XC IN REVIEW Central Coast Section

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This article has been updated to correct the name of the girls Division 1 section champion and add detail.

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RANKINGS: Girls 5K | Girls 3 Miles | Boys 5K | Boys 3 Miles

The Central Coast Section did not have a first-place individual or team winner at the CIF-State Cross Country Championships but it did have four top-nine boys, four top-six girls, two boys teams with third-place finishes, and two girls teams with fourth-place finishes.

Here's a closer look at how the 2021 XC season closed out in the CCS.

BOYS TEAMS

Palo Alto (Division 1), Woodside (D-2), Santa Cruz (D-3), Scotts Valley (D-4), and Crystal Springs Uplands (D-5) won section titles and led a group of more than a dozen teams that advanced to compete at the State Meet in Fresno.

It was a seventh consecutive CCS team title for Coach Albert Caruana's CSPS boys. Scotts Valley, which won its first section title since 2013, and CSPS each earned third-place finishes in their respective divisions at the State Meet. The Menlo School in D-IV and Nueva in D-V were the section's only other top-10 teams, each placing seventh. 

BOYS INDIVIDUALS

Section champions Tommy Rogers of Junipero Serra in D-II, Michael Julian of The York School in D-V, Aidan Dimick of Carlmont in D-I each earned top-10 podium spots, as did section D-4 runner-up Ryder Brabo of Scotts Valley.

Rogers, 37th at the CCS meet as a sophomore in 2019, placed fourth in the D-II race at State, going 15:28.80 on the 5,000-meter course at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Julian (pictured), a two-time CCS division champion, went 15:22.20 for fifth place in D-V, his second podium in the past two State Meets.

At 15:14.70, Dimick was the fastest CCS boy on the CIF-State championship course that day, placing eighth in the super-fast Newbury Park-led D-I race.

And, in D-IV, Brabo got the better of Scotts Valley classmate Jeremy Kain, the CCS champion, placing ninth in the D-IV race in 15:35.40. Kain placed 15th in 15:48.10. (Of note, Kain was 11th and Brabo 21st at the CCS Finals as sophomores in 2019.) Senior Austin George (16:23.40) and junior Aiden Boothby (16:25.10) were next across the line for Scotts Valley and among the division's top 50.

Saratoga senior Harrison Dance, who won a second consecutive D-3 title at the CCS Final on the Crystal Springs course but was injured and unable to compete at State.

Mountain View senior Emmanuel Leblond had the section's third-fastest time at State, 15:28.10 for 12th in the D-I race, leading his team to a 14th place finish in the state's large-school division.

Rick Yanashita went 15:38.30 for 23rd in the D-I race while leading Bellarmine College Prep to a 12th place finish. Junior Justin Pretre (15:46.30) for 14th, and freshman Landon Pretre (15:54.60) for 17th, led The Menlo School's effort in D-IV. 

Sophomore Grant Morgenfeld (15:46.80) and senior Mateo Fesslmeier (15:47.10) were among the top 10 CCS boys at State in leading Palo Alto, which placed 11th in the D-I race. Junior Eoin O'Connell (16:07.30) was 61st for Palo Alto and among the top 20 CCS boys at State.

The uber-young Crystal Springs Uplands boys packed up at 90 seconds to earn a top-three team placing by one point over San Diego's Francis Parker, led by freshman Benjamin Bouie (14th in 16:08.80), junior Furious Clay (20th in 16:28.60), and freshman Tarik Baker (28th in 16:38.80).

GIRLS TEAMS

CCS champion St. Francis, in D-II, and section D-4 runner-up Castilleja in State D-IV, each earned fourth-place finishes in Fresno. 

State Meet places for other CCS division champions: Los Altos placed sixth in D-I, Aptos was 19th in D-III, Scotts Valley was 12th in D-IV, and The Nueva School placed ninth in D-V.  Nueva was a four-point winner over Castilleja at the CCS final.

Los Altos, in that D-I race at Woodward Park, lost the tiebreaker for fifth place to perennial champion Great Oak but set a team time record of 94:35, the fastest of all CCS girls at State and the 11th fastest at the meet.

GIRLS INDIVIDUALS

Castilleja junior Samira Kennedy (pictured above under Girls Teams header) had the top placing and Scotts Valley sophomore Ashlyn Boothby had the fastest time among CCS girls at the State Meet. 

Kennedy, the section D-5 champion, ran the 5K Woodward Park course in 18:30.20 to place second in the D-V race. Boothby, the section D-4 champion, went 17:27.10 for third place in the D-IV race won by Albany (NC) senior Sophia Nordenholz in 16:46, one of the fastest times in meet history. Boothby's time ranked second overall among girls in the class of 2024 behind only Olivia Williams of Acalanes (NC), who placed second to Nordenholz. 

Palo Alto junior Elizabeth Fetter (pictured), the section D-1 champion, was the second-fastest CCS girl at the State Meet, running the course in 17:44.50 for sixth place in the large-school race. CCS D-2 champion Bella Peretti, a senior at Pioneer, placed 10th at State in 18:08.30, and section D-3 champion, Myla Brignardello, a senior at Capuchino, was 84th in 20:00.20. 

Los Altos junior Lauren Soobrian, sixth in the D-1 race at CCS, dropped the third-fastest time among all section girls with her 18:02.40 for 11th place in the large-school race at State, while leading the Eagles to a team time record. Mitty freshman Evie Marheineke, third in the D-2 race at CCS behind Peretti and Prospect frosh Kylie Hoornaert, was the fifth-fastest section girl at State, running the iconic championship course in 18:21.30. That was the fastest time in the class among CCS girls and the eighth-fastest 2025 girl at the State Meet. 

Rounding out the rest of the top 10 CCS girls at the State Meet, St. Francis freshman Sabrina Zanetto (18:30.80 for 19th in D-II, the 10th-fastest frosh at the meet), Menlo-Atherton junior Katie Lorenz (18:32.30 for 31st in D-I), Woodside senior Elle Marsyla (18:32.90 for 20th in D-II), and Crystal Springs Uplands School junior Kaiya Brooks (18:36.40 for fifth in D-V). 

Top 50 CCS Boys at the State Meet (5K)

Top 50 CCS Girls at the State Meet (5K)