Riverside King junior Lauren Peurifoy set a Division 1 course record to highlight the first of two days of the CIF-Southern Section preliminaries on Friday at the three-mile Riverside Championship Course.
Peurifoy, second at the State Division 1 final last season, blistered the flat and fast -- and not too dusty -- Riverside course in 16:35.7.
Walnut junior Chloe Arriaga latched onto Peurifoy for most of the race and crossed the line second in 16:46.1. Arriaga, 10th at the State final as a sophomore, and Peurifoy will battle again in a week on the same layout, this time with a section divisional title on the line. Arriaga is the defending D1 champion, winning by nearly nine seconds on the hilly Mt. SAC course in 16:47.51.
Also in Friday's heat, the first of three for the division, Riverside J.W. North freshman Makayla Browne was third (17:12.6).
Cynthia Martin, a junior from Temecula Chaparral, won Heat 2 (17:27.8) and El Toro senior Ashley Messineo (17:13.5) and Ayala junior Mikaela Ramirez (17:15.9) went 1-2 in Heat 3.
The section conducted boys and girls preliminary heats in Divisions 1 and 3 on Friday. Prelims for D2, 4 and 5 will be held Saturday. Malibu's junior star Claudia Lane is scheduled in a girls D4 heat at 8:01 a.m.
Boys Division 1
Six boys posted sub-15 times across three Division 1 heats led by Mira Costa senior Xavier Court's 14:52.1 to win Heat 3 ahead of Highland senior Leo Olivia (14:54.1), Vista Murrieta senior Edgard Villa (14:54.9) and Valencia senior Britain Reynolds (14:57.8).
Ayala senior Zach Arias won Heat 2 (14:56.3) and Newbury Park sophomore Jace Aschbrenner (14:57.8) won Heat 3.
Girls Division 3
Oak Park junior Sylvia Cruz-Albrecht, fifth at the State final last season, posted the division's fastest time across two heats (17:37.9), 16 seconds ahead of runner-up and teammate Sarah Shulze (17:53.6). El Dorado senior Lucina Vincent (17:53.8) and San Bernardino sophomore Gabriela Rangel (18:03.6) went 1-2 in the other heat.
Boys Division 3
Rubidoux's Kevin Ramos, 10th at the State final last November as a sophomore, had the fastest time across two Division 3 heats, winning by 20 seconds in 15:03.5. Whittier senior Nicolas Mijarez was second (15:23.5). Brea Olinda senior Tyler Spicer (15:22.2) and Santa Margarita senior Sean Byrne (15:24.4) went 1-2 in the other heat.