Three San Gabriel Valley boys teams and six girls completed in the CIF-SS Division 2 Prelims last Friday at the Riverside Cross Course. The five teams expected to advance did, while the two teams with a chance fell heartbreakingly close.

CIF Div 2 Girls Merged Results

The SGV (and CIF-SS) #1 Claremont girls ran an A/B team, finishing 2nd/93:55 to advance. Frosh Maddie Coles ran an easy 18:24 on her first time on the course, and now ranks #37 All-Time SGV here. Arroyo raced without their #2, but still advanced for the second straight year in 10th/100:53 . Rowland is 17th/105:56 and West Covina 20th/110:44 and they do not move on.

In the second race, SGV # 13 Santa Fe #15 Alhambra both had a chance to move on for the first time in this very strong division. Heartbreakingly, they were the first two teams out, the Chiefs 13th/101:20, the Moors 14th/99:33 and , with the Santa Fe missing by just four points. However, their #1 Katie Bautista will advance individually with a life-time best 18:20,  =31st All-Time SGV, 7th in the race.  Adding extra disappointment for the Moors, their #1 Serena Duenas missed advancing by one spot at 16th/18:53.

CIF Div 2 Boys Merged Results

In the boys races SGV #5 Arroyo advanced in the first race, finishing 4th/79:49  Noah Hibbard was the winner in an easy 15:20, 1 second off his best here from last year’s Prelims. Junior Josh Orellana ran 15:41 – =45th All-Time SGV on the Riverside Course.

In the second race, #1 Claremont also ran a mixed A/B team that easily advanced in 4th/80:04 and advance. #6 Rowland was 8th/82:28 and will move on for the third straight year.

SGV Tops 10’s and Team Leaders after the jump

Continue reading CIF Prelims — Div 2: Mission Accomplished, Except… →

The San Gabriel Valley advanced thirteen boys teams and seven girls teams to the CIF-SS cross country Prelims held Friday at The Riverside Cross Country Course. The teams picked to advance all did, along with several nice surprises and few heartbreaks.

Division 3 Boys Merged Results

In the first boys race, SGV #7 Bonita advanced with a restrained 5th/83:03 along #13 South Hills – 7th/83:19. In a nice step up performance, Los Altos 10th/85.36 will join them in the finals. The Conqs, advancing for the first time since 2014, were especially helped by step-up performances from senior Isak Andrade and soph Noah Palafax.

BP junior Edwardo De Paz was an easy 5th/15:52 and will advance individually along with Pasadena wonder-frosh Isaiah Givens who was 10th/16:01. South Hills’ senior Devin Hightower was 2nd/15:36 which ranks him #35 All-Time SGV here.

La Mirada had a bit of a rough day -16th/86:55 – and will miss the final along with Baldwin Park 15th/88:02,  El Monte -18th/88:35 and Sierra Vista 21st/93:38. This ends the Braves’ streak of five straight finals.

In the second race, #11 Whitter moved on with a controlled 5th/83:14 effort. Rosemead fell frustratingly 4 points short of the final spot at 13th/86:58, followed by Temple City – 14th/88:04, Gabrielino – a disappointing 16th/89:07, Nogales – 17th/90:22 and Garey – 20th/95:10. Nogales senior Osvaldo Cervantes was in complete control, winning the heat in 15:33 and will advance individually.

CIF Div 3 Girls Merged Results

In he girls races, SGV #14 Rosemead ran a really excellent 5th/101:02 to advance just ahead of #11 Bonita – who were a little off, running – 6th/101:03 as both teams advance.  Gabrielino – 14th/109:03 and South Hills – 15th/89:33 finish their seasons here, but the Huskie soph Arissa Hatcher finished 8th/19:19 and will move on individually.

In race 2: La Mirada was 10th/104:51 and will return to the Finals for the second year, while Nogales nabbed the final qualifying spot in 12/111:04 to advance for the maybe the first time ever, along with Monrovia junior Alayana Peters who was 2nd/18:54.  Sierra Vista was 17th/116:28

SGV Best 14’s & Team Leaders after the jump

Continue reading CIF Prelims — Division 3: Expectations Met — Surprises Celebrated →

Of the CIF-SS five divisions for cross country, the San Gabriel Valley was best represented in Div. 4 with 10 boys teams and 13 girls teams advancing from their leagues to Saturday’s CIF Prelims at the Riverside Cross Country Course. On a nice day for our region, seven boys and seven girls teams moved on to next week’s final.

CIF-SS Div. 4 Girls Merged Results

In the girls races SGV ranked #7 Mayfield were 2nd/96:24 in their heat to advance along with #6 Bishop Amat, at 5th/99:12 and Covina – 8th/101:37, with both of those teams missing one of their usual first five. These teams have been regulars in the finals – this is the tenth straight year the Cubs have advanced, sixth straight for the Lancers and five straight for the Colts.

The real news from this heat came from San Dimas who finished 12th/104:27. This was the first time any San Dimas team had qualified for the finals! They were led by a strong efforts from their first two – senior Caroline Cobo (19:34) and junior Layla Graham (19:45).

Mayfield was led by super-soph Audrey Suarez who ran an easy 18:15, 4th-best in a merge of the D4 heats. Also moving on was Montview League Champ Hannah Eubanks (Sr, Gladstone) who was 14th/19:03.

In the second girls heat SGV #3 South Pasadena moved on with a nice 3rd/97:01 finish, as did Flintridge Sacred Heart – 98:34 and #8 La Cañada – 8th/99:55 – still running without their usual #3. The Spartans’ Ellaney Matarese ran 18:34, 10th best in D4 on the day, and now ranks 48th All-Time SGV on this course. St. Lucy’s frosh Sarah Gann was 15th in the heat with a very nice18:59, and she’ll also move on to the Finals.

Six teams did not move on. In heat 2, San Marino was first out by just seven points in 13th/104:43, while 2017 finalists South El Monte were 14th/104:41 and La Salle 23rd/125:09. In the first heat, Gladstone was 15th/112:27, 2017 finalists Bassett – 17th/112:43  and Edgewood – 20th/116:54.

CIF-SS Div 4 Boys Merged Results

There were some surprises in the boys races. As expected, SGV #9 South Pasadena – resting their #1 -  were 5th/83:26, and Covina – 8th/83:43, both easily advanced. The Colts had a particularly good day, led by a 10th/15:42 overall D4 finish from senior Daniel Hernandez, a life-time best for him.  #14 Bishop Amat just squeaked in at 11th/84:45.

A little unexpectedly, St. Francis stepped up to grab the last spot in the finals at 12th/86:05, advancing for the first time since 2010. Edgewood junior Nicolas Castillo-Davidson also moved on with his excellent 9th/15:59 finish. He’ll be the first Lion ever to compete in the Final!

In the second boys heat, SGV #15 Pioneer advanced with a solid 3rd/81:51 finish, along with Azusa – 10th/85:48 and La Cañada – 11th/85:20. Spartan senior Owen Serricchio is now 37th All-Time SGV with his 15:33 finish, 4th overall D4 on the day.

Don Bosco, competing here for the first time since 2013, had a rough day and finished a non-qualifying 13th/87:21. 2017 Finalists Bassett were 14th/90:25 and Southlands Christian  – 15th/96:35, but Nathan Vallejo did move on with his excellent 11th/15:54 finish.

SGV Div 4 Top 14’s and Team Leaders after the jump Continue reading CIF Prelims — Div 4: San Dimas & St. Francis Lead Big Day →

Flintridge Prep secured (at least) their tenth straight trip to the CIF-SS Finals Saturday at the Riverside Cross Country Course.  Both the boys and girls advanced along with frequent finalists Webb and the girls from Poly.

• Boys Div 5 Merged Results
• Girls Div 5 Merged Results

While the expected teams all advanced there were two happy surprises that earned a spot in the Finals. Ramona Convent advanced for the first time in  maybe ever, while Asa Barton (Sr, Blair) earned an individual spot.

The Tigers, who finished second in the Horizon League, were led by soph Isabelle Mix-Vachon 48th/21:48 and frosh Emily Silva – 49th/21:51. The team was 10th/114:07 in their heat. Asa finished 3rd in the Rio Hondo League, (moving up 19 spots from 2017) to advance, and ran an excellent 8th/16:53 finish in the rising heat to move on to the Finals, the first for Blair in years.

In the boys races, Flintridge Prep ran together and cruised to a 4th/86:56 finish.  Maranatha advanced for the second year in a row with a 4th/88:02 heat finish, led by by senior Matt Rutzen who was 10th/16:19 overall in D5. Webb advanced at 8th/89:25 in their heat. Evan Hayes (Jr, Poly) ran a life-time best 6th/17:02 and will move on individually.

In the girls races SGV #9 Flintridge Prep put down the hammer with a 98:56 win, nearly 3 minutes ahead of the next team. Senior Haley Allen ran 18:34, 2nd best in D5 on the day,and senior Sasha Codiga was 8th/19:27. Poly was 5th/109:15 and Webb – 8th/110:2 in their heats and both move on, for the ninth and third times, respectively. Gaul soph Lily Miller – 5th/18:48 was 5th overall in D5.

SGV Top 7 and Team Bests after the jump Continue reading CIF Prelims — Div 5: Ramona Convent Joins the Usual Group →

The Del Rio League is one of our area’s most competitive, year after year. This year, the stories were whether fast-rising La Serna could bump off recent league boss California, and who would grab the third spot in both competitions.

Official Results

On the boys side, California reversed two earlier losses, and put four in the first six to edge an injury limited La Serna 27-32. Whittier confirmed their move up from the first meet by again finishing third and taking the final CIF spot.

La Serna’s Andrew Hernandez moved up from 3rd & 4th in the first two league meets to take the individual championship in 15:23 in a very close race. Andrew had 8 second gap back to the second finisher, Angel Salinas (California), and the next five all finished within the next nine seconds.

The two top teams took all of the All-League spots. For California, it was Ethan Ruiz – 4th/15:36, Andres Espinoza – 5th/15:38 and Jack Martinez – 6th/15:39, with all three moving up a bunch from the first meet. Lancers Jesse Montez – 3rd/15:33 and Gerald Baltzer – 7th joined champ Hernandez in the honors.

Whittier was led by frosh Miguel Viderique – 12th/16:07. El Rancho narrowed the gap to Whittier but were fourth again – their best was George Castillo -10th/16:04.  Matthew Mora – 9th/15:55 led fifth-placed Santa Fe.

The girls competition grew tighter with each league race, leading to an exciting final where the top three were separated by only nine points. California were the winners. La Serna closed their gap to the Condors from 14 points in the first meet to 7 here, but were again second. Santa Fe almost surpassed the Lancers, but fell one point short.

There was an interesting grouping of the top three teams. Santa Fe put three in the first five, but their #4 & #5 were only 19th and 20th, which pushed them to third. California had two in the first six, but clinched the win with a 10-11-12-13 finish by their next four runners. La Serna had two step ups in the first seven, but one runner finishing below her usual place left them in second.

Santa Fe’s Katie Bautista finished an undefeated league season with a 18:21 win and was joined in the All-League group by teammates Kayla Viramontes – 4th/19:06 and Dulce Fortiz – 5th/19:17 – big step ups from the first meet where they were 9th and 13th, respectively.

Cal’s Zoe Gurule narrowed the gap to Bautista from earlier meets, but was still 9 seconds short to finish 2nd/18:29. Stephanie Reynoso was 6th/19:20 to earn All-League honors. Remy Vigil – 3rd/19:01 and Natalia Interiano – 7th/19:21 earned the remaining All-League spots for La Serna.

Xitlali Pulido led fourth-placed Whittier at 8th/19:22, heartbreakingly missing All-League honors by 1 second and advancing to CIF by 2. Jessica Hernandez – 17th/20:20 was best for fifth-placed El Rancho.

Thanks to Phil Torres for the photos

Webb continued its season-long dominance and Lily Miller and Nathan Vallejo took the individual wins in the combined San Joaquin and Academy League Finals Friday at Irvine Regional Park.

Official Results

Nathan of Southlands Christian and Lily of Webb had been big winners in the earlier meets. Lily was again way off the front, winning in 20:13 over teammate Anne Lofgren, who was 2nd/23:39. Webb took the 5th through 8th spots to easily secure the championship.

Vallejo’s winning margin was considerably narrower, his 18:08 leaving him just 17 seconds clear of runner-up Frank Hu at 18:25, who led Webb to a 2-6 finish and the league championship. The Southlands Christian team was third in this eight team league, and will advance to CIF along with Nathan.

The League Realignment process was kind to Diamond Bar, moving them from the powerful Palomares to the Mt. Baldy League, a much fairer placing. Their cross country teams took full advantage, and both will advance to CIF for the first time in many years – the girls as League Champs!

Official Results

The girls were third in the first league meet, but only missed first by two points. They were second in the next meet, and then stepped up big to win the Finals meet Thursday at Bonelli Park.

The Brahmas edged out a Chaffey team that put two below their #1, and were ahead on each matchup until the #5 runners. D-Bar’s #5, Henna Gonzolo was 15th/22:20 and Chaffey’s #5 was 22nd, and that gave the Brahma’s a two point win. Keili Ishitani - 5th/20:16 and Alison Ear – 6th/20:18 earned All-League honors to lead the winning effort.

The boys moved the other way over the season, registering a clear win in the first meet and a narrow second place in the second. They were second again in the Final, this time by a bigger margin as their first five had mixed results, but they earned the CIF spot!

Lukas Amare stepped up from two second-place finishes in the earlier league meets to win the individual championship going away with a 16:29 effort. Thomas Ear moved up from 6th and 5th in the earlier meets to finish 3rd/16:58 and earn All-League honors.

Coverage by Russell Burrows

The Miramonte League met Thursday at Bonelli Park in San Dimas for our League Finals, which is our third year of competing on this course after spending previous years at Schabarum Park.

MIRAMONTE LEAGUE FINALS RACE RESULTS 11-1-18

The girls varsity race was highlighted by the top-four finishes of Ana Tecuanhuehue of Bassett (20:40), Carissa Bilecki of Edgewood (21:21), Mitzery Lindoro of Edgewood (21:36), and Brenda Caballero of Garey (21:55).

Bassett runners Claudia Gonzalez (22:02), Desiree Alvarado (22:10) Ana Simon (22:33) and Vivian Mendez took spots five, six, seven, and thirteen to score 32 points for the league title, with Edgewood finishing in second with 42 points.  Bassett and Edgewood qualified as teams for CIF-SS Prelims, with Caballero of Garey qualifying as an individual.

The Bassett boys varsity team continued their Miramonte League success by placing their top five runners in the top twelve spots to score 41 points for the victory.  Garey finished in second with 54 points while Edgewood finished in third with 69 points.

Nicolas Castillo Davidson of Edgewood claimed the top spot and remained undefeated in league competition in a time of 16:23, with Hector Venegas of Garey throwing in a late surge to nab second place in a time of 16:29. Alexis Castellon-Leon of Bassett was close behind for third (16:30).  Also finishing in the top six were Daniel Martinez of Ganesha (16:46), Joshua Hernandez of Edgewood (16:51), and Efrain Carrillo of Ganesha (17:15).  Bassett and Garey all qualified as teams into CIF-SS Prelims while Castillo Davidson/Hernandez of Edgewood and Martinez/Carrillo of Ganesha qualified as individuals.

Tecuanhuehue of Bassett was named the Girls Miramonte League MVP, and Castillo Davidson of Edgewood was named the Boys Miramonte League MVP.

The CIF Div. 5 ranked Maranatha boys took the title in the Olympic League Finals on Thursday at Hansen Dam in Lake View Terrace.

Boys Results    Girls Results

The Minutemen put all five scorers in the first 14 to edge Cerritos Valley Christian 40-52. MHS senior senior Matthew Rutzen held off two strong challengers to take the individual championship in 16:41 for three miles. Teammate Henry Witherspoon earned All-League honors with a 6th/17:59 finish.

The Maranatha girls were fifth, led by Megan Ravesdy – 13th/23:16.

The South Pasadena boys were league favorites at the start of the year, while the girls were a question mark, with La Canada the projected champs. The Tiger boys fulfilled their promise, while two frosh led the SP girls to the championship over an injury limited Spartans.

Complete Results

South Pasadena followed up wins in first two boys races, with another another solid win.  They put three in the first seven to finish with 36 points on the 3-mile course Thursday at Lacy Park in San Marino. La Cañada, Temple City and Monrovia each came into the meet with the chance to finish anywhere from 2nd-4th. They finished in that order, with the ‘Cats missing out on the final CIF spot.

South Pas senior Kai Dettman ran away from Owen Serricchio (Sr, La Canada) and Asa Barton (Sr, Blair) to take the individual championship in 16:29. Owen was 2nd/16:32 and Asa, moving up from 8th and 6th in the first two meets (and 22nd last year!) was 3rd/16:37, and will advance to CIF as an individual.

Roberto Soto (Sr, Monrovia), battling injury all year, was 4th/16:54 and will also advance to CIF, as he did last year. Teammate Jeremy Donahue jumped up from 11th & 16th in the earlier league meets to earn All-League honors by finishing 7th/17:15. South Pas seniors Nicolo Porcu - 5th/17:07 and Alekzander Grijalva – 6th/17:07 grabbed the final two All-League spots.

Junior Philycius Tjong – 8th/17:16 was best for Temple City and will lead the Rams to CIF for the second straight year. San Marino was fifth and Blair was sixth, senior Sean Chen - 11th/17:22 was best for the Titans.

La Cañada were the easy winners in the first league meet, but losing a key runner to injury combined with the rise of South Pasadena’s two frosh leaders put the Tigers ahead in the second meet and again in the Final, with a 38-53 edge on Thursday. San Marino came closer to the Spartans but were third again and earned the final CIF spot.

La Canada soph Ellaney Matarese was challenged by Monrovia junior Alayna Peters but bested her 18:38 to 18:44 to complete an undefeated league season. As she did last year, Alayna will advance to CIF individually. Sarah Auther (Jr, La Canada) was 3rd/19:11.

South Pasadena’s win was keyed by a 4-5-6 finish from frosh Sydney Morrow (19:16) & Mai Koyama (19:37) and senior Elizabeth Bock (19:38).  All three had run well all year, with Elizabeth moving up nicely from at 20th place league finish in 2017.

Olivia Ruiz (Sr, San Marino) took the final All-League place with a 7th/19:38 and will lead her team back to CIF.  Monrovia moved up from fifth in the first meet to fourth here, but could not reach the final CIF spot. Temple City was fifth, led by Samantha Li – 17th/21:25 and Yarely Franco – 30th/23:17 was the best for Blair. 

Thanks to Andy DiConti for the photos.