Here we go. As you can see from the coverage below, eight SGV teams and one individual have already advanced to the November 11 CIF Prelims at Mt.SAC and the rest get going on Tuesday with two on the Mt.SAC course itself. The Glendora girls will be looking to win their first league title ever at the Baseline Finals at Mt.SAC, which will share the course with the tough Sierra League. The Damien boys are hoping to continue their climb to the top with a league title and the Claremont girls will try to unseat Ayala from the top spot.
The Covina boys and Northview girls will look to confirm their leads in the Valle Vista Finals, held on the flatter Lake course at Bonelli Park. Flintridge Sacred Heart will look to move up to the top in the tough Mission League at the hilly Crescenta Valley Park.
Previews of Each of the Meets After the Jump
Baseline League at Mt.SAC. The Glendora girls have won the first two cluster meets, but will face a strong challenge from Rancho Cucamonga. Glendora’s strength is the close grouping of their runners. Three different girls, sophs Emily Hoey and Cori Harral, and frosh Micaela Lamb have been their best runner in the last three meets, and each could win the league title. The Glendora boys have been second in both Baseline Meets the national power Rancho Cucamonga and will do well to hold their spot after a poor performance at Mt.SAC.
Sierra League at Mt.SAC The competition will be fierce in this strong XC league. The Ayala boys and girls, the Damien boys and the South Hills girls have already earned CIF At-Large berths. Damien won the first cluster meet and Ayala surged to the front in the second. The league title will go to the winner Tuesday. Damien senior Tom Ebiner was the winner of both cluster meets, but Ayala’s Christian Eagan and teammate Douglas Negrete can challenge him. South Hills was third at both cluster meets, but had a rough time at Mt.SAC, and will face a real battle with Chino Hills and Claremont for the final CIF spot. The Wolfpack’s Jimmy Baeskins can contend for a top six to advance on his own if the team does not.
Ayala has been the boss of the Sierra girls, easily winning both meets, but they finished behind rapidly improving Claremont at Mt.SAC. South Hills also struggled at Mt.Sac, which could lead to a battle for first. Ayala’s Chandler Colquitt has won twice in league, but she’ll face strong competition from Claremont sophs Merin Arft and Megan Renken and from South Hills’ Alex Borunda and frosh Danielle Murrietta.
Valle Vista at Bonelli Park The Covina boys, featuring a trio of front-runners, and the Northview girls, with a tight 1-5 pack, have won the two clusters and are strong favorites to repeat. The boys champ is likely to come from Covina’s Kevin Mejia, Chris Maldonado, and Paul Gonzalez. Nogales’ Jorge Hernandez could break through, and his team is likely to advance, as is the young Baldwin Park team. The fourth spot is up for grabs.
Northview should hold the girls top spot, with Ashli Baddorf (Covina) Anna Barcelo (Nogales) Alyssa Martinez (San Dimas) and Baldwin Park’s Susie Garcia contending for the individual title. This league has not produced official results, making it difficult to break down the rest of the qualifying spots.
Edit: The Mission League Final is Wednesday. Sorry for the Error
Mission League – Crescenta Valley Park Flintridge Sacred Heart has earned an at-large berth to the Div. IV prelims, but they’ll have to compete well to move up from their previous third place in this tough league. Led by Stephanie Vargas, they’ll need Paulina Antaplyan to return to her early season performances to contend.  St. Francis is unlikely to move up to a CIF spot, but senior Colin Peterson could advance individually.
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