The new, earlier cross country and track season kicks off this week. There’s only a few meets this weekend, with most teams holding off their first competition to next weekend (or even the next) so we’ll call this Week Zero.
Two of the three meets, the Fastback Invitational and the Riverside Showcase are on short courses, so expect to see teams focus on novice and developing athletes, with many leaving their top runners out of the entries. The third race, The Great Cow Run in Cerritos is a full 3 miles, and top teams often come prepared to run fast here.
Full previews and meet details after the jump
The Fastback Invitational is the local meet, completing the final its exile caused by construction at MtSac by running once again on the flat, fast course at Arcadia Park in Arcadia.
This is a two mile race, and the athletes will race by class. Noah Hibbard of the hosts Arroyo turned in the top SGV performance here last year, running 9:55 in the Junior boys race, and his teammate Molly Hake was the top local girl with a 12:07 time.
Forty-Three schools, including several traveling from NorCal are scheduled to take part. Four teams likely to be ranked the SGV Pre-Season rankings (published next week) will take part: Arcadia (with a split squad) Walnut, Whittier, along with Arroyo, and they will be joined by Temple City and Schurr.
- Meet Schedule & Course Map:Â 2018_Fastback_Info_sheet (1)
- Live Results: at Finished Results
- Directions:Â Google Maps
The 2019 CIF Southern Section Cross Country season will end again this year with our championship meets at the Riverside City Course, so La Mirada and a partial squad from Bishop Amat will take the chance to preview a short, 2.25 mile version of the course in the low-key Riverside Showcase.
- Meet Schedule & Course Map: Schedule  Map
- Live Results: at Finished Results
- Directions: Google Maps
The big event of the opening weekend is The Great Cow Run in Cerritos. This is a full three miles, on a very fast, flat course of firm grass and pavement. A number of big teams kick off the season here, so we should see some screaming fast performances.
Seven SGV teams will compete in three school size divisions. SGV ranked Arcadia and California will meet up in the boys large school race, while El Rancho should be among the leaders of the boys medium school race. They will be joined by Bell Gardens, Mark Keppel, Bishop Amat and Rosemead.
- Meet Schedule & Course Map: Schedule  Course Map
- Live Results: at Finished Results
- Directions: Google Maps
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