4 Races to Watch at the 2025 Clovis XC Invitational

ASICS Clovis XC Invitational
Todd Coulston

The 46th running of the Asics Clovis XC Invitational is set to take place this weekend, with small schools (enrollment below 1,900 students) competing on Friday, October 10, 2025, and large schools (enrollment above 1,900 students) competing on Saturday, October 11, 2025. The 5,000-meter races are held at Woodward Park in Fresno, California, on the same course that will be used for the 2025 CIF State Cross Country Championships.

Top teams from throughout California and beyond are presented with a great mid-season opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and race experience on the California State Meet course. A review of the entries for both days of racing reveals stacked lineups of top high school teams and individuals who are prepared to lay down some blazing fast 5,000-meter times, highlighted by the four Championship Races --two on Friday and two on Saturday.

Friday - Carlo Prandini Championship Girls Race

-- Oak Park's Tabitha Brown competing as a freshman at the 2024 CIF SS Finals --

The Carlo Prandini Championship Girls Race kicks off the 2025 Clovis Invitational on Friday morning. Based on early-season results, it is anticipated that the race will be tightly contested among three of the top girls' teams in CIF Division 3: Oak Park, St. Francis (Sacramento), and Santa Margarita.

Oak Park, ranked 3rd in the CIF Southern Section Division 3, is looking to build on its impressive 7th place finish at the Woodbridge Classic Sweepstakes race. They are led by the duo of sophomore Tabitha Brown (17:05.4 at Woodbridge) and freshman Kathleen Lambe (17:06.5 at Woodbridge). St. Francis is ranked 3rd overall in the Sac Joaquin Section and is led by standout freshman Alyssa Gutierrez (16:37.4 at Woodbridge) and sophomore Halle Welch (17:12.8 at Woodbridge).

Santa Margarita is ranked 2nd in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 and is led by recently transfer-eligible junior Carol Dye and senior Alahna Thomas (16:49.8 at Woodbridge). The race shapes up to be an intense, down-to-the-wire battle between some of the top individuals and teams in the State of California.

Additional top teams to watch:

  • Archie Williams (ranked No. 1 in CIF North Coast Section)

  • West Torrance (ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division 3)

  • Point Loma (Return all top runners from the team that finished 2nd at 2024 CIF State Division 3 Cross Country Championships)

Additional top individuals to watch:

Friday- Steve Ward Championship Boys Race

-- West Torrance at the Dana Hills Invitational --

The Steve Ward Championship Boys Race is poised to be an exciting, evenly matched race between multiple top teams from CIF Divisions 3 and 4. A review of the team lineups reflects a true North vs. South battle with two highly-ranked teams from the North Coast Section- St. Mary's College (ranked No. 1 in Division 4) and Maria Carillo (ranked No. 2 in Division 3) prepared to battle several highly-ranked teams from the Southern Section.

West Torrance (ranked No. 1 in Division 3, winners of Boys Rated Race at Woodbridge), Foothill Technology (ranked No. 2 in Division 4, 2nd place Boys Rated Race at Woodbridge), and Viewpoint (ranked #1 in Division 5). St. Mary's College is led by senior Tucker Presnell (14:33.3 at Woodbridge).  Maria Carillo is led by junior Cameron Jones (14:56.0 at Woodbridge). West Torrance is led by senior Dylan Mehnert (14:35.1 at Woodbridge).  Foothill Technology is led by Viggo Bortolin (14:44.0 at Woodbridge).

Viewpoint is led by standout senior Olly O'Connor (7th place at Woodbridge Sweepstakes in 14:07.2), who should contend for the individual title. The race promises to be exciting and highly contested to the finish line.

Additional Top Teams to Watch:

  • West Ranch (ranked No. 3 in Southern Section Division 3)

  • Oak Park (ranked No. 4 in Southern Section Division 3)

  • Agoura (ranked No. 5 in Southern Section Division 3)

Additional Top Individuals to Watch:

Saturday- Bill Buettner Championship Girls Race


      -- Chiara Dailey leading the chase pack at the 2023 Clovis XC Invitational --

The Bill Buettner Championship Girls Race begins the Saturday championship races with a battle of multiple nationally-ranked teams, as well as many of the top individual runners in California.

Expect an extremely fast pace to be led by senior Chiara Dailey of La Jolla, senior Summer Wilson of Irvine and senior Braelyn Combe of Santiago (Corona). 

JSerra Catholic highlights the team competition, ranked No. 2 nationally in the COROS Milesplit 50 Rankings and No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division 4. JSerra is coming off a huge win at the Woodbridge Classic Sweepstakes race. Sophomore Kaia Streadbeck (16:36.2 at Woodbridge) and junior Reese Holley (16:39.0 at Woodbridge) lead a strong pack of runners that goes well beyond seven runners deep.

Poised to challenge JSerra and, looking to improve on their third-place finish at Woodbridge, is Buchanan. Buchanan is ranked 7th nationally in the COROS Milesplit 50 rankings and is led by sophomore Layla Merancio (16:38.3 at Woodbridge) and senior Kynzlee Buckley (17:08.9 at Woodbridge).

Another contender for the championship team title is defending CIF State Division 2 champions El Toro. Ranked 18th nationally in the COROS Milesplit 50 rankings and No. 1 in the CIF Southern Section Division 3, El Toro looks to build on an impressive 5th place finish at the Woodbridge Classic Sweepstakes race. They maintain a strong pack of underclassmen led by junior Gweneth Williams (16:59.8 at Woodbridge) and sophomore Ava Crocker (16:47.5 at Woodbridge).

This promises to be a close individual and team battle to the end.

Additional Top Teams to Watch:

  • Santiago (Corona) (Ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section 1)

  • Claremont (Ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division 2)

  • Oak Ridge (Ranked No. 2 overall in Sac Joaquin Section)

Additional Top Individuals to Watch:

Saturday- Rob Brenner Championship Boys Race


-- Jackson Spencer (left) and Connor Lott (right) are the two favorites for Saturday's boys championship race --

The most highly anticipated race of the 2025 Clovis Invitational is the Rob Brenner Championship Boys Race. The Woodward Park course record could be threatened with standout seniors Jackson Spencer of Herriman (Utah) and Conor Lott of Clovis North.

The competitors and spectators will also witness the rematch between Herriman (Utah) and Jesuit (CA), the No. 3 and No. 7 ranked teams in the nation in the COROS Milesplit 50 rankings. These teams waged a titanic battle at the Woodbridge Classic Sweepstakes race a few weeks ago, with Herriman defeating Jesuit by the slim margin of 155-166. Led by standout seniors Jackson Spencer (the individual champion at Woodbridge, 13:42.1) and Eli Jarvis (3rd place at Woodbridge, 14:01.7), Herriman looks to add to its success this season with another individual/team championship combo result at Clovis. Jesuit, the defending CIF State Division 2 Cross Country Champions, looks to build upon its past success at the Woodward Park course. They are led by seniors Kyle Jakary and Isaac Abbott.

Not far behind Herriman and Jesuit, Southern California powers Mira Costa (currently ranked No. 1 in CIF Southern Section Division 1) and Redondo Union (currently ranked No. 2 in CIF Southern Section Division 1) have battled back and forth all season at major races for SoCal supremacy. Both teams are ready to compete for a high podium finish at Clovis.

Additional Top Teams to Watch

 Additional Top Individuals to Watch

The 2025 Clovis Invitational promises to be a weekend of fast racing with highly competitive individual and team competitions. MilesplitCA will closely follow all the action at the 2025 Clovis Invitational and provide a detailed recap with analysis of the race results.