• =50th/18:31 - Milo Santiago – Sr, Walnut (at Prelims)
• =50th/18:31 - Miranda Palacios – Fr, Covina

You can view the updated list here - SGV XC Top 50 Riverside

Claremont’s streak of CIF Championships ended with their second place finish in the loaded Div II at Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Divisional Championships, but they remain the SGV’s dominant team, and their finish was the highest for our area’s 23 teams that advanced to Finals.

Four teams will move on to this weekend’s California State Championships in Fresno, led by Claremont and Div IV perennials Mayfield, who were 4th in their division. The Cubs have advanced to state in every year of this decade save 2013, while the Wolfpack have moved on seven straight years.

Covina who finished 3rd in Div IV, returns to the State Meet for the first time since their three-year streak that ended in 2016. The fourth SGV team in Fresno is newcomer Arroyo. This was their fourth straight year making Finals, but they will move on to State for the first time ever after a 4th place finish in Div III.

And one notable streak ended, as many-time Div V champ Flintridge Prep finished 9th and did not advance to State for the first time this decade, and I believe the streak is much longer.

Twenty-Three SGV girls teams advanced to this year’s Finals, the most ever for our area in this era of expanded Finals at the Riverside XC Course. The decade’s best for the years with 16 team Finals was 12 in 2011.

Bonita (19th in Div. III) Claremont, Flintridge Prep, Mayfield & Poly (10th in Div V) advanced to the Final every year of this decade, a strong achievement for those programs.

See a chart of SGV XC CIF Finalists + State at this link

Among the twenty-three, Gabrielino (22nd/Div III) Wilson (15th/Div IV) and St Paul (21st/Div V) advanced to the Final for the first time in the decade -and maybe ever! San Dimas (14th Div. IV) and Ramona Convent (17th Div V) made it again after advancing to the Final for the first time last year.

Flintridge Prep claimed the San Gabriel Valley’s sole championship while Claremont were again easily the region’s best team at Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Divisional Championships at the Riverside Cross Country Course.

Five teams will move on to this weekend’s California State Championships in Fresno, led by Div. V champions Flintridge Prep. The Rebels ran a great final and earned the title for the first time since 2015 and continued their many many year streak of advancing to the State Meet. Five teams is the third best for our region from 2009 on. The best years were 2009 and 2015, when our the SGV sent seven to Fresno. See a chart of SGV XC CIF Finalists + State at this link

Claremont fell to fourth this year in the loaded Div II, after a runner-up finish last year and a championship in 2017. Astonishingly, they were also fourth best overall in the entire Southern Section. This will be their sixth straight year finishing their season in Fresno.

The three other State Meet teams are newcomers – two were expected and one was a big surprise. Arroyo and La Serna just missed moving on last year but this year finally punched their tickets with 6th place finishes in Div. III and Div I, respectively. This is the Knights first time back at the State Meet since their Championship in 1987, and the Lancer’s fist time ever.

But the biggest come through was the performance from Wilson. Heat winners in Prelims with a bunch of strong performances, they were a solid fourth in the Div. IV Finals. This is a huge turn around for the Wildcats – earning their first spot in Finals and the State meet after failing to even advance to Prelims the last three years.

Twenty-One SGV boys teams advanced to this year’s Finals, the second most ever for our area, after 2017’s, in this era of expanded Finals at the Riverside XC Course. The best for year with 16 team Finals was 14 in 2016 and 2013.

Along with Wilson, La Salle was back in the Finals for the first time in at least 11 years (that’s how far back our records go) and Marshall advanced for probably the first time ever (at least since 1998). Damien made the Final for the first time since 2011 and Glendora and Walnut advanced for the first time since 2013.

Arcadia joins Flintridge Prep as the only SGV teams to make the Finals every year since 2009. California has made every Final since 2012, Claremont since 2013 and Bishop Amat since 2014.