Murrieta Valley sophomore Isabel Rosales enjoyed her Southwestern League Championship victory on Wednesday at Galway Downs in Temecula (Jeffrey Parenti photos)
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Last week, it was the SJS with a flurry of league finals in advance of Saturday's sub-sectional qualifying meet at Frogtown. This week, it's many of CA's other sections crowning champions and CIF meet qualifiers.
A number of significant league meets in the Southern Section were held on Wednesday and Thursday in advance of Saturday's preliminary seeding meeting.
Here's a closer look at a cross-section sampling of league championship results to include the Central Section, Central Coast Section, Los Angeles City, Northern Section, and Southern Section:
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Almont at San Gabriel HS
San Gabriel senior Kai Marroquin was a 9.24-second winner over Schurr senior Berlyn Moreno for the league title. Marroquin ran the 3-mile campus course in 20:08.15. Moreno crossed in 20:17.39 to lead Schurr to the team title. Junior Jazmin Evangelista was third overall, crossing No. 2 for Schurr in 20:25.63, with junior Yadira Arnold fifth overall in 20:49.40, senior Samantha Hernandez sixth in 21:04.99, and junior Theresa Lopez in eighth place (21:15.78) as Schurr scored 24 points.
San Gabriel also had the boys individual winner in junior Alton Wu, whose 16:54.83 was 3.20 seconds in front of Montebello sophomore Yair Dominguez. Bell Gardens junior Edwin Matias was third in 17:08.67. Dominguez led Montebello to the title, followed by junior Yeryk Tapia, who placed fifth in 17:22.0, senior Daniel Hernandez was sixth in 17:25.3, junior Fernando Andrade Montebello was ninth in 17:35.3, and junior Saul Hernandez closed out the scoring for the winners in 17:54.8.
Baseline at Rancho Cucamonga (SS)
Senior Glenn Bell won the individual title in leading Rancho Cucamonga to the team title. Bell ran the 3-mile course in 15:25.8. Junior Jacob Orta was next across the line for the host school, timed at 15:44.8. Junior Aidan Gomez was second overall in 15:43.0, leading team runner-up Chino Hills.
Chino Hills was a 19-point winner over Etiwanda in the girls competition, led by senior Karis Brown, who won the league title in 18:27.5. Chino Hills junior Jenna Gallegos was second in 18:29.9. Senior Jasmine Munoz led Etiwanda, placing third in 19:04.9.
Bay at Polliwog Park, Manhattan Beach (SS)
Palos Verdes senior Luke Stefanou won the individual title, running the 3-mile course in 14:38.10, but Mira Costa took the team win over Redondo Union with PV third. Senior Seamus O'Meara was first across the line for Mira Costa, placing second in 14:47.7, junior Andrew Martin was sixth (15:00.1), senior Max Levin was seventh (15:04.8), sophomore Owen Franck was 11th (15:27.1), and junior Sean Alliegro was 13th (15:37.2) as Mira Costa put up 39 points. Senior Christoph Waligorski was third (14:57.0) to lead Redondo Union and senior Will Kirk was fourth (14:57.8) for Palos Verdes.
In the girls competition, Mira Costa had the top two and four of the top nine to hold off Redondo Union for the team title. Seniors Dalia Frias (16:40.3) and Ella Parsley (16:57.4) went 1-2 for the Mustangs, with juniors Anna Chittenden fifth (17:48.8) and Heather Jensen ninth (18:23.4). Junior Aishling Callanan was third overall for Peninsula (17:090.7). Sophomore Lyla Fedio was fourth overall for Redondo Union (17:30.1).
BCL Championships at Lindley Meadow, San Francisco (NC)
Senior Alex Mader was a runaway winner cruising the Golden Gate Park course in 14:59.32 to lead Lick Wilmerding to the title. Mader is the No. 2 returning individual in Division V from the 2019 State Championships. San Francisco University junior Jack Gaitley was a distant second in 16:02.70 with Urban of San Francisco senior Nick Miller third in 16:09.78. Also scoring for Lick Wilmerding: Junior Bruno Kai Ong, fourth in 16:12.49, sophomore Sean Green, fifth in 16:17.71, junior Spencer Gibson, sixth in 16:22.16, and junior Haruto Uesugi, seventh in 16:25.39.
San Dominico junior Hayley Ballard took the individual title in 18:13.50, but Lick Wilmerding went 2-3-5-6-9 to win the girls title. The defending 2019 State Meet Division V champions were led by junior Amelie Maltz (18:27.13) and senior Kaira Shlipak (19:01.34). Senior Sophia Gibson of Urban was fourth (19:07.99), before two more Lick seniors crossed, Faith Dyogi (19:12.96) and Cate Kreutzen (19:14.43). Senior Joya Terdiman was ninth overall in 19:17.02 to close out Lick's scoring. Sophomore Lucinda Laughlin placed seventh in 19:15.51 to lead team runner-up SF University. Kreutzen was the No. 4 scorer for Lick at the 2019 State Meet, with Dyogi as No. 5. Shlipak ran No. 6 and Terdiman ran No. 7. All four were sophomores that year.
BVAL at Crystal Springs, Belmont (CC)
Freshman Carson Hedlund placed fourth in 16:39.80 to lead Pioneer to the team title of the 23-team race. Willow Glen junior Casey Nuti won the title in 16:20.80, just ahead of a pair from Branham, junior Spencer Zeljak, who was second in 16:23.7, and senior Antoine Moret, who was third in 16:38.8. Junior Jeff Hedlund was 10th in 17:23.0 and the No. 2 scorer for Pioneer.
Prospect freshman Kylie Hoornaert won the girls title, running the 3-mile course in 17:59.1 with Pioneer senior Bella Peretti second in 18:07.2. Freshman Lola Herning was third overall (19:11.20) and senior Dominique Salinas was sixth (20:15.3) in leading Willow Glen to the team title.
Big VIII at Andulka Park, Riverside (SS)
Seniors Tyler Kaan (14:52.3) and Evan Hild (15:06.4) and juniors Van Filek (15:17.3) and Dylan Deloyola (15:17.3) went 1-2-5-6 in leading Corona Santiago to the boys team title. The Sharks swept the varsity crowns as freshman Rylee Blade (17:37.2) won the individual title while leading the Santiago girls to a 15-point win over Roosevelt. Senior Allyson Abandonato (18:08.1) placed fifth as the No. 2 for the Sharks. A pair of seniors, Audrey Brunken (17:57.2) and Andrea Guadian (18:01.1) placed 2-3 for ML King. Junior Galilea Jimenez was sixth (18:20.3) and sophomore Madyson Nakamura (18:21.1) was seventh for Roosevelt.
CCL and TCAA at Lake Casitas (SS)
Fillmore senior Michael Camilo Torres (16:09.76) and Foothill Technology junior Kai Bensen (17:01.05) were the league champions for the boys, and La Reina senior Kaitlyn Ray (19:54.74) and Santa Paula sophomore Lindsey Ramirez (20:34.76) won league titles in the girls race. Camilo Torres won the CCL title with Santa Paula sophomore Diego Rodriguez second in 16:55.78. A pair of sophomores led Nordhoff to the team crown as Dylan Blacker placed third (17:08.59) and Charles Schurmer was fourth (17:27.14). Bensen and senior Jacob Walker, who was third (17:25.15) led Foothill Tech to the TCAA title. Dunn senior Joey Bickford was second in that race (17:16.80).
Ramirez and senior teammate Neftaly Meza-Cardenas went 1-2 for Santa Paula, and Nordhoff sophomore Maddison Duenas was third (20:55.31). Freshman Niza Laureano placed fourth overall in 21:40.37 to lead Fillmore to the team title in the CCL.
While Ray took the TCAA title, Cate placed five among the top nine to win the team title. Senior Anna DiSorbo placed second in 20:09.99 to lead Cate and freshman Francesca Sutch was third (20:20.20). A trio of juniors rounded out the scoring for Cate: Kendall Thorne was sixth (21:15.86), Lylie Bechtel was seventh (21:34.52) and Emily Allison was ninth (22:11.02).
Century at Yorba Linda Regional (SS)
The league is stocked, but one of the top teams in CA, Anaheim Canyon was a runaway winner in the team race, with 24 points. A very strong Brea Olinda team was second with 73, and Santa Ana Foothill was third with 81. Senior star Emma Hadley led the way for Canyon, winning the league title in 17:00.3. Yorba Linda junior Sydney Rome was second in 17:15.6. The Canyon parade continued with senior Isabella Frisone third in 17:23.9, sophomore Makena Oliva in fourth (7:26.2), sophomore Lindsay Guthrie seventh (18:16.1), and freshman Heather Greenbaum in ninth (18:23.4). Senior Kendra Painter placed sixth to lead Brea Olinda (18:14.0).
Senior Grant Sweningson (15:06.3), Nicholas Allred (15:13.7), and Taylor Bramel (15:36.1) went 1-2-6, respectively, to lead Foothill to the team title by 23 points over Brea Olinda. Senior Manny Debarros placed third in 15:22.0 to lead Brea.
Desert Empire at Xavier College Prep HS, Palm Desert (SS)
Junior Marjourie Lopez ran away with the league title while also leading Shadow Hills to its first league title and a trip to the CIF-SS prelims. Lopez ran the 3-mile course in 18:04.42. Xavier College Prep sophomore Ashleigh Schein was second in 19:30.69. Senior Jenaya Rodriguez placed fourth (20:20.65) and junior Angela Vine was fifth (20:29.70) for Shadow Hills.
Palm Desert senior Julian Elliott won the individual title (15:41.96) but La Quinta dropped in five of the first seven to take the team title. Scoring for LQ: Senior Tyler Fieux was second overall (16:09.85), followed by senior Ryan Henderson, who was third (16:22.23), sophomore Martin Torres-Sandoval, who placed fourth (16:22.32), and a pair of juniors went 6-7 in Aidan Brothers (16:49.62) and Divan Mejia-Gonzalez (16:54.37).
Eastern Athletic SLR at Hooker Park, Chico (NS)
Senior Mario Giannini took the league title for Chico (15:29.53) but Pleasant Valley dropped in five of the first eight to take the team crown. The top three for Pleasant Valley are all seniors, Tryon Jardin was second in 16:11.66, Renton McGregor was third in 16:37.13, and Cristofer Velazque was sixth in 16:56.82. Freshman Jackson Hein was seventh overall for Pleasant Valley (17:01.68) with sophomore Cavin Muff crossing in eighth place (17:17.33) to earn the three-point team win.
In the girls race, the Molina twins led Chico to the team title. Seniors Della Molina (18:33.89) and Iresh Molina (18:36.76) went 1-2 for Chico, followed by seniors Una Griffith in sixth (19:54.51) and Tori Mackay in seventh (21:15.06), with junior Dot Clemente crossing eighth in 21:39.90 to close out the scoring for Chico. Senior Faylinn Berkowitz was third overall for Pleasant Valley (19:39.14) with junior teammate Chloe Alchin fourth (19:47.52). Shasta freshman Elizabeth Merrill was fifth overall in 19:49.36).
Freeway at Buena Park (SS)
Troy junior Makenna Henkhaus took the girls team title in 18:32.1. Sonora was a runaway winner in the team competition led by senior Elizabeth Stetina, who placed second in 18:43.8, and was followed with a 4-5-6 Sonoroa parade of sophomore Samantha Stacer (19:16.7), Tigist Bergman (19:37.5), Doreen Minnix (19:53.0).
The Troy boys rode a 41-second scoring gap to a 25-point victory for the league title. Sonoro junior Alexandro Vielma won the individual title (15:17.2), well ahead of runner-up Sunny Hills senior Zachary Gomez (15:45.4). The Troy pack parade (an all-senior crew) crossed in 4-5, 7-8-9 order: Tyler Coker (15:57.0), Zachary Wallace (15:58.6), Ernesto Rivera (16:17.7), Justin Hernandez (16:27.6), and Nathaniel Hernandez (16:37.7).
Golden at Palmdale (SS)
Quartz Hill dropped 18 points to win the girls team competition, going 1-4 up front with junior Brianne Smith winning the league title in 19:04.98 followed by seniors Riley Briones (19:47.27) and Brenna Butler (19:57.89) and freshman Giselle Andrade (20:34.20) leading the championship run.
Highland went 1-2 in the boys race but Quartz Hill packed up nicely for the 19-point team victory. Senior Cesar Cuevas won the league title, running the 5K course in 15:25.88 with junior Mathew Donis second in 16:09.58, just edging Littlerock junior Logan Mendez at the line (16:09.62). From there it was all Quartz Hill, crossing 4-5-6-7-8 in this order: Senior Edgar Hebmann (16:36.88), junior Eric Amaya (16:41.86), senior Kai Smithley (17:00.79), sophomore Malik Alexander (17:12.34), and senior Gabriel Madison (17:48.28).
Hacienda at Glen A. Wilson High (SS)
They had to go to a sixth-runner tie-breaker to determine the league champion between Wilson and Walnut. Sophomore Matthew Alfonso placed 20th in 16:43.8 as the No. 6 runner lifting Wilson to the league title. Walnut junior Joshua Razo was the individual champ (14:44.7) with Wilson senior Gio Gudiel second in 15:05.2 and Diamond Bar junior Simon Worku third in 15:41.4.
There wasn't that type of drama on the girls side as Walnut was a 31-point winner over Wilson, led by freshman Kaitlyn Smith, who won the league individual title in 17:15.4. South Hills junior Liah Escobedo was second in 18:42.9 with Walnut senior Shandy Moore third in 18:52.0.
Marmonte at Agoura HS (SS)
Senior Daniel Appleford crossed fifth in 15:10.96 to give the top-ranked Newbury Park boys team a perfect score. Senior Colin Sahlman won the league title (15:06.51) followed closely by juniors Lex Young (15:06.75), Leo Young (15:06.77), and Aaron Sahlman (15:06.93). Thousand Oaks senior Atticus Hall was sixth in 15:42.27 as the top non-Newbury Park boy across the line. Westlake junior KC Barber was seventh (15:49.55) and Newbury Park junior Hector Martinez was eighth (16:01.59).
Senior Samantha McDonnell and freshman Tiffany Sax went 1-2 to lead the Newbury Park girls to the title. McDonnell won the league crown in 17:10.63 with Sax second 32.05 seconds behind. Agoura senior Georgia McCorkle was third in 17:59.07. Also scoring for the winning Panthers: Junior Ailish Hawkins was fourth in 18:03.69), senior Morgan Nygren was sixth (18:14.58), sophomore Danielle Brotcke was eighth (18:37.49). Sophomore Payton Godsey was fifth (18:09.48) in leading runner-up Oaks Christian, which also had top-11 finishers in sophomore Grace Geyer (18:19.98) and junior Sarah Colebrooke (19:04.48).
Mission at Pierce College, Woodland Hills (SS)
Richard Moreno led a 1-6 parade as Loyola won the Mission League title 15:23.2. Dylan Bissell was second, Nathan Mars was third, Colin Jacobs crossed fourth and Henry Payne was next (15:48.6) as the Cubs tallied the perfect 15. (More bad news for league foes, the Cubs' JV Boys went 1-12!) Sherman Oaks Notre Dame's Calvin Benedict was the first non-Loyola runner, crossing seventh in 15:55.0 with Harvard Westlake's Will Sheehy next in 16:06.9.
In the girls race, Harvard Westlake senior Daniela Quintero won the league title in 18:20.0. Marymount's Alana Godfrey was second in 18:41.8. Harvard Westlake had six of the top nine, scoring 22 points. That finish-line party joining Quintero included Kendra Ross (third), Saisha Kumar (fifth), Iona Lee (sixth), and Emily Ahn (seventh).
NAL at West Valley HS, Cottonwood (NS)
Yreka pulled off a one-point team victory over University Prep led by league champion Henry Baun, a sophomore, who was a 0.67-second winner over University Prep senior Isaiah Feaver, running the NS championship course in 16:42.52. UP went 2-3-4 with freshman Noah Gaido third in 16:50.97 and sophomore Brandon Muck fourth in 17:40.69. But from there it was a parade of four Yreka runners to earn the title. A pair of freshmen Saku Sekiguchi (18:11.42) and Gabe Gregg (18:12.39) were followed by a pair of juniors in Victor Lujan (18:19.20) and London Tharsing (18:32.01) for 27 points and the narrow victory.
Yreka also won the title in the varsity girls race, going 2-3-6-7-8. University Prep senior Becca Gaido won the league title by nearly 72 seconds, running the 3-mile course in 19:17.55. A pair of Yreka sophomores were next in Mattie Whipple (20:29.09) and Augustine Mylan (20:55.12). Freshman Carlotta Christie was sixth overall in 22:58.56 followed in order by junior Rebecca Collins (23:07.64) and freshman Ava Shackleford (23:22.93) as Yreka scored 23 points.
North Sequoia at Woodward Park, Fresno (CS)
Yosemite dominated the boys competition, going 1-6 and putting up a perfect score of 15. A pair of freshmen led the way with Ford Stegge getting the league title in 17:45.22 over the State Meet course, with Jack Olney second in 17:51.72. Senior Sebastian Rosales was third overall for Yosemite (17:51.95), followed by freshman Ben Olney (17:58.35) and sophomore Noah Graffigna (18;24.77).
In the girls race, freshman Milani Gutierrez won the league title in 21:18.31 while leading Kerman to the team championships. Junior Jayden Madrid was fourth overall for Kerman (22:49.95), sophomore Daniela Lua was fifth (23:00.45), and junior Sofia Caloca Pinedo was sixth (23:10.79). A trio of sophomores led Yosemite in Ava Stanley, who was second overall in 21:40.13), Terry Lewis Romine was third (22:14.21) and Reesa Geyer was seventh (23:19.30).
San Gabriel Valley at Buena Park
Junior Michelle Huerta won the league title and led a 1-6-9-10-12 finish as Warren out-pointed Paramount for the league crown.
Huerta ran the 3-mile course in 18:39.4 to win by more than 44 seconds over Paramount sophomore Azairah Banderas. Senior Alyssa Tapanes was third for Downey (19:52.2). Also scoring for Warren were junior Flor Arias (20:30.9), freshman Stephanie Hernandez (20:57.3), junior Karmelyn Macias (21:01.0), and junior Amy Perales (21:10.2).
Warren also won the boys team title but it was senior James Guerrero of team runner-up Downey who took the individual league championship (15:39.5). Sophomore Joshua Morales placed second in 16:10.9 to lead Warren, which scored 2-4-5-6-8 to win by 13 points. Adding to the championship total for Warren, were junior Victor Anguiano (16:43.5), senior Austin Carrera (17:02.8), junior Christopher Almaguer (17:07.9), and senior Kyle Chew (17:17.6).
SCCAL at Pinto Lake, Watsonville (CC)
Scotts Valley dominated the competition with sophomore Ashlyn Boothby and senior Jeremy Kain each winning league titles while leading their varsity teams to victory. Boothby was a runaway winner, crossing 85 seconds in front of her sister Amber Boothby, a junior. Another junior, Rafaela Putnam was sixth overall for Scotts Valley (19:44.0) with sophomore Dresden Brabo crossing seventh in 19:51.0) and senior Megan Wu eighth in 19:54.0) to close out the scoring for the winning girls team. Junior Brooke Willoughby was third overall (18:42.0) for Aptos with sophomore teammate Rachel Hoops next across in 19:04.0.
Kain was a 16-second winner over classmate Ryder Brabo, crossing in 15:14.0, with senior Austin George sixth in 16:20.0 and junior Aiden Boothby seventh in 16:23.0. Junior Jonah Verinsky was 13th overall in 16:51.0 as Scotts Valley posted 29 points and a 21-point victory over Santa Cruz. Junior Trent Nosky (15:35.0) was third as the top finisher for Aptos. Junior Jim Ratliff was fourth overall (15:53.0) and freshman Eli Fitchen-Young was fifth overall (15:53.0) to lead Santa Cruz.
SCL at West Valley HS, Cottonwood (NS)
Seniors Ryan Mitchell of Weed and Drew Hering of Mt. Shasta battled over the 3-mile section championship course before Mitchell prevailed in 17:06.78. Hering was second in 17:10.84. Third was Trinity junior Kyle Cox, nearly 75 seconds back in 18:25.6.
Etna junior Jenna Justice was the girls winner in 21:06.43 with Fall River frosh Darcie Range next in 21:4457 and Etna junior Elizabeth Yokel third in 22:09.66. The Northern Section Championships are the first of 10 section finals on the November calendar, coming up next week.
Sea View at Irvine Regional (SS)
Aliso Niguel won the girls team title with the 1-3-5-8 top-10 finish of senior Lauren Schuerger (17:33.3), junior Danna Ibarra (18:53.8), senior Casey Jones (18:52.6), and junior Jade Hans (18:59.9). Junior Talia Richland placed second in 18:29.2 to lead Tesoro with junior Kate Benade crossing fourth (18:43.9).
Capistrano Valley was a nine-point winner over Trabuco Hills in the boys competition as junior Jack Stevens (15:10.8), senior Luke Corsinita (15:11.5), senior Umer Warsi (15:19.1) and senior Diego Vergara (15:31.9) went 2-3-4-6, respectively. Tesoro junior Casey Goetschel won the league title, crossing in 14:58.6.
South Coast at Irvine (SS)
Junior Allura Markow and senior Jai Dawson won league titles in leading Dana Hills. Markow went 17:25.3 with Trabuco Hills junior Danica Brinkman (18:02.7) crossing second and El Toro junior Carly Miller third (18:03.6). Dana Hills won the team title with freshman Annie Ivarsson crossing fourth (18:05.0) and this sophomore trio finishing 8-9-10: Paige Scheer, Cooper Murphy, and Tessa Anderson.
Dawson cruised the course in 14:34.4 with Aliso Niguel senior Brennan Foody second in 14:51.7. Team champion San Clemente had a trio cross 3-4-5: Junior Juan Chantaca (14:52.8), senior Hayden Beauchemin (14:55.9), and sophomore Brett Ephraim (14:58.8). Junior Rory Catsimanes was ninth and junior Grant Sestak was 11th to close out the scoring for San Clemente.
Southwestern at Galway Downs (SS)
First-year coach Tammy Draughon held out some of her top runners on both sides but the Wolfpack boys and girls still managed to extend long league winning streaks. The girls went without three regulars and then essentially lost two mid-race to illness on a warm, dry afternoon at Galway Downs, east of Temecula. It took freshman Avery Smith making up six spots over the last roughly 800 meters to overcome a strong Vista Murrieta effort and ensure a 14th consecutive league title for Great Oak. Junior Cailin Osborne (18:44.6) placed fourth as the top scorer for Great Oak, followed by sophomore Devlyn Torza, in fifth at 18:53.1, senior Divine Torza (sixth in 18:54.6), and junior Lauren Ropacki (seventh in 18:55.5). What looked like a loss with a half-mile to go, ended up as a nine-point win for the Wolfpack.
Sophomore Isabel Rosales led Murrieta Valley to a third-place team finish with a 17-second victory in 18:04.0 to capture the league title. Senior Isabella Smith was second, running No. 1 for Vista Murrieta in 18:21.7, with senior Broncos teammate Amari Guzman third in 18:33.5.
While the final score was only a two-point difference, the boys race didn't seem as much of the nail-biter for Great Oak as did the girls race. Vista Murrieta senior Lance Denhalter took the league title in 14:57.8 and senior classmates Nick Hernandez placed third (15:11.6) and Brandon Calderon placed fifth (15:22.1) but Great Oak packed it up well pushing across six of the top 10 for a ninth consecutive league crown. Senior Carson Smith led the way, placing second in 15:06.0 with twin Cameron Smith in sixth (15:27.9), junior Austin Elkins in seventh (15:36.2), sophomore Gabriel Rodriguez in eighth (15:36.9), and senior Brandon Wilk in ninth (15:38.1). Junior Jordan Myers was 10th as No. 6 for GO (15:42.4). Chaparral senior Mike Martinez was the only non-Great Oak or Vista Murrieta boy earning first-team all-league honors, placing fourth in 15:20.2.
Trinity at Central Park, Huntington Beach (SS)
St. John Bosco senior Christopher Chavez won the league title, running the 3-mile course in 14:58.9 and Servite senior Jared Steins was second in 15:19.2. Sophomore Zachary Gibson placed third in 15:26.6 while leading Santa Margarita Catholic to the team title.
Sophomore Liam Raney was fifth overall and second across for the winners (15:36.6) with junior Eddie Yunker in seventh (15:39.6), sophomore Parker Herbert in eighth (15:41.0), and senior James Russo in 12th place (16:16.2) giving SMC 35 points and a 26-point cushion over runner-up St. John Bosco.
Freshman Sophie Polay of Santa Margarita Catholic won the individual league title, running the 3-mile course in 17:55.5, but the state's No. 1 Division IV girls team JSerra Catholic cruised to a 45-point team victory over Mater Dei. Junior Anastasia Snodgrass led the 2-3-4-5-8-9 parade for JSerra in 18:03.3. She was followed in order by freshman Brynn Garcia (18:12.6), sophomore Georgia Jeanneret (18:15.2), and sophomore Brooke O'Brien (18:22.8). Junior Cameron Murphy was eighth overall (18:37.10) and junior Ellie Johnson was ninth overall in a non-scoring spot (18:48.8), illustrating the Lions youth and depth. Sophomore Kylie Hughes placed sixth (18:29.3) and freshman Maya Villa was seventh (18:35.4) in leading Mater Dei. Senior Lauren Landrith placed 10th in leading Orange Lutheran, which placed third, two points behind Mater Dei, in the team race.
West Bay Athletic at Crystal Springs, Belmont (CC)
Two very tight races for varsity superiority. In the girls race, Castilleja went 1-2-3 in taking the team title over Sacred Heart Prep, 39-42. Five runners broke 19 minutes on the challenging Crystal Springs 3-mile layout led by league champion Perry McElhinney, a sophomore, and junior Samira Kennedy at 18:04.2 and 18:15.9 respectively. Junior Daniella Henderson was third across the line overall for Castilleja (18:34.2). Junior Julia Soderbery was fourth overall (18:35.3) in leading Sacred Heart Prep, with seniors Lucy Paynter sixth (19:00.6) and Janie Morganroth seventh (19:18.6), and freshman Sophie Cheung eighth (20:12.6). Senior Abigail Krenz was fourth across the line for Castilleja (20:45.0). At that point, the score through four across was 21 for Castilleja and 25 for SHP. It came down the No. 5 runners, and although freshman Avery Wagner was 3.6 seconds faster across the line for SHP in 17th place, Castilleja frosh Zoe Lee was next across (20:53.8) to secure the title. Crystal Springs Uplands put two across in the top 10, junior Kaiya Brooks was fifth (18:44.1) and sophomore Maya Wohl was 10th (20:15.5). Senior Grace Tang was ninth (20:13.5) for Menlo, which placed third.
It was the Pretre Show up front for Menlo in the boys division, with frosh Landon Pretre grabbing the league title in 15:28.4 with brother Justin Pretre, a junior, rolling in next at 15:39.5. Menlo took the league title over Crystal Springs Uplands, 33-36, despite CSP putting five across first. Frosh Benjamin Bouie was third overall (15:46.6) in leading CSP and junior Furious Clay was fourth (15:47.9), frosh Tarik Baker was sixth (16:00.4), sophomore Dean Wu was 11th (17:03.8) and freshman Ilya Kipkalov was 12th (17:15.0). Also scoring for Menlo: Junior Aiden Deffner was seventh (16:39.5), senior Nik Khuntia was ninth (16:56.2) and freshman William Hauser crossed in 14th place (17:17.1)
West Valley at Pierce College, Woodland Hills (LA)
The girls of Granada Hills Charter dropped a perfect 1-5 performance to win the league title. Senior Isabel Castagnola led the way with a runaway victory, negotiating the hilly Pierce College challenge in 19:07.8. Junior Jocelyn Pacheco was second for GHC (19:40.4), followed in order by freshman Meztli Velazquez (19:55.9), junior Naima Salazar (20:35.9), and freshman Reece Trice (20:40.6).
Freshman Kayla Tjenalooi placed sixth (21:35.0) for Taft, the team runner-up.
El Camino Real was a seven-point winner over Granada Hills Charter in the boys competition. Senior Austin Ledgerwood won the league title (16:13.5) to lead ECR and senior Max Liberman placed second (16:23.0). Senior Juan Alcala (16:27.4) and junior Reece Robles (16:31.4) placed 3-4 for GHC, which put five across first but it wasn't enough as sophomore Mateo Glass (16:43.6), junior Isaac Torres (17:02.4) and senior Kevin Alvarez (17:26.8) crossed 7-8-14 for ECR. GHC senior Pablo Abrego was ninth (17:02.6), senior Ryan Mittelstadt was 11th (17:12.6), and junior Michael Ward was 12th (17:20.0).
Cleveland, third in the team standings, put three among the top 10 in senior Harrison Nguyen, fifth in 16:40.3, sophomore Joseph Vargas, sixth in 16:41.2, and senior James Lopez, 10th in 17:03.1.
Western at Pierce College, Woodland Hills (LA)
Sophomore Max Fields led the way as Palisades Charter dropped 17 points in a runaway victory in the boys race. Fields timed 15:43.8 followed by seniors Jose Sevilla (16:06.7) and Alec Schmitt (16:10.6) in second and third, respectively, and seniors David Tobin (16:36.5) and Noah Wexler (16:39.8) in fifth and sixth, respectively.
The girls competition was a little closer but it was still Palisades out front led by the 1-2-3 finish of junior Mollie Wittenberg (19:29.1), junior Ava Baak (19:39.5), and sophomore Kyra Morris (19:43.8). Juniors Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin (19:47.8) and Elin Nowak (19:51.4) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, for Venice and junior Luciana Valencia (20:26.7) was sixth overall for team runner-up Hamilton.
Murrieta Valley sophomore Isabel Rosales enjoyed her Southwestern League Championship victory on Wednesday at Galway Downs in Temecula (Jeffrey Parenti photos)
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