Frosh Olivia Paez – left – leads Amat into the 2015 Season
Thirty-Six of the Seventy-Seven schools of the San Gabriel Valley competed in five meets on the opening weekend of the 2015 Cross Country season.
There were no big surprises, with the strong teams confirming their status, and short courses and new courses making it difficult to compare performances.
There were great performances from frosh girls, but that’s not really a surprise – every year a few girls step immediately to the front of the group.  This year’s big debut came from Walnut’s Chloe & Emma Arriaga with Chloe winning the Fastback Shootout, while Olivia Paez arrived to give CIF Champs Bishop Amat the additional runner they needed at the Great Cow Run.
Claremont hosted the Cool Breeze Invitational and turned in two excellent performances.  St. Paul and Mayfield took home trophies while checking out the new CIF Prelims course at the Riverside Showcase, while three other SGV schools opened at the Colton Swarm.
Looking Ahead: The first big league clash of the year happens this Thursday as the Palomares League holds their initial cluster meet at Whittier Narrows in South El Monte, on a flat, fast but turning 3 mile course.  Claremont are the clear girls favorites, with Ayala a clear second, but those schools should really fight it out for the boys lead.
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