Miranda Schriver (left) of Palisades and Sofia Abrego of Granada Hills ran stride-for-stride in the home downhill at the CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I final last November. (Credit: Dan Peterson)
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The Los Angeles City Section expanded to the full five divisions last cross country season -- adding Division IV -- and what appears to be the result is a lot of returning depth at the top.
Of the five division individual races, three champions return among the boys and four return for the girls. But the storyline of the LAC heading into 2019 is far from simply those seven returning champions. Most divisions saw few seniors among the top finishers in what appears to be a youth movement in the LAC!
But while there are 61 top-20 finishers returning across the five boys divisions and 73 across the girls, there are fewer than a handful who made noise outside the LAC in 2018.
As a freshman last season, Sofia Abrego of Granada Hills Charter won the LAC Division I title, placed 17th at the State Meet, ran 17:01.30 for 3-miles, which ranks No. 22 among returners in the state, and clocked 18:00.30 for 5K, which ranks No. 25 in the state. And, in the freshman class, her 3-mile time ranks No. 12 nationally.
Palisades Charter senior Sarah Bentley has the No. 46 returning 5K time in the state (18:18.30) and placed 21st in D-I at the State Meet, the LAC's No. 2 runner that day behind Abrego.
Bentley's Palisades teammate, junior Miranda Schriver, ran second to Abrego in the section final (a year after winning the title), less than seven seconds behind, was the LAC's No. 3 runner at State, placing 28th in D-I, has the No. 53 returning 3-mile time (17:25.20) in CA and the No. 64 time for 5K (18:32.60).
Arguably the section's top returning boy is Eagle Rock senior James Corrigan, who won the LAC Division II title (a year after placing second) and has the state's No. 19 returning time for 3 miles (14:48.40).
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