Saturday Girls Sweeps
Team Sweepstakes Race
Great Oak's girls will be well-motivated this week after falling from their US #1 perch, and this is an excellent event for a statement race. Don't be surprised if Destiny Collins and company come out with all guns blazing on Saturday morning and look to put the hurt on some of California's best teams. That includes a Davis squad that also has aspirations of going to NXN, as well as a group from Arcadia that has been very impressive so far. Saugus is also lurking as a potential top-3 team here, and this would be just the right time of the season for the Centurions to let everyone know they're not going away. If you're looking for sleeper teams, consider Serrano (which has been relatively quiet all year) as well as Trabuco Hills, fresh off an upset win at the OC Champs.
We're getting the match-up that we thought we would see two weekends ago, and the extra waiting has us even more anxious to see the outcome! If you can find one weakness in the nearly immaculate season that Fiona O'Keeffe (Davis) is having - I mean, her 5K time is better than her 3 Mile! - it would be that her two 5K's have been on flatter, faster courses. Collins, on the other hand, has run at the very difficult Eagle Island State Park in Idaho for the Bob Firman Invite, and that might give her some advantage on the challenging Mt. SAC hills. The last time they raced, Collins pulled away to win the CIF 3200 title, but that was over 4 months ago!
There should also be a very heated competition among the members of the chase pack, who will be battling for third unless something unusual happens. Evelyn Mandel has been the revelation for Great Oak this season, and she should be pushed to limit by Nicole Zielinski (Canyon Anaheim Hills) and Holly Lung (Arcadia). Mariah Castillo (Saugus) and Sofia Castiglioni (Davis), who's having a stellar season of her own, are also likely to be in that first big group at the front of this race. Don't be too surprised if either Glennis Murphy (Redwood) or Ashley Licata (Capistrano Valley) makes a bid for the top 5 - both had strong races here in 2014.
| Place | Athlete | Yr | Team | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiona O'Keeffe | 12 | Davis Senior High School (SJ) | 16:41.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Evelyn Mandel | 11 | Great Oak High School (SS) | 16:54.60 | 2 | |
| 3 | Nicole Zielinski | 12 | Canyon Anaheim Hills (SS) | 16:54.60 | 3 | |
| 4 | Holly Lung | 11 | Arcadia High School (SS) | 16:58.80 | 4 | |
| 5 | Sandra Pflughoft | 10 | Great Oak High School (SS) | 17:05.70 | 5 | |
| 6 | Sydney Belus | 11 | Great Oak High School (SS) | 17:08.30 | 6 | |
| 7 | Courtney Brenner | 12 | Serrano High School (SS) | 17:08.40 | 7 | |
| 8 | Skyler Bollinger | 12 | Great Oak High School (SS) | 17:17.50 | 8 | |
| 9 | Mariah Castillo | 10 | Saugus High School (SS) | 17:17.90 | 9 | |
| 10 | Elena Kamas | 10 | Homestead High School (CC) | 17:18.00 | 10 |
| # | Team | Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Oak High School (SS) | 32 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 11 | - | - |
| 2 | Arcadia High School (SS) | 104 | 4 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 28 | - | - |
| 3 | Saugus High School (SS) | 130 | 9 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 53 | - | - |
| 4 | Serrano High School (SS) | 158 | 7 | 20 | 38 | 42 | 51 | - | - |
| 5 | Trabuco Hills High School (SS) | 189 | 30 | 35 | 36 | 39 | 49 | - | - |
Individual Sweepstakes Race
Amanda Gehrich won't dominate this race the way she did at the OC Championships last weekend. The Tesoro senior will have her hands full with a number of top-flight runners, from Kelly Byrnd (Canyon Crest) to Mikayla Sodersten (Clovis). In between those two on the virtual meet, you can find a virtual who's who of the best runners in SoCal, including Claire Graves (Citrus Valley), Candela Fernandez (Burbank), and Cassi Durgy (Huntington Beach). Freshman Chloe Arriaga (Walnut) is an intruiging wild card after running 17:00 at Bell Gardens, but Mt. SAC is a very different course from the two 3 Milers she has run. Another interesting runner: Emily Virtue (Burroughs) started off the season with a big time at the Great Cow Run, but since then she has not posted another performance that is quite as impressive. I'm particularly interested to see how Fernandez races here; she has struggled this year, but this is the site of two of her best performances from 2014 (she finished 2nd in this race).
Canyon Crest appears to have the edge in the team scores, but Mira Costa is also quite strong, and it wouldn't be terribly surprising to see Monte Vista or Rancho Bernardo in the mix, either.
| Place | Athlete | Yr | Team | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amanda Gehrich | 12 | Tesoro High (SS) | 16:37.50 | 1 | |
| 2 | Kelly Bernd | 12 | Canyon Crest Academy (SD) | 16:52.20 | 2 | |
| 3 | Claire Graves | 11 | Citrus Valley | 16:57.00 | 3 | |
| 4 | Chloe Arriaga | 9 | Walnut High (SS) | 17:00.70 | 4 | |
| 5 | Emily Virtue | 10 | Burroughs Burbank (SS) | 17:02.00 | 5 | |
| 6 | Cassi Durgy | 12 | Huntington Beach High (SS) | 17:05.40 | 6 | |
| 7 | Candela Fernandez | 12 | Burbank High School (SS) | 17:16.84 | 7 | |
| 8 | Samantha Huerta | 12 | La Mirada High (SS) | 17:17.80 | 8 | |
| 9 | Jennifer Sandoval | 12 | Summit HS (SS) | 17:20.50 | 9 | |
| 10 | Mikayla Sodersten | 12 | Clovis High School (CS) | 17:20.80 | 10 |
| # | Team | Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canyon Crest Academy (SD) | 111 | 2 | 21 | 27 | 30 | 31 | - | - |
| 2 | Mira Costa High School (SS) | 149 | 16 | 24 | 34 | 35 | 40 | - | - |
| 3 | Beaumont Senior High (SS) | 153 | 12 | 19 | 36 | 38 | 48 | - | - |
| 4 | Monte Vista High (NC) | 161 | 13 | 25 | 29 | 45 | 49 | - | - |
| 5 | Tesoro High (SS) | 184 | 1 | 37 | 43 | 44 | 59 | - | - |
More Mt. SAC XC Invitational Coverage
- Meet Page (results from previous years)
- Virtual Meet Hub
- FloTrack Coverage Page