By Bob Ramsey, on September 11th, 2018 With almost everyone at the SGV’s two big meets, the other meets of the weekend had only two SGV participants.
 SGV Boys #5 Rowland traveled to the South Bay to run in first Eagle Cross Country Invite (results)- run on a golf course just blocks from the beach in El Segundo over 3 miles. The Raiders competed well, placing fourth in the larger school division with at 79:51 team time. Their top runner was senior Rafael Alcaraz, who was 4th in 15:33. The girls were seventh, led by senior Dana Hernandez (8th/19:17)
The only other activity we could find was Damien at the Pat Hadley Memorial (results) in Placentia. The meet was run by class divisions. The Spartans best result for place an time was by Trevor Goodenough was second in the Senior race on the flat 3-mile course in 16:00
By Bob Ramsey, on September 11th, 2018 The Cool Breeze Invite is meant to give the athletes a chance to run fast. It’s run on a nearly flat golf course (a rare treat in California) and under the lights. And this year, the meet directors took several sharp turns out of the course, making it particularly fast. SGV and CIF #1 Claremont took full advantage.
The Wolfpack scored wins on both sides against a strong field of over 90 schools. The boys were easy winners, with their five scorers in the top 20, led by senior Aaron Reyes (7th/14:39). The girls bested a stiffer challenge from perennial power Saugus, but were still comfortable winners. They were led by Sydney Hwang (5th/16:55) and would have had a bigger margin if their second best runner on the day, frosh Maddie Coles (8th overall/17:05) had run in the varsity race.
 The Bonita Bearcats – Winners of the Boys and Girls Varsity Races Beyond Claremont, the La Cañada girls were excellent – finishing 8th overall, led by a trio of sub 18:00 runs by soph Ellaney Matarese, junior Sarah Auther and senior Adena DiPaulo. The Bishop Amat and Bonita girls also ran well – finishing 14th and 15th overall, and with the Bearcats winning the non-seeded Varsity race. They were led by senior Olivia Paez (39th/18:04) and Lorelei Claxton, Jr – (41st/18:07) respectively. All three teams should be in the CIF-SS Divisional Top 10’s this week, but each will need to close the gap between their front runners and their #4’s and 5’s to find success in November.
Bonita won the boys non-seeded race, too, just edging out a resurgent Glendora. The teams were 14th and 17th overall and both were fairly tightly grouped (1-5 gaps of 0:45 and 0:31) They will battle each other all year along with the IE’s Alta Loma for the final qualifying spot from the powerful Palomares League.
Flintridge Prep also ran well, finishing 26th overall, and their performance should shore up their top spot in the CIF-SS Div. 5 rankings. They were led by senior Carson Hasbrouck (41st/15:15) who, along with Owen Sericchio (La Cañada, Sr) – (28th/15:02), were the only non-Claremont boys to finish in the SGV Top 10.
Complete Results & Coverage
SGV Top 10 Performers, Team Rankings and the Top Performer for each team after the jump.
Continue reading Cool Breeze: Claremont Shows Their Class
By Bob Ramsey, on September 10th, 2018  A big win by senior Noah Hibbard led Arroyo to a breakthrough team performance at Friday & Saturday’s Rosemead Invitational, while Walnut’s Chloe and Emma Arriaga turned in two outstanding performances. The meet was run under the lights on a flat, three-mile course on the school campus and the next-door park. Sixty-four schools raced over two days, with nearly half of the field coming from the San Gabriel Valley.
Noah was the easy, 14 second winner of the senior race on Saturday, and the overall best performer in the meet. His 14:29 finish was one of the best ever here, and best ever by an Arroyo athlete, breaking the standard set by junior teammate Joshua Orrellana just 45 minutes before in winning the Junior race with a huge 14:58 – over a minute improvement over his previous best. The CIF D2 #8 Knights (76:36) finished narrowly second overall to #3 Loyola, and had life-time bests from all seven men, with the biggest gain from #4, soph Saket Sama who improved from 17:16 to 15:47. Arroyo now appears to have the depth to contend for a high finish at CIF and for their first return, after many years, to the State Meet.
Walnut was the next best SGV team – 10th overall at 80:54 and they were paced by two nice perfomances from Jesse Alvarado (Jr) – 12th/15:18, and Chris Razo (So) – 36th/15:49. Also among the SGV’s Ten Best were Nicolas DiConti (Gabrielino, So) – 29th/15:43, Connor Parker (Diamond Ranch, Jr) – 44th/15:53, and Luke Francis (Los Altos, Jr) – 46th/15:55 – all with big improvements over their previous bests.
Walnut senior Chloe Arriaga was the big winner, in a course record 16:41 with her sister Emma just behind in 16:57 and it was nearly a minute back to the next runner. SGV runners dominated the meet’s Top Performers with Poly’s Sophie Phinney winning the Junior race (4th overall/17:49) just steps ahead of Lauren Nettels (FSHA) in 17:52. Walnut’s Anastasia Sloan, after missing last week’s opener, won the soph race in also in 17:52 and was 6th overall.
The rest of the SGV’s best on the weekend were Amanda Ghibaudo (Walnut, Jr) – 11th/18:20, Melanie Mach (Rosemead, Sr) – winner of Fridays’ senior race and 12th overall/18:31, Molly Hake (Arroyo, Sr) -13th/18:32, Olivia Ruiz (San Marino, Sr) – 16th/18:40 and Cameron Gomez (Mayfield, Jr) – 18th/18:41.
Walnut was the overall team winner and SGV Best at 89:35. Adding Sloan in after the first week was huge help but their 1:23 gap from their #4 Ghibaudo back to their #5 will hamper their CIF and State hopes. Mayfield, running an incomplete team, were the SGV’s second best team and 5th overall at 96:59
Complete Results & Coverage
SGV Top 10 Performers, Team Rankings and the Top Performer for each team after the jump.
Continue reading Rosemead Invite: Arroyo Boys Confirm, Arriagas Dominate
By Bob Ramsey, on September 7th, 2018 San Gabriel Valley schools Claremont and Rosemead host two of the CIF-SS’s biggest meets this weekend – both under the lights! Most of our area’s teams will be in action at these meets, including most of the SGV ranked teams, while SGV Boys #5 Rowland will open at The Eagle XC Invite in El Segundo on Saturday morning. SGV ranked Arcadia, California, La Serna and South Pasadena are off this weekend.
 First up is the Cool Breeze Invitational on Friday, run over three miles under the lights on the golf courses at Brookside Park in Pasadena. The course is nearly flat, almost entirely on grass, and will run over two one-and-one-half mile loops. At last year’s meet Flintridge Prep senior Evan Pattinelli (now at Yale) was the SGV’s top performer (3rd/15:06) in the Sweepstakes race while Arcadia (4th) were the top local team.
On the girls side, the meet hosts Claremont led off their championship season with a win, and were led by now senior Sydney Hwang (3rd/17:22) and the Wolfpack are clearly favored again this year.
A record 98 schools (17 from the SGV) will take part, including SGV ranked Bonita, La Mirada, Bishop Amat, La Cañada, Flintridge Prep and Glendora. The first race is at 4:40, the sweeps races at 9:14 (girls) and 9:34 (boys). Admission is $5.
 Also on Friday, and continuing on Saturday night is the Rosemead Invitational. Run under the lights on a flat, turning 3-mile course on the campus and the adjoining park, this meet is a favorite of San Gabriel Valley teams. Area teams will account for 21 of the 38 schools in Friday’s Small Schools races, and 9 of the 31 teams in Saturday’s Large Schools division. SGV Ranked Mayfield, Arroyo, El Rancho and Walnut will race Saturday. Athletes race by grades here, so we’ll need the final merge to see how they did as teams and overall. The first race both days is at 5:40 pm.
At last year’s meet, Chloe Arriaga of Walnut was the overall champion in 17:20 and her team was the SGV’s best and third overall. This year, she’ll and her team will be challenged at the top by Mayfield and their great soph Audrey Suarez.Â
Arroyo (3rd overall) was our area’s top boys team here, and they should hold that spot again this year. Whittier senior Nicolas Mijares was the SGV’s best last year (2nd/15:12) – look for Arroyo senior Noah Hibbard (5th/15:25) to challenge for top honors on Saturday.
By Bob Ramsey, on September 6th, 2018 Diamond Bar made the most of their move to the Mt. Baldy League, with their boys registering a win and the girls missing the top spot by just two points
  Running on the rolling and somewhat slow three-mile course Thursday at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, Keili Ishitani (3rd/20:24) and Allison Ear (5th/20:32) led the Brahmas to a third place finish, just two points behind Ontario and Chaffey.
The boys were clear winners in their new league. Finishing together, George Rosales and Lukas Amare were 23 second winners in 16:24 and joined up front by Thomas Ear (7th/17:09).
The Brahmas are considerably ahead of where they were at this time last year – this could be a great year for them.
Compete Results at Finished Results
By Bob Ramsey, on September 6th, 2018  On the strength of their big opening effort at The Great Cow Run the Arcadia boys have jumped back into the CIF-SS Div. 1 Rankings at #7
The SGV moves from 16 to 15 ranked teams because as Arcadia moved in, two were dropped. The La Cañada girls moved out of the Div. 4 rankings, probably because the team they ran this week was weaker than forecast and the Walnut girls were dropped after a good opener in favor of teams that were even better.
You can view the entire rankings here: Week 1 CIF Rankings
Girls
Div 1 –
Div. 2 -Â #1 Claremont (1st Last Week)
Div. 3 –
Div. 4 – #4 Mayfield (3rd);Â #6 Bishop Amat (Same)
Div. 5 – #2 Flintridge Prep (Same); #5 Pomona Catholic (Same); #7 Poly (6th)
Boys
Div 1 -Â #6 La Serna (7th Last week); #8 Arcadia (NR)
Div. 2 -Â #2 Claremont (Same); #8 Arroyo (10th)
Div. 3 – #10 Whittier (9th)
Div. 4 – #4 South Pasadena (Same); #7 Bishop Amat (Same )
Div. 5 – #1 Flintridge Prep (Same); #6 Maranatha (Same);
By Bob Ramsey, on September 5th, 2018  Claremont has been the strongest cross country program in the SGV for the past several years, and the Wolfpack boys are favored to defend their league and CIF Championships and to remain on top in the 2018 San Gabriel Valley Pre-Season rankings.
All of the traditional SGV powers are here, with La Serna, Arroyo and La Mirada looking to have their best season in many years.
2018 San Gabriel Valley XC Rankings (Pre-Season)
- Claremont
- La Serna
- Arcadia
- California
- Rowland
- South Pasadena
- Arroyo
- El Rancho
- Bonita
- La Mirada
Detailed Team Analysis after the jump
Continue reading Boys Pre-Season Rankings: Claremont at the Top
By Bob Ramsey, on September 5th, 2018 The Claremont girls are three-time defending CIF-SS Div. 2 Champs and two-time defending state champs. They are likely to repeat in both, and this makes them massive favorites to once again be the top team in the San Gabriel Valley. In the mock scoring done for these rankings, the Wolfpack are 122 points clear of the next team!
But they are not the only strong team in the SGV. Mayfield, Bishop Amat and La Cañada will all be contending for the Div. IV title, and Walnut may have enough depth behind the Chloe & Emma Arriaga to finish well in Div. 1.
Girls can compete at a high level in XC sooner than boys, so these rankings will probably be pretty voluble as frosh and soph girls step up and the season progresses.
2018 San Gabriel Valley XC Rankings (Pre-Season)
- Claremont
- Mayfield
- Walnut
- Bishop Amat
- La Cañada
- California
- Flintridge Prep
- La Serna
- Arcadia
- Glendora
Detailed Team Analysis after the jump
Continue reading SGV Girls Pre-Season Rankings — Claremont is Far Ahead of the Rest
By Bob Ramsey, on September 4th, 2018  King’s Lauren Peurifoy and Walnut’s Chloe Arriaga battle for the lead during the Girls Division 1 CIF-Southern Section Cross Country Finals at Riverside City Cross Country Course in Riverside Saturday, November 18, 2017. FRANK BELLINO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE/SCNG Walnut senior Chloe Arriaga has been named the San Gabriel Valley News Group’s girl Athlete of the Week, on the strength of her dominating win at last Saturday’s Fastback Invitational.Â
Chloe and the Mustangs race next on Saturday at the Rosemead Invitational.Â
Read all about it here:Â https://www.sgvtribune.com/2018/09/04/sgvn-girls-athlete-of-the-week-chloe-arriaga-walnut/
By Bob Ramsey, on September 4th, 2018  SGV Boys #2 La Serna – Fastback Champs! (photo courtesy of @lasernacctf) Some of the SGV’s top returning performers showed their class from the gun at the season opening Fastback Invitational. Traditionally run as a short course opener at Mt.SAC, the construction of Mt. SAC track stadium necessitated moving the meet to the flat, and super fast course at Arcadia Park for the past three years. Fourteen San Gabriel Valley teams competed in the field of 35.
Walnut’s Chloe & Emma Arriaga made their HS debuts in this meet four years ago with a 1-2 finish, and they began their senior season with a strong 1-2 finish in the senior race. Chloe dominated the entire field by over 22 seconds with a 10:42 performance, while Emma was fourth overall (and #2 SGV) in 11:09. The twins led their team to the #2 team overall finish and the top SGV team in the field. La Cañada junior Sarah Auther joined them at the top, winning the junior race and finishing 10th overall in 11:32.
On the boys side, SGV pre-season #2 La Serna immediately confirmed their promise with a 49:50 win. Running a controlled race, their top runner, senior Marco Perez was only 11th overall in 9:47, but their 1-5 gap was just 16 second. Senior Noah Hibbard led Arroyo to the 3rd overall finish with a strong 9:25 run for 3rd overall, 1st SGV.  Owen Serricchio (La Cañada, Sr) and Joshua Orrellana (Arroyo, Jr) also place in the overall top 10, at 7th and 8th respectively, both in 9:45
Complete Results & Coverage
SGV Top 10 Performers, Team Rankings and the Top Performer for each team after the jump.
Continue reading Fastback: Chloe A & the La Serna Boys Boss It from the First Steps
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SGV Track & XC 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
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