BOYS TEAM OF THE YEAR
GRANADA HILLS CHARTER -- El Camino Real, led by eventual state champion Justin Hazell, had won the section Division I title each of the previous two years. Granada Hills, formidable in the mid-1960s -- winning three years in a row (1964-66) -- and again claiming titles in 1971 and 1976, hadn't won since. That was until this November's run at Pierce College where GHC upended ECR, 53-64, going 1-4-12-14-22 with a 49 second 1-5 split and a 15:58 team average. Senior Sean Larbaoui won the individual title, junior Quinn Garity (#564 above) was fourth, and sophomore Zackary Childers (12th), junior Cai Duran (14th) and senior Diego Corona (22nd) picked up the essential points in the pack. At State, GHC placed 16th overall, the highest finish of any LACS team at the State Championships, with ECR next in 19th (and with an impressive 24-second 1-5 split).
GIRLS TEAM OF THE YEAR
PALISADES CHARTER -- This could have gone either way. Granada Hills won the section title for the second year in a row, a narrow 43-46 victory over Palisades in the LACS Division I championship at Pierce College. But at the State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno, Palisades was by far the better team on the 5K layout that day. In fact, Palisades, running at State for the seventh consecutive year, placed 13th out of the 22 teams, the highest finish in program history. GHC was 19th, 65 points behind. Junior Sarah Bentley (pictured above) ran 18:18.30, a 5K PR, for 21st place (16th among scoring runners), a year after placing 129th in 20-plus minutes. Sophomore Miranda Schriver was 28th (19th among scorers) in 18:33.00. Senior Brittany Darrow was 61st among scorers (19:19.80). Senior Holland Mueller (20:33.90) and freshman Tierney Smith (20:36.00) also scored as Pali recorded its highest placing since slotting 14th in 2013.