XC IN REVIEW Los Angeles City Section

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Two athletes stood above the rest during the 2021 cross country season in the Los Angeles City Section: Palisades Charter sophomore Max Fields (bib No. 1258 above competing at the State Meet), and Granada Hills Charter senior Isabel Castagnola. 

Both of these talented runners won LAC Division 1 individual championships, ran section-leading times, and were the fastest section representatives at the CIF-State Meet. 

BOYS REVIEW

As part of winning the D-1 title at the section final, Fields also led Palisades Charter to the team title, its first since 2015. At State, his time of 16:10.30 for 65th place in the Division I race was more than five seconds faster than any other boy from the LAC. His time ranked 19th in the 2024 class among all boys at the State Meet.

David Martinez (pictured above), a senior from Franklin, placed 53rd in the Division III race on the 5K course at Woodward Park in Fresno as the second-fastest LAC boy at State. 

Martinez, runner-up to junior teammate Francisco Rodriguez in the D-3 race on the Pierce College course at the LAC Final, placed 76th at State, some 20 seconds behind Martinez. 

James Jimenez, a senior at Venice, won the LAC D-2 title while Monroe won its first team crown since 2009.

Despite the excellence of Rodriguez and Martinez for Franklin, it was Verdugo Hills winning the D-3 team title by five points. Verdugo Hills also won in 2019.

In D-4, Rancho Dominguez Prep sophomore Alan Sotelo was first across the line while East Valley was the best of the teams, winning its first tile. And in D-5, New West Charter senior Brandon Adreani won the individual title while Alliance Marc & Eva Stern took home the team honors for the first time since 2012. 

GIRLS REVIEW

Castagnola (bib No. 666 above competing at the State Meet) not only won the D-1 section title, but she also led Granada Hills Charter to another team crown, the fourth in a row for GHC.

At State, in placing 65th in the D-I race in 19:06.00, Castagnola was 45.60 seconds faster than the next fastest LAC girl on the 5K Woodward Park course in Fresno. 

Venice junior Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin (pictured bib No. 642 below) won the D-2 individual title while Eagle Rock claimed the team crown, its second in three seasons.

In D-3, it was senior Dulce Gonzalez first across the line leading Canoga Park to the team title, a fourth in five seasons for Canoga Park. Freshman Hannah Carlson of Northridge Academy won the D-4 title and Mendez earned the team championship, defending its title from 2019.

In D-5, Gabriela Nascimento, a sophomore from New West Charter, won the individual title while leading her team to the division championship, a first for NWC. 

Only four LAC girls broke 20 minutes at State. Eagle Rock senior Keely Miyamoto was the LAC's second-fastest girl at State, crossing in 19:51.60 in the D-II race, and, in the D-III competition, Canoga Park sophomore Angelina Valladares (19:57.40) was 1.5 seconds faster than Gonzalez, the section champion.

Sofia Abrego, a senior at Granada Hills Charter headed to Dartmouth who was a two-time former LAC Division 1 champion and Foot Locker (now Eastbay) National finalist, ran the section's fastest 3-mile time of 18:05.80 at Woodbridge. 

Read More: LAC Championship Recap

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Photos by DeAnna Turner and Raymond Tran.