Mt.SAC Girls Saturday: Arcadia Assertive, Claremont & Glendora Have Hope

Arcadia ran a bit below expectations at last week’s SGV One on One Challenge, totaling only 97:29.  The Apaches may have been playing possum or tired from a tough week, because they returned to Mt.SAC this week with a strong 96:07, good for 10th in the prestigious Team Sweepstakes race.  Led once again by soph Veronica Yamane (18:21), they were helped by an excellent 18:38 PR from senior Alejandra Quintero.  Still shorthanded, Arcadia will have to tighten up their gap to contend in the post-season.

Merin Arft (L) & Megan Renken

The Div. II schools ran in the hot afternoon, and Claremont and Glendora both showed themselves to be CIF finals and possible State Meet contenders in what has been called the strongest high school division ever.  Previously unranked, the two teams should have pushed themselves into the new rankings (Ed: Nope, still unranked) they defeated several previously ranked teams.  SGV #2 Glendora was led for the first time by soph Cori Harral, her 19:24 an improvement by nearly 4:00 minutes from last year!  The Tartans were 3rd in 98:31 on the strength of their 42 second gap.  The SGV #8 Wolfpack were narrowly 4th/98:35 on the strength of strong front-running from sophs Merin Arft (18:57) and Megan Renken (19:06).

The young Walnut team, led by two frosh, made the most noise in the early morning Div. I heats, running 98:26 to finish third in the 5th heat.  Frosh Anahi Betart 2nd/18:37 and Rachel Shapiro 6th/19:14 led the Mustangs with two strong efforts.  Whittier junior Mailu Pulido was 4th/19:07 in the same race.  In the 1st Div. I heat, El Rancho soph Baily Henry was 7th/19:03.

Full Results for the 2011 Mt.SAC Cross Country Invitational are here.

Dyestat coverage is here.

SGV Top 14 Performers and Team Rankings after the jump.

2011 SGV Top 14 Performers at the Mt.SAC Invite

Justine Romo (L) & Marilu Pulido

1. 18:21  Veronica Yamane – So, Arcadia
2. 18:37  Anahi Betart – Fr, Walnut
3. 18:38  Alejandra Quintero – Sr, Arcadia
4. 18:57  Merin Arft – So, Claremont
5. 19:03  Baily Henry – Jr, El Rancho
6. 19:06  Megan Renken – So, Claremont
7. 19:07  Marilu Pulido – Jr, Whittier
8. 19:09  Justine Romo – Jr, California
9. 19:14  Rachel Shapiro – Fr, Walnut
10. 19:24  Cori Harral – So, Glendora
11. 19:24  Glindyll Mancia – Jr, Arcadia
12. 19:33  Micaela Lamb – Fr, Glendora
13. 19:34  Melanie Deciga – So, Walnut
14. 19:37  Emily Hoey – So, Glendora

Team Ranking and Top Performers

1. 1:36:09  Arcadia (Div. I) – Yamane
2. 1:38:26  Walnut (Div. I) – Betart
3. 1:38:31  Glendora (Div. II) – Harral
4. 1:38:35  Claremont (Div. II) – Arft
5. 1:42:31  Whittier (Div. I) – Pulido
6. 1:42:55  El Rancho (Div. I) – Henry
7. 1:43:19  California (Div. I) – Romo
8. 1:49:50  Diamond Bar (Div. I) – Kelli Kuo 21:29
9. 1:53:29  Baldwin Park (Div. II) – Susie Garcia 19:57
10. 1:53:34  La Serna (Div. II) – Sara Chiu 21:55
11. 1:53:47  La Mirada (Div. II) – Taylor Jones 20:36
12. 1:58:42  Alhambra (Div. I) – Megan Tsui 21:17
13. -NT-  Arroyo (Div. II) – Alejandra Lizarraga 22:06
14. -NT-  Mark Keppel (Div. II) – Patsy Hurly 21:33
15. -NT-  Rowland (Div. II) – Courtney Conchola 19:59
16. -NT-  San Gabriel (Div. II) – Joanna Lee 22:14
17. -NT-  West Covina (Div. I) – Elizabeth Salgado 21:47