Boys Division 1
Ben Hamer, a senior at Palisades Charter, put up the fastest time of the day in prelims over the hilly three-mile Pierce College course. Hamer, eighth at the section final last year and the No. 4 returner, blazed the dry and dusty course in 15:46.60 and was one of three boys to cover the terrain in sub-16.
Marvin Guardado, a junior from Birmingham Community Charter (15:57.91), and Matthew Rios, a senior from Granada Hills Charter (15:58.80), also dripped under 16 minutes.
Justin Hazell (pictured), a senor from El Camino Real and the defending champion, said he was running with an illness at the prelims where he cruised unchallenged in his heat, finishing in 16:10.93. Hazell, whose winning time at the finals a year ago was 14:57.87, still had the fifth fastest time on the course all day.
Bruno Amon-Franceschi, a junior from Marshall, had the day's No. 4 time (16:04.94). Amon-Franceschi was seventh at the section final last year as a sophomore.
Brent Smith of Palisades, who was fifth last year as a sophomore, was 15th in the prelims (16:42.04).
With the depth of Hamer, Smith and a strong core of emerging young stars Palisades, third in the team race last year, could be poised to challenge for a podium spot or even a top-two finish needed to qualify for State.
Coming out of league, the City Section rankings went like this: 1. Granada Hills, 2. El Camino Real, 3. Garfield, 4. Marshall, 5. Palisades, 6. Birmingham and 7. Monroe.
Rios, Sean Larbaoui, Hayden Daly and Jacob Lee went 3-6-8-13 in the merged prelim heat results for Granada Hills, supporting that ranking order.
Merged Boys Division 1 heat results
Three Mile Run
RANK | TIME | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATEPLACE |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 15:56.60 | 2018 | ||
2 | 15:57.91 | 2019 | ||
3 | 15:58.80 | 2018 | ||
4 | 16:04.94 | 2019 | ||
5 | 16:10.93 | 2018 | ||
6 | 16:15.07 | 2019 | ||
7 | 16:24.72 | 2018 | ||
8 | 16:25.01 | 2018 | ||
9 | 16:34.57 | 2019 | ||
10 | 16:34.74 | 2018 | ||
11 | 16:34.90 | 2018 | ||
12 | 16:42.04 | 2019 | ||
13 | 16:45.17 | 2018 | ||
14 | 16:45.69 | 2018 | ||
15 | 16:47.78 | 2019 | ||
For the full list of merged preliminary heat results, click here.