This was a big weekend for SGV XC. Our schools registered six team wins and three individual wins
the Bishop Amat girls won the Div. IV race at Stanford.
Melanie Mach (Sr, Rosemead) won the Girls Varsity race at Perris Valley.
The Damien boys won the Boys Varsity race at Perris Valley.
Joyce Wu (Arcadia) finished 2nd in the Div. 1 race at the Nike Portland XC classic, and the team, nearing full strength, was 5th. The boys finished 8th in the Championship race.
Both the Claremont Boys and Girls win the big seeded races at the Stanford Invite.
The Bonita boys were the winners of the Brea Invitational.
Lily Miller (So, Webb) won the White Varsity Division race at the Bellarmine-Sacred Heart Invite.
Ellaney Matarese won the girls Varsity race at Staub-Barnes and led La Canada to the team win.
We will expand our coverage as photos and more details become available.
Lorelei Claxton (Jr, Bonita) was 4th/19:21 for three miles in the race that matched up each team’s number one and two runners. Ivanna Chagolla (Sr, St. Lucy’s) was 11th/20:08
Nick Acosta and Daniel Echeveste were 6th/16:30 and 11th/16:41 for Bonita in the boys 1-2 race.
The Bonita girls finished 3th overall in the merge of all the results, beating Santiago, ranked in Div. 1 and the D3 hosts Brea-Olinda. St. Lucy’s also had a strong day and finished 8th overall.
Other girls finishes: St. Paul-13th, El Rancho-16th and El Monte-26th. Baldwin Park, Cantwell-SHM, Los Altos, West Covina and Southlands Christian competed by did not have five runners finish.
The CIF-SS Div. 3 #10 Bonita boys were breakthrough winners, defeating the higher ranked host team with what were probably three life-time best performances in the first five. Los Altos and El Rancho also had their best days of the season, finishing 6th and 8th respectively.
Here’s a Milesplit Interview with Bonita’s #3 Connor Henning
Other boys finishes:  El Monte-16th, St. Paul-17th, West Covina-25th, Baldwin Park-31st. Cantwell-SHM and Southlands Christian competed but did not have five runners finish.
Bellarmine-Sacred Heart Invitational (Griffith Park – Los Angeles)
Serena Duenas (Alhambra) finished 2nd/18:45 in the top Varsity race and, along with Alyssa Romero 11th/19:35, led the Moors to a third place finish on this super-hilly course. Mark Keppel was 20th.
Lily Miller won the White Div. race in 18:32 to lead Webb to a third place finish. Olivia Ruiz was 6th/20:06. Westridge was 4th and Mountain View 15th. Here’s a Runnerspace interview with Lily.
Daniel Piesik (La Salle) was 9th/16:45 in the boys White Div. race. Webb was 7th and San Marino 19th.
Jesus Islas (Montebello) – 30th/17:02 was the top SGV finisher in the boys Red Div. race, and the Oilers’ at 11th were the top local team. Alhambra was 22nd and Mark Keppel was 23rd.
Perris Valley XC Showdown (Lake Perris SRA – Moreno Valley)
Rosemead Melanie Mach won the Girls Varsity race in 16:53 on this 2.6 mile course! The Panthers were 2nd in the team competition, and Bassett was 11th.
Danny Ebiner (So, Damien) was 4th/14:13 and senior teammate Trevor Goodenough 6th/14:17 in the Boys Varsity race, leading their team to the win. Rosemead was 8th.
SGV and CIF-SS #1 Claremont leads a contingent of six San Gabriel Valley schools to compete in the prestigious Stanford Invitational – back after a one year hiatus.
This is a big meet that brings together many of the State’s top – especially Northern California’s. Our athletes get to race in the same meet as college teams on the university’s golf course over 5000 meters.
SGV #1 Claremont, #9 Glendora and rapidly improving Bishop Amat will run at 12:00 in the boys seeded race, while the #1 Wolf Park and #9 Tartans will be joined by #4 Bishop Amat and a full-strength Mayfield in the girls top race at 12:30. Those races will be something of a State Meet Preview, especially for Div. II, as the Claremont boys will face off with Mountain View St. Francis and San Diego La Costa Canyon while the girls will match up with La Costa Canyon and NoCal’s Granada.
Flintridge Sacred Heart and South Hills will also compete in the divisional races. The second 7 from each of the teams will also compete in the divisional races, except for Mayfield. The non-Varsity Cubs will compete later in the day at the Westmoor Invite in Daly City.
While a majority of the San Gabriel cross country teams will be off this weekend – at least seventeen local schools will run in four different SoCal meets, all on very different courses, with different formats. SGV #2 Arcadia will make the biggest trip, flying to Oregon for the Nike Portland XC Classic (Live Results) Here’s a breakdown of the four races with a list of all the schools we know that are scheduled to compete.
Some of the Mark Keppel boys earlier this season. They will be at Griffith Park this weekend.
Staub/Barnes Invitational (Crescenta Valley Park)
Results will be here
This meet is considered something of a “Mt.SAC preview” as the hilly 3-mile course here produces times similar to the famous home of CIF XC.
Six SGV schools will get their first taste of big hills this week, led by the SGV #3 La Canada girls in the top race. Muir, Pasadena, San Dimas, Temple City and the non-Varsity runners from South Pasadena will run in the second race.
This meet runs on a 5000 meter course that combines rolling hills with a variety of terrain and footing. It also has the unique format of matching each team’s first and second runners in the same race, and then the 3’s & 4’s in the next and then the 5-6-7 runners in another race.
SGV ranked Bonita will be the top local team taking part, along with El Monte, El Rancho, St. Paul and West Covina.
This long-time meet was in danger of ending when the sponsoring school, Bellarmine-Jefferson closed last year. Sacred Heart of Jesus has stepped up to continue this meet, run on the super-steep hills of Griffith Park.
SGV girls #15 Alhambra will lead the local contingent here, joined my Mark Keppel and Mountain View.
Perris Valley XC Showdown (Lake Perris SRA – Moreno Valley)
By the end of this week, all of the SGV Schools will have participated in their first league cluster meet. This week features perhaps the region’s hottest contest in the battle for the Del Rio League.
The SGV # 4 La Serna Boys
Here are the meets for this week. We will link to quick results and then to fuller coverage as photos and meet information become available.
Wednesday – September 26th
Almont League (Legg Lake – South El Monte) – Complete Results –
Armando Lopez’s (So) big win led the Schurr boys to a clear over Montebello and Bell Gardens. The Alhambra girls had an even bigger win over Bell Gardens and Montebello. The Moors’ Serena Duenas was the easy winner.
Baseline League (Red Hill Park – Rancho Cucamonga)
Damien was 4th and St. Lucy’s 5th in this tough six-team league
Lauren Nettles (4th/20:08) led Flintridge Sacred Heart to a second place finish in this four team league. St. Francis, missing their usual #2, was fourth of seven, led by Stuart Serventi (12th/17:40)
Horizon League #2 (Los Angeles State Historic Park) – Complete Results
The SGV teams kept their order from the first meet, with Ramona Convent 2nd, Alverno 3rd and San Gabriel Mission 6th. SGV best was Emily Silva (Fr, Ramona Convent) who was 6th/21:48 for 5000m.
Thursday – September 27th
Del Rio League (Legg Lake – South El Monte) – Full Results
Girls: Katie Bautista (Santa Fe) dropped a dominant win and led her team to third place finish. California had the solid team win over La Serna, 26-50, putting four in the first six.
Boys: La Serna had the big break-through win, beating defending champs California 21-41. Gerald Balzer (LS) edged out Angel Salinas (CHS) for the win. The Lancers put their five in the first seven, while the Condors struggled a bit, with their usual #1 & #3 finishing as their fifth and sixth men. El Rancho edged out Whittier for third in this five team league.
Montview League (Schabarum Park – Rowland Heights)
This league runs three cluster meets, and they’re the only league that runs on this super hilly course. Azusa are the favorites on the boys side and Nogales on the girls.
Boys: Nogales’ Osvaldo Cervantes posted an easy (16:24) win, while the Azusa boys, led by Angel Medrano (2nd/17:27) had the next four finishers to take the meet with 22 points over Nogales at 48.
Girls: Alexis Maldonado (Nogales) was the winner over Hannah Eubanks (Gladstone), 20:29 to 20:37. Nogales was the team winner at 33, followed by Gladstone at 53 and Sierra Vista with 67.
Suburban League (Cerritos County Park)
La Mirada is the sole SGV team in this now four-team league. The Lancers are heavy favorites to win both the boys and girls championships.
Boys: Christian Santiago (Sr, La Mirada) was the clear winner in 15:49, but with only two of their previous best five scoring, the Matadors were edged out for the win 39-41 by Mayfair.
Girls: La Mirada were solid 35-52 winners over Norwalk, led by soph Mariah Walters (3rd/19:41).
The SGV #7 Bonita boys moved into the CIF SS rankings for the first time this year – entering Div. 3 in the 10th spot. The Bearcats have been solid all year – their most recent achievement was a narrow third place finish Saturday in the very tough Palomares League preview meet.
The Claremont girls are the SGV’s only top-ranked team after the CHS boys and Flintridge Prep boys were bumped from first to third and second, respectively.
SGV #5 Arroyo and #6 Rowland are the highest ranked local boys teams that are unranked in CIF, while #5 Bonita amd #6 La Serna are the top unranked team among the girls.
Last Saturday was something of an off day for SGV XC, with only 3 top ranked boys team and 2 of the top ranked girls teams competing in Invites. Here a quick recap.
Sunny Hills/Wayne Walker Invite – Craig Park in Fullerton
Forty-five schools, including six from the SGV competed in this meet, run over rolling hills and deep grass. Full Results
Walnut Girls – Sunny Hills Champions
The SGV #2 Walnut girls were the story here, winning the meet by over six minutes with a 92:28 total! Chloe Arriaga broke the meet record with an easy 17:16 while sister Emma was just off the record in 17:48. The Mustangs put four in the top five, and had two frosh edge into their top 7, so things are looking better by the week.
The Diamond Bar girls continued their rise with a nice 7th-place, 103:34 finish, led by Kelli Ishitani (19:52). Walnut was also the top local boys team, finishing 7th/83:31 overall, while Whittier was just behind in 9th/84:14.
Southlands Christian’s Nathan Vallejo (8th/15:48) was the SGV’s top performer Giovanni Mejia (19th/16:08) was best for Whittier, and Walnut was led by Jesse Alvarado (23rd/16:15)
Other SGV Teams
Diamond Bar boys – 11th/84:49
Baldwin Park boys – 33rd/95:36
Southlands Christian boys – 36th/98:57
Whittier girls – 11th/104:38
Baldwin Park girls – 34th/135:55
Billy York Invitational – Riverside Cross Country Course.
This was the first meet of the season to run the full 3-miles at the Riverside Cross Country Course, the home of this year’s CIF South Section Championships. Four SGV teams took park
Bishop Amat girls – Billy York Champs
The SGV fifth-ranked Arroyo boys rolled to an easy 81:02 win with 24 points. Bishop Amat was third in a small field of (mostly) small schools. Noah Hibbard (Arroyo) was the meet winner in 15:46, with teammate Joshua Orellana 2nd/15:59. Isaiah Hernandez was 5th/16:21 in a race where the two SGV teams placed eight in the Top Ten.
Gabrielino (89:12) was 2nd in the other Varsity race with Montebello (90:31) 3rd. Gabrielino soph Nicolas DiConti won the race in 16:45. Tops for the Oilers was Jonathan Maya – 4th/17:13
SGV #4 Bishop Amat (missing their #3) just edged un-ranked Arroyo – 34 pts/98:49 to 41 pts/100:48. Olivia Paez (Amat) – ran 18:55 for the win.  Molly Hake – 5th/19:53 was best for rapidly improving Knights, who had two frosh in their top four.
Montebello was 2nd and Gabrielino 4th in the other Varsity race. Meriyen Sandoval – 5th/21:53 and Crystal Lok – 7th/22:09 were best for those two teams.
This is a big meet with 109 schools and many ranked teams. Three SGV Varsity teams made the trip this year to run on this fast, slightly net-downhill course.
SGV #4 California ran a solid race to finish 5th in the Invite race, led by Andres Espinosa 14th/15:01, shoring up their ranking in the CIF-SS Division 1.
Covina was 53rd/85:18 in a merge of all the divisions, led by Daniel Hernandez in 16:10. Don Bosco also competed by sat out most of their usual Varsity team.
Katelyn Vuong (Covina) was the top SGV girl, running 36th/18:39 in the Invite race. SGV #7 California finished 16th/96:01 in a merge of all the divisions. Zoe Gurule (18:52) led the Condors. The Covina team was 34th/100:07.
Brentwood Small Schools Invite – Brentwood School
CIF Ranked Pomona Catholic and San Gabriel Mission will competed in this Div. 5 only meet, run on the hilly campus of the host school.  Complete Results
Missing four of their first seven, Pomona Catholic was 7th, led by junior Brooke Burciaga (4th/20:35).  San Gabriel Mission was 9th. Their best was Samantha Gomez (28:01)
Sunny Hills/Wayne Walker Invite – Craig Park in Fullerton
Forty-five schools, including six from the SGV competed in this meet, run over rolling hills and deep grass. Full Results
The SGV #2 Walnut girls were the story here, winning the meet by over six minutes with a 92:28 total! Chloe Arriaga broke the meet record with an easy 17:16 while sister Emma was just off the record in 17:48. The Mustangs put four in the top five, and had two frosh edge into their top 7, so things are looking better by the week.
The Diamond Bar girls continued their rise with a nice 7th-place, 103:34 finish, led by Kelli Ishitani (19:52). Walnut was also the top local boys team, finishing 7th/83:31 overall, while Whittier was just behind in 9th/84:14.
Southlands Christian’s Nathan Vallejo (8th/15:48) was the SGV’s top performer Giovanni Mejia (19th/16:08) was best for Whittier, and Walnut was led by Jesse Alvarado (23rd/16:15)
Bassett came into 2018 hoping to defend their boys title and to overtake Edgewood in the girls division. There had been a lot of turnover in the teams from last year, but the Olympians met their goal the first Miramonte meet Thursday at Bonelli Park in San Dimas.
The Bassett girls had a lower point total than the boys, but a closer battle as they bested Edgewood 26-40 as the two leaders put the first 9 runners across the line. Carissa Bilecki of Edgewood, 6th at last year’s League Final, was the first in 21:49.  Ana Tecuahuehe – 10th in 2017 – led Bassett in 21:57 in a race where the two leaders gapped the rest of the field.
Boys 1 – 2: Castillo Davidson and Castillion
The Bassett boys won on the strength of their pack, putting all five scorers in the first ten, scoring 36. Edgewood, moving up from 4th at last year’s league meet, was second 61, edging out 2017’s #3 Garey by one point! The leaders were quite spread out, with winner Nicolas Castillo Davidson (Edgewood) finishing with a seven second edge on runner up  Alexis Castillion (Bassett) 16:41– 16:48.
The win was quite an achievement for Bassett, who lost six of seven from last year’s winning team, with new #1 Castillon improving nearly 90 seconds from last year.
The Camino Del Rey Athletic Association is a “super league” of 14 girls teams and 15 boys (including 7 from the SGV), divided into three leagues, with something like a “promotion/relagation” system that groups the schools by recent results. All three leagues in the association hold their meets together, and the first of 2018 was Wednesday at Hollydale Park in South Gate.
The Bishop Amat girls last Saturday at Woodbridge
 In the top Del Rey League, SGV #4 Bishop Amat girls were easy winners, running together off the front and just missing a perfect 15, finishing with a 16-54 to second place St. Joseph. Newly promoted Pomona Catholic was 4th and St. Paul fifth. Pomona Catholic is not out of reach of 3rd, the final CIF qualifying spot, but it looks like they’ll need to rely on on an at-large spot to advance to CIF
Amat’s Olivia Paez was the winner in 18:47 and the next five Lancers were within a minute. Brooke Burciaga (11th/19:59) was tops for PC and Raegan Lucero (13th/20:33) was best for St. Paul
La Salle – happy after their first league win!
This is the La Salle girls’ first year in the middle, Camino Real League, and they made the most of it, scoring a 34-35 win over St. Pius X/St. Mattias. Margaret O’Hagan (4th/23:57) was best for LS, but their win sealed by a 6-9 finish from the other four scorers. Cantwell-Sacred Heart was third in this four team league, led by Kylee Daley (14th/26:21)
On the boys side Amat and Bosco Tech made strong efforts but couldn’t quite reach CIF Div. 3 – #3 Cathedral.  Cathedral took command from the gun, their top 5 was in the top 10 all race long. Bosco moved up in mile two to challenge Amat for 2nd but Amat’s frontrunners closing well to secure 2nd place. This was a tightly grouped race, with 2-8 within 20 seconds, so things could change around quite a bit in the coming weeks.
This was Amat’s best race of the year, and the 3rd place puts Bosco in the hunt to advance to CIF for the first time since 2014. The SGV’s St. Paul and La Salle were 4th and 5th in this five-team grouping.
Isaiah Hernandez (2nd/15:46) was best for Amat, and he as joined in the first seven by teammate James Leon (3rd/15:51), Owen Lozano/St. Paul(6th/15:58) and Aaron Dominguez/Bosco Tech (7th/15:58). Daniel Piesik (14th/16:37) was tops for La Salle.
Cantwell-Sacred Heart boys are in the third divison Santa Fe League, and they were second to St. Anthony in the five-team league in which three scored. Josue Banuelos (9th/21:17) was best for the Cardinals.
Osvaldo Cervantes picked a pretty big stage to open his 2018 season – the Sweepstakes race at the massive Woodbridge Invitational. But he kept his head (and his feet!) to finish 40th in a lifetime best 14:45 – #3 in the SGV so far, and that makes him our Athlete of the Week for Week 3.
Osvaldo is no stranger to big stages – his last XC meet was the State Championships, and he was 5th at last season’s CIF Div. 3 Finals. Coming off an injury marred junior track season, Osvaldo is ready for big things this year. Click the link and let him tell you his story…
Here are the League/Cluster Meets coming this week. We will post results as we get them, and expand the coverage of each meet as results, photos and other information becomes available.
Tuesday – 9/18
San Joaquin League (Mile Square Park – Fountain Valley) – Full Results Webb were easy winners of both the boys and girls races. The Gaul’s Lilly Miller was the winner by nearly 3 minutes (!), and Southlands Christian’s Nathan Vallejo was the boys winner by (only) 90 seconds.
Wednesday – 9/19
Valle Vista League (Bonelli Park – San Dimas) – Results: Valle Vista League Meet #1 2018 - Kaitlyn Voung was the easy winner and lead Covina to an equally big win. Jonathan Pfeiffer (Jr, Wilson) topped the boys race. Rowland was the team winner, but Covina was a surprisingly close second.
Horizon League (Eaton Canyon – Pasadena) – Full Results – The SGV’s Ramona Convent and Alverno were 2nd and 3rd in this six team league. San Gabriel Mission was sixth. Katie Bolin (Jr, Alverno) – 6th/24:55 was the top local finisher.
Thursday– 9/20
Rio Hondo League (Lacy Park – San Marino) – Full Results As expected, La Cañada girls and South Pasadena  boys were winners. Kai Dettmann (South Pas) and Ellaney Matarese (LC) were the individual winners.
Pacific League (Crescenta Valley Park) – Live Results – Arcadia boys fall narrowly to Crescenta Valley – 34-40. The Apaches Joyce Wu is the individual winner, but the team is 4th.
605 League (Cerritos Regional Park) – Full Results and Coverage here at PrepCalTrack
Prep League (Palos Verdes XC Course) – Full Results - Audrey Suarez debuts for Mayfield and leads them over 2nd placed Flintridge Prep 43-53. FP win the boys side in a close one over Chadwick 34-41 in this four team league. Top SGV was Carson Hasbrouck (FP) – 2nd in 17:41 on a super-hilly course.
Saturday – 9/22
Palomares League Preview (Legg Lake – South El Monte) - Complete Results – Claremont literally (well, actually, figuratively) cruises to two easy wins. Bonita boys are 3rd by one point, Glendora just behind, but 5th. Bonita girls are 4th and Glendora 6th.  Lorelai Claxton (Jr, Bonita) has a particularly strong performance – 3rd/18:06.
This site is maintained by Bob Ramsey – a SGV T&F athlete (Arroyo ’80), and former coach at Glendora HS and Meet Director of the SGV Champs. Bob is currently Director of Track & Field and Cross Country at Whittier College
