The 23rd California State Championships | Saugus 4-Peats | Torrey Pines stops US#13 Great Oak!!!

CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Woodward Park, Fresno, CA

November 28, 2009

California NXN qualifiers will be selected by the NXN committee following the state meet.

STATE MEET PREVIEW By Aron Taylor

 | Div I Boys | Div I Girls | Div II Boys | Div II Girls | Div III Girls | Div III Boys | Div IV Boys | Div IV Girls | Div V Boys | Div V Girls |

Course Records | Top Team Times | Prior Years | Winners Table

*Team and Individual qualifiers are in bold

Division I Boys: 104-113! Dana Hills does it again as they defeat US#1 Royal for the second time in two weeks. Running a 15:46 average over the 5000 meter Woodward Park course, packing five in the top 40 places. US#12 Arcadia finishes in 3rd place with 115 points staking their claim to a possible NXN at-large berth. The individual championship would go to US#8 Ammar Moussa who cruised to victory in 14:59, the 8th fastest all-time for a junior. Pablo Rosales was second in 15:08. Complete Results

Division I Girls: As Benjamin Franklin penned, "Little Strokes fell great oaks." Torrey Pines rises to the occasion and defeats heavily favored US#13 Great Oak. US#6 Molly Grabill ran away with the individual title in 17:06 with US#10 Megan Morgan finishing in second with 17:16. Torrey Pines total tam time of 91:33 ranks #8 all-time. Complete Results

Division II Girls: US#2 Saugus four-peats as state champion overcoming US#8 Mira Costa 52-91 in team scoring. Saugus averaged 18:06 over the course. The total team time 90:26 ranks #2 all-time behond only last season's 90:06. Mira Costa's 91:41 ranks as #9 all-time. The individual championship goes to Jacque Taylor of Casa Grande who won in 17:29 over Julie Nacouzi who was also timed in 17:29. Defending state champion Kaylin Mahoney finishes in 3rd in 17:35. Complete Results

Division II Boys: US#9 Elias Gedyon tops US#14 Matt Mcelroy 15:00 to 15:02 to claim the individual championship. US#10 Heydon Wooff finishes in 5th place in 15:12. Pre-race favorite Mountain View completes the season as team champions topping Glendora 98-158. Mountain View ran a 15:42 average over the 5000 meter course. Complete Results

Division III Girls: Defending state champion Corona Del Mar overcame two previous defeats to Lutheran to claim the championship. Running a 92:20 total team time (#11 all-time) Corona Del Mar front two Melanie Powers and Kristina Funahashi came in before Lutheran's top two giving them the spread needed to overcome the pack of Lutheran. CIF Southern Section Champion Rebecca Mehra was predicted as the race favorite and did not disappoint claiming the individual title in 17:34. Complete Results

Division III Boys: Coach Brian Shapiro brings the state championship back to Palos Verdes. With a superb 15:46 average over the 5000 meter course Verdes held off St. John Bosco 46-77. Palos Verde claims the Southern Section Championships where they defeated St. John Bosco 52-62. The previous week at the Southern Section Prelims, St. John Bosco had won their flight with a 16:04 average and 23 second 1-5 split. Palos Verde then claimed victory in their team flight with a 16:08 average and 35 second 1-5 spread. Claimed an early season victory at the Nike Pre-Nationals with an impressive 15:40 5000 meter average with a 44 second 1-5 spread. The individual championship goes to pre-race darkhorse Erik Olson of Novato won in 15:01 over Daniel Rosales of Apple Valley 15:16. Complete Results

Division IV Girls: Camille Chapus takes the individual championship with a 17:59 over the 5k course. Leading Harvard-Weslake to the team championship  Complete Results

Division IV Boys: Laguna Beach claims the team title with 69 points over McFarland with 122. Tamalpais junior Daniel Milechman claims the individual championship in 15:37. Complete Results

Division V Boys: Wesley DeVall claims the boys individual championship in 15:40 to lead his Poly team tot a runner-up finish to division powerhouse Woodcrest Christian 109-115. Complete Results

Division V Girls: Lucy McCullough claims the individual championship in 18:17. San Francisco University claims the team title with 71 points to defeat Chadwick 79. Complete Results

Milesplit California Coverage Winners Table

Race Preview Summary: Recently there was a shake-up within the state as US#1 Royal falling in the CIF Southern Sectional Divisional Championships. Royal has been undefeated in the state however it would seem a resurgent Dana Hills, Trabuco Hills and US#12 Arcadia squads are primed for what could be, the best state meet yet. Dana Hills is poised to repeat as Division I State Champions. Perhaps the surprise of the meet comes from unranked Palos Verdes which decimated the Sectional course record with a 76:56 total team time, tops for the day. It would seem for now US#13 Great Oak is the class of Division I. They will face stiff competition from Torrey Pines. Hard to imagine a team whom only lost one varsity scorer as the underdog but Great Oak has been that convincing this season. US#2 Saugus will battle US#8 Mira Costa for the Division II title. 

While the Division I boys championship could feature the top team in the country. Could the boys Division II Championship race feature possibly three of the nations top 10 individual runners? At the Southern Section Championships top competitors collided. In the Division II Championship, US#9 Elias Gedyon (14:31) attacked and surpassed US#10 Heyden Wooff (14:35) and US#14 Matt McElroy (14:41). They would finish 1-2-3 over the 2.94 mile Mt. Sac course. Gedyon has not raced much this season but seems to be quickly improving. Could be another 1-3 finish for Gedyon, Wooff, and McElroy. The Division I Boys race will feature national running phenom US#8 Ammar Moussa. Moussa  has had a stellar last month with eye popping performances at Mt. Sac and the Southern Sectional Finals. He competed with US#10 Heyden Wooff at the Mt. Sac Team Sweepstakes. Running the top time of the day overall at the meet, Moussa was team sweepstakes winner and could tout a superior time than the Individual Sweepstakes champion US#9 Elias Gedyon. Moussa leads US#12 Arcadia and is a possible national championship contendar. Out of the Division III comes Erik Olsen who has an early season victory over US#8 Ammar Moussa at the Stanford Invitational. Olson has competed neck and neck witht he states top competitors. Won the Division III at the Southern Section Championships with a 14:49.

State Meet Schedule

Division II Girls Race 8:30am
Division III Girls Race 9:05am
Division II Boys Race 9:40am
Division III Boys Race 10:10am
Division IV Girls Race 10:40am
Division V Boys Race 11:15am
Division I Girls Race 11:45am
Division IV Boys Race 12:20pm
Division V Girls Race 12:50pm
Division I Boys Race 1:25pm