CIF State Championship Takeaways

The CIF-State Cross Country Championships were no less exciting on the boys side.



Evan Pattinelli ran away from Nicholas Medearis in the final grass sprint to the finish. (Pat Rhames)


** Flintridge Prep senior Evan Pattinelli followed what was primarily the trend for the boys on Saturday at Woodward Park. Those who had run the 5K course well and finished high and the 2016 State finals, were more likely than not to improved on that performance this year. Pattinelli was second last year, used a strong kick on the wide grass finish to separate himself by just under three seconds from runner-up Nicholas Medearis of Crystal Springs Uplands and seven seconds from third-place Xian Shively of Pasadena Poly. Sophomores Charlie Kennedy and Clay Mills placed 12 and 13, respectively, and senior JT Munz was 22nd as San Francisco University of the North Coast Section, beat Thacher by 20 points to win the D5 team title.


** JSerra sophomore Anthony Grover was fifth in 2016, the top-returning finisher who, like Pattinelli, would win this year. Grover (15:31.50) was second at the two-mile marker but has proven often this year how strong a finisher he can be, beating runner-up Collin Ullrich of Liberty Ranch by nearly eight seconds and Menlo's Robert Miranda was nearly 22 seconds back. Grover's JSerra teammate, junior Peter Herold was fourth (15:54.90). Cathedral posted 73 points to beat Sir Francis Drake (98) and 2016 State champ Foothill Technology (117). Senior Alexander Cantu (sixth overall, fourth among team-scorers in 16:00.00), sophomore Tyrig Granillo (seventh 16:08.20) and junior Alberto Lopez (15th, 16:29.20) led Cathedral, the Southern Section champion.



JSerra sophomore Anthony Grover used a strong kick to pull away to win the D4 boys title. (Pat Rhames)


** In Division 3, the smart money appeared to be on Rubidoux's Kevin Ramos. His teammate, Erik Gonzalez won it last year when Ramos was 10th and the No. 5 returner this year. Guess who was second to Gonzalez last year? Redwood sophomore Liam Anderson. Now a junior, it was Anderson who out-kicked Ramos and Cathedral Catholic's Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos for the victory. Martinez de Pinillos was second by .90 seconds and Ramos was third, 4.60 seconds off the pace. La Costa Canyon's twins, Jacob and Garrett Stanford, went 4-5 and Serra's Anthony Benitez was sixth, giving the San Diego Section four of the top sixth from it's strongest division. With seniors Rory Abberton (15:53.00) and Caleb Terrill (15:54.30) placing 5-6 and three others place in the top 21 among team-scoring runners, West Torrance rolled to 63 points for the D2 team title. Ike Tamahaha (14th, 16:09.30), Andrew Hazzard (17th, 16:15.70) and Ryan Vo (21st, 16:21.30) helped West to a 105-point margin over runner-up La Costa Canyon.


** Redlands East Valley senior Elias Opsahl was an exception to the 2016 trend. He was 36th at last year's State final. But a week after losing a lead in the final sprint at the Southern Section final, he was not to be denied here, winning in 15:16.19. Canyon Country Canyon's Ethan Danforth, the runner who reeled in Opsahl last week, could not repeat the come-from-behind trick, finishing second in 15:19.70. Dublin was the hot trend to win the D2 team title coming in. So much for trends. Mountain View St. Francis put up 57 points to beat runner-up Dublin by 54 points to not only win the D2 title but also earn a bid to compete next week at the Nike Cross Nationals. Senior Shyam Kumar was third overall, second among team-scoring runners (15:23.00) leading the way. Juniors Eric Eng (eighth, 15:37.40) and Colton Colonna (ninth, 15:40.40), sophomore Juan Pablo Garcia (18th, 15:58.80) and junior Daniel Skahill (20th, 16:02.40) also scored for St. Francis.


Justin Hazell, the LA City Section champ, is the California D1 champ. (Pat Rhames)


** Los Angeles City Section champion Justin Hazell was not the top returning finisher from 2016. He was No. 2. But today he is No. 1. Hazell's time of 15:03.80 was the fastest of the five divisions. Crescenta Valley senior Colin FitzGerald was second (15:10.10, the second-fastest time on the course overall), and Roosevelt senior Tyler Spencer was third (15:11.80, the day's No. 5 overall time). With Spencer third and teammate Raymon Ornelas placing sixth (among team-scoring runners), Roosevelt came very close to upsetting Flo50 No. 1 Great Oak. And at one split it was announced that the Mustangs had an "unofficial" lead in the team standings. In the end, the Wolfpack won for the fourth year in a row to complete a fourth consecutive boys-girls sweep. Unofficial or not, the Wolfpack rallied late to pull off a 15-point victory with senior Carlos Carvajal placing eighth overall (seventh in team scoring in 15:23.00) with sophomore Chris Verdugo 14th, sophomore Gabe Abbes 17th, junior Tyler Tickner 18th and senior Jacob Korgan 19th.