Central Park Invitational Highlights
The showdown between veteran and newcomer didn't happen, but not because of any lack of effort on either part. Senior star Claire Graves (Citrus Valley) fell early and found herself in last place, preventing her from going head to head with freshman sensation Akemi Von Scherr (La Quinta). Graves did make it all the way back up to 2nd place, which is pretty darn remarkable, but Von Scherr was too far out front to catch, and she took the win in 17:22. Los Alamitos claimed the team title in the morning race, outpacing Redondo Union by a score of 72 - 105. In the afternoon race, Shaylynn Wynn (San Dimas) ran 18:40 for the win, while El Segundo scored a mere 33 points to dominate the team scores.
On the boys' side, another young star continued to emerge in the morning Division 1 Varsity race. Sophomore Alexis Garcia (Newport Harbor) won in 15:20, defeating defending champion Jorge Suarez (Santa Ana) by 6 seconds. Redondo Union won that race by a score of 114 - 141 over Los Alamitos, with Flagstaff (AZ) a close third. The afternoon Division 2 Varsity race provided the best time of the day, as Elias Opsahl (Redlands East Valley) clocked 15:04 to beat a quality opponent in Jacob Smith (Pacifica Garden Grove) by an impressive 20 seconds. Opsahl continues to show that he will be someone to be reckoned with at Southern Section prelims and finals this year! In team scoring, Foothill Technology battled El Segundo across all 5 runners and prevailed by 3 points, 73 - 76.