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JSerra Catholic Wins Race of Champions
JSerra Catholic's girls led a strong California contingent at the Great American XC Festival, winning the Race of Champions by 164 points. Reese Holley finished 9th overall, running 17:27 on the 5K course to lead the Lions to victory.
The Great American XC Festival was JSerra's first test against nationally ranked competition with the full team after two key scorers missed the Woodbridge XC Classic last month. Their first trip to Great American proved they have the tools to beat some of the nation's best teams, even on a B+ day.
In the first mile, the Lions used the slight downhill to place their fantastic four in the top 25. Brooklyn Tennant and Kaia Streadbeck crossed the first mile in the top five, giving them an early lead of 82 points over Blacksburg's 186 points. Over the next two miles, their early lead shrank, but a breakthrough performance helped them hold on.
While Brooklyn Tennant and Kaia Streadbeck quickly fell back over 35 spots in the next mile as they climbed the hill, Hutton Nelligan slowly worked her way up to pass them both. The senior Nelligan stepped up from her usual #5 spot to fill JSerra's depth and finished as the team's third runner in 40th place.
That heroic performance, combined with Reese Holley (9th) and Maya Pawlowicz's (17th) top-20 finishes, allowed the Lions to finish with 164 points, compared to Penn Charter's 183 points.
Although it wasn't the prettiest victory for the Lions, it gave them three things they will need later this season if they qualify for their fifth consecutive Nike Cross Nationals. 1. Reese Holley continued to show she can be a reliable low-stick runner. 2. Hutton Nelligan delivered a miraculous performance. 3. They still managed a respectable spread of 1 minute and 39 seconds.
Mario Montoya Finishes 5th in Race of Champions
In the boys' race, more Californians made the trip to North Carolina to compete against some of the nation's top-ranked teams and individuals. Mario Montoya from Redondo Union, Aidan Antonio from Woodbridge, and Michael Scarince from South Pasadena delivered standout performances, finishing in the top 15.
The Race of Champions was set to be a crucial test for Montoya and Aidan Antonio after they both qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals last season. Today, they would face top individuals from last season's NXN, including Marcelo Mantecon and Ruel Newberry.
At the first mile mark, Montoya jumped to a strong 4th place, Antonio was boxed in at 18th, and Scarince was in 46th place. After the 2-mile mark, Montoya followed the big move from the top 5 and separated from the field. The junior found himself in third during the final 100 meters, but, exhausted, he fell about 20 meters before the line, giving up 3rd to finish 5th overall.
After finishing 20th at the Woodbridge XC Classic last month, this is by far his best performance of the season and demonstrates his potential to be one of the best in the country.
The Woodbridge senior, Antonio, kept moving up after the first mile, but he never connected with the top pack. He finished tenth overall, just 6 seconds behind Montoya. The South Pasadena senior, Scarince, moved up twenty spots after the first mile to finish in twenty-sixth, 36 seconds behind Montoya.
Next week, these three, including the JSerra girls, may all race again at the ASICS Clovis XC Invitational to preview the CIF State Championships course.