Distances
All three distance races in CCS will have a returning defending champion. Westmont senior Garrett MacQuiddy (Anda Chu photo above) was a triple threat during the 2019 spring season with 1:52.25, 4:15.36 and 9:24.09 personal bests. After the section semi-finals, Macquiddy chose to focus on the shortest distance race and that proved to be a great decision as he won the section title and finished in 4th place at the state meet with the PR listed above. MacQuiddy will be favored to win once again this year but it won't be easy. St. Francis senior Euan Cairns finished in 2nd place last year and has the kick to run down a section title. Justin Chiao of Gunn has the high school record holder as his coach (Michael Granville 1:46.45) and will be another dangerous threat.
The favorite to win the section title in the 1600m will be Bellarmine junior Colin Peattie (DeAnna Turner photo above). After missing his freshman cross country season with an injury, Peattie broke the CCS freshman 1600m record with a time of 4:16.83 at the section final. He was even more impressive as a sophomore as he won his first track section title in the 1600m and finished 2nd at state with another section mark of 4:09.99. That time places him as the 13th fastest miler in section history. His main competition will come from another St. Francis runner, Juan Pablo Garcia (4:13.38), who finished 2nd behind Peattie at last year's section meet and won the section XC Division II title this past fall.
Peattie proved to be a super-tough competitor on the track as he doubled back at the section final to also win the 3200m event. He kicked to victory in a pedestrian 9:27.42 but showed at the state meet that he is quite capable of impressive doubles as he finished in 8th place with a best of 9:09.17. His main competition will be a familiar one as teammate Nolan Topper has doggedly chased Peattie for the past three years including the state final last year as he finished in 10th place in 9:09.89.