DIVISION 1 GIRLS
Great Oak claimed two team titles, providing head coach Doug Soles with his 14th and 15th divisional titles.
While the girls sat back in the first mile, they picked away at early deficit to claim their eighth straight title and 10th overall! Audrey Dang, Aubrie Nex and Kelli Gaffney led the way for the Wolfpack in crossing together just under 17:40! Great Oak senior Tori Gaitan, the defending champion and team's clear No. 1, ran despite an illness and did not score.
In overcoming incredible adversity the past nine days, the women of Saugus easily qualified for their 15th 
consecutive State Meet. Isabella Duarte contributed her best performance yet to compliment Hannah Fredericks' third place finish up front. Vista Murrieta, despite not being at 100%, claimed the third place spot in qualifying for an 11th straight season while San Clemente match out projections with a fourth-place finish. Wake Forest-bound senior Hana Catsimanes, seventh a year ago, continued her stellar season -- also matching our predictions -- in rolling to the individual title with a 17:21.4 effort. In one of the bigger surprises of the day, Tesoro's girls moved up to take fifth place while Yucaipa's consistency continued with a strong sixth place performance. Led by Dalia Frias' runner-up effort (17:29.4), Mira Costa qualified in that last spot to next weekend.
DIVISION 1 BOYS
Despite sitting out their top six runners and saving them for next weekend's State Meet, Great Oak still rolled to fifth consecutive divisional title! As predicted the day in our preview, John Worthy and Leandro Candray finished in the top 10 individually to lead the cause! Upland senior Jeremiah Castellano left a tight race late and crossed the line first in 14:48.40. Castellano, whose junior year was lost to injury after just one race, is the first Upland boys champion in 40 years. Redondo Union sophomore Christoph Waligorski was second in 14:55.70.
The first race of the day also featured the fastest performance of the day (16:53.8) as Riverside North freshman MacKenzie Browne inserted a strong surge just past the two-mile mark to shake off Ventura's Madeleine Locher and rolled to the victory ahead of Colony's Amber Rios. While Claremont posed a threat to Newbury Park after four scorers, Claremont could not match the Panthers' in that crucial fifth scoring slot, and was unable to defend their title. El Toro came from behind over the last mile, moving up from sixth place up to third, while Serrano had just enough to hold off Anaheim Canyon, 150-152 for fifth place. The Jill Walker-led Simi Valley group make their way back to the State Meet for the first time since 2014 while Ventura rallied to claim that last slot to Fresno.
The fireworks provided by Newbury Park's boys came after their female counterparts earned their first divisional title of their own!
DIVISION 3 GIRLS
In what we predicted would be the closest team finish on the day, Palos Verdes ran to another team title in holding off Brea Olinda, 70-84. We projected that Brea would match the Palos Verdes' duo of Savannah Scriven and Samantha Steman, but those two had other plans. First, it was Scriven that ran to the individual victory (17:28.5) with Steman settling for runner-up honors (17:40.7) while they outscored the Brea duo of Mia Douge and Whitney Valenti by 12 points to kick off the scoring. Brea held a four-point edge at the 1.6 mile mark, 75-79 but PV was able to flip that for the title. Siena Palicke (third-place, 17:41.7) led Yorba Linda to the third place finish while qualifying for their first State Meet, the Knights of Arroyo exceeded our expectations. South Torrance and Torrance will keep that community busy in Fresno for the Thanksgiving Weekend. But, in the most exciting finish on the day, Portola and Granite Hills tied for that last qualifying spot but Portola prevailed by having the faster sixth-scorer by quite a margin. Portola was headlined by freshman Jadyn Zdanavage and her sixth place (17:56.4) performance.
DIVISION 3 BOYS
Agoura did not bring forward their best effort of the season, but all the same, the Chargers claimed the team title over Royal by 34 points. Royal, all underclassmen, displayed why they will the favorites in 2020 while holding off pre-season favorite, Brea Olinda. Moorpark, led by individual champion Keith Murray (14:49.7) impressed with their fourth place performance while defending champions, Palos Verdes placed fifth. Arroyo (led by Saket Sama's 15:07, third place finish) moved up well over the last mile to qualify for their first State Meet since the early 1990's while St. John Bosco will return to Fresno in late November for the first time in years.
DIVISION 4 BOYS
Foothill Technology came out firing and never looked back in capturing their second title in the past four seasons. This now gives Ken Reeves his 19th SS Divisional title as a head coach! Josh Villasenor led the 
cause with his third-place effort (15:03.7) in the 39-point victory over Cathedral. Utilizing a solid 42-second scoring spread led by Gabriel Galaz' 12th-place finish, the Phantoms defied the odds in qualifying for another State Meet despite being recently ranked as low as eighth two weeks ago. Defending champions Laguna Beach presented enough fire power to place third as Mateo Bianchi's runner-up finish (15:03.3) while Wilson out of Hacienda Heights placed fourth as a team. This was a squad that had not qualified for the postseason since 2015! Oaks Christian and El Segundo stepped it up with their best performances of the season in qualifying a pleasant surprise came in the likes of Barstow for that last qualifying spot to the State Meet. Individually, JSerra's Anthony Grover cruised to the victory in 14:53.9 and looked sharp as he looks to claim his third consecutive individual State Meet title next weekend.
DIVISION 4 GIRLS
The race we most anticipated, only because we had FIVE different squads that could possibly win the team title, came in the form of the Division 4 girls! The only team from this division we had ranked in our overall Top 25 Southern Section rankings was Orange Lutheran. Led by Sophia Gutierrez, they lived up to our projections in claiming their first title since 2005, which was also the last year they advanced to a State Meet. But, we have to admit that they surprised us by claiming the title by over 60 points! Laguna Beach earned the runner-up plaque in holding off a tough Covina crew. Mayfield, led by individual champion, Audrey Suarez (17:24.7) fell just four points short of catching Covina. Suarez, like Grover, is a defending State champion who did not win here last year.
Meanwhile, El Segundo and Foothill Technology qualified once again. Foothill Tech was the defending team champions, as Brooke Secreto actually closed in on Suarez over the last half-mile with a 17:28.0 runner-up performance. Diane Molina of Costa Mesa qualified for her third straight trip to Fresno, but this time, she brings the rest of her team along as they claimed that last team slot.
DIVISION 5 BOYS
Flintridge Prep was a huge upset winner, defeating St. Margaret's by 16 points with an impressive 42-second scoring gap. While they had not been ranked in the top three all season long, a trio of juniors paved the way: Hudson Billock, ninth in 15:50.40, Bennett Oakes, 11th in 15:51.80 and Nolan Costin, 18th in 16:12.10. Another junior, Jackson Adelman, led St. Margaret's, winning his second consecutive title, running 15:20.20 to hold off Viewpoint senior Ronnie Orosky (15:25.50) and Midland junior -- another junior!! -- Will Goddard (15:27.40). Thacher, behind the legs of Winslow Atkeson and sixth-place performance, moved onto another State Meet while Pacifica Christian of Santa Monica qualified for their first ever trip up north. Earning that last slot to Fresno was Crossroads.
DIVISION 5 GIRLS
Village Christian junior Mia Barnett made a strong move at the two-mile mark to shake freshman Liesel Blau of St. Margaret's to roll to her third straight individual title. Blau held on as runner-up, leading St. Margaret's to a 
second consecutive title as Coach Pat Bendzick's teams claimed the boys individual championship and team runner-up and the girls claimed the team title and had the individual runner-up!! Temecula Linfield Christian sophomore Ryley Burns was third in 18:28.0 leading the Lions to the runner-up team award and a trip next week to Fresno. Led by Anna Disorbo sixth-place effort, Cate placed third. But, behind those three came one of the best battles of the day! Only SEVEN points separated the next four squads with Valley Christian (Cerritos) placing at the top of that group for fourth. Sage Hill was only two points behind them while Xavier Prep and Village Christian tied for sixth place. Xavier Prep, led by Molly May, got the nod over owning the faster sixth scorer!
MORE TO COME!!!!!!