By Bob Ramsey, on November 13th, 2018 Eighteen boys teams and nineteen San Gabriel Valley cross country girls teams have advanced to Saturday’s CIF-SS Divisional Finals, while SGV athletes recorded 16 All-Time Top 50 times on The Riverside Cross Country Course last Friday and Saturday.
 The boys and girls from Covina. Both teams advanced to CIF Finals for the fifth year in a row! This year’s total was just below the forty-three that moved on the Finals last year, the highest total since the Final field was expanded (temporarily – one hopes) to 24 in 2016. The SGV’s biggest total when sixteen teams made the finals of the CIF-SS’s five divisions was twenty-three in 2010
Ramona Convent in Div. 5 and San Dimas in Div. 4 and Nogales in Div. 3 all qualified for the girls Final for the first time. There are no first timers among the boys, but South Hills (Div. 3) made their first final since 2009 and St. Francis (Div. 4) their first since 2010.
In an analysis of the past ten years, 31 of the SGV’s 71 boys teams have made at least one Final. Arcadia and Flintridge Prep have advanced in every one in those ten years, followed by California with nine, and Claremont, Poly and Webb with eight.
In that same time, 30 of the SGV’s 75 girls teams advanced to the country’s strongest sectional meet.  Bonita, Flintridge Prep and Mayfield have been 10 for 10 over this time, followed by Claremont and Poly at 9, and Arcadia with 8.
The Southern Section has been racing at The Riverside Cross Country Course since 2015, and has used it for CIF finals since 2016. Most of the top teams ran controlled races in the Prelims (with the exception of Div. 1 boys), so we can expect many more additions in the Finals.
After the jump, a list the Top 21 SGV performances for the the boys and the girls, with notes on their All-Time status, (you can view the complete A-T lists here) plus a ranking of all the teams by time. Continue reading CIF Prelims: 37 Teams Move On — 16 All-Time Marks
By Bob Ramsey, on November 13th, 2018 The San Gabriel Valley has always been well represented in the CIF-SS’s Division 1, and we’ll be well-represented again with four teams moving on in nation’s toughest division.
 This could be the year for Walnut! CIF Div 1 Girls Merged Results
SGV #2 Walnut won their qualifying heat in 90:34 and Chloe Arriaga was first in an easy 17:19. Amanda Ghibaudo was 9th/18:08 moves up to =26th All-Time SGV on this course. But just as important was the return of soph Anastasia Sloan from illness and the emergence of Milo Santiago (18:53) as a solid #5 for the Mustangs. Their chances of a high Finals finish and a trip to the State Meet look better than ever.
Going the other way, SGV #12 Arcadia ran probably their best year of the season, but were only 11th/96:27 in the first of three heats, ending a Finals streak that dated to 2010. The Apaches were fourth in the State last year, but with Joyce Wu as the only returner from that team, 2018 was a season-long quest to rebuild, and they were just short. Joyce finished 5th/17:57 in the race and will move on individually.
SGV #5 California and #10 La Serna had long-shot hopes of advancing, but their season ends here. The Condors were the closer, finishing just behind Arcadia in 12th/96:33 while the Lancers were 14th/97:54 in their heat.
Diamond Bar was competing in the Prelims for the first time in many years, and they ran a solid 16th/103:16. Bell Gardens was 18th/97:30 in their race and Schurr was 19th/108:25.
 The La Serna Boys have advanced to Finals for the second time ever. Is the State Meet next? CIF Div 1 Boys Merged Results
In the Boys races, SGV #2 California advanced easily for the 7th straight year with a strong 3rd/77:54 effort punctuated by excellent efforts from Angel Salinas – 7th/15:19 – =17th All-Time SGV on this course, Ethan Ruiz – 9th/15:24 – =27th A-T, and Jack Martinez – 18th/15:35 is =41st A-T.
SGV #4 Arcadia put together a solid race, especially up front, to advance in 3rd/78:18, a spot they’ve earned for at least 10th straight years. As they have been all year, the Apaches were led by Jacob Hsu – 6th/15:14, now =13th SGV A-T here and Tianyuan Pei -13th/15:24 is =25th A-T.
SGV#3 La Serna bounced back from a disappointing league meet with an excellent 2nd/77:47 finish to earn their second ever spot in the Finals. Marco Perez was best at 10th/15:27, just off his time here last year. Gerald Baltzer was 13th/15:29 and is =31st A-T, Jesse Montez – 16th/15:31 is =34th and Aidan Arredondo – 25th/15:34 is =38th A-T.
In the merged results of the three heats, La Serna was ranked 5th and California 7th – so a State Meet spot is certainly in the cards for them. That would be the fourth time the Condors advanced to State and the first ever for the Lancers. Arcadia is 11th, so they’ll race next week with a solid shot at returning to Fresno for the first time since 2015
Two SGV League champs also competed in Div. 1 but did not advance.  Walnut, Hacienda winners,  were 16th/82:03 in their heat and Schurr, Almont Champs were 21st/89:55. Diamond Bar, competing in Prelims for the first time in over a decade were, 17th/85:37 in their heat, while Montebello was 18th/78:48 and Bell Gardens – 20th/92:35
SGV Tops 10’s and Team Bests After the jump Continue reading CIF Prelims — Div 1: Walnut Finds a Fifth, La Serna Bounces Back and Arcadia’s Streak Ends
By Bob Ramsey, on November 12th, 2018 Three San Gabriel Valley boys teams and six girls completed in the CIF-SS Division 2 Prelims last Friday at the Riverside Cross Course. The five teams expected to advance did, while the two teams with a chance fell heartbreakingly close.
CIF Div 2 Girls Merged Results
The SGV (and CIF-SS) #1 Claremont girls ran an A/B team, finishing 2nd/93:55 to advance. Frosh Maddie Coles ran an easy 18:24 on her first time on the course, and now ranks #37 All-Time SGV here. Arroyo raced without their #2, but still advanced for the second straight year in 10th/100:53 . Rowland is 17th/105:56 and West Covina 20th/110:44 and they do not move on.
 Katie Bautista on her way to qualifying for the CIF Final
In the second race, SGV # 13 Santa Fe #15 Alhambra both had a chance to move on for the first time in this very strong division. Heartbreakingly, they were the first two teams out, the Chiefs 13th/101:20, the Moors 14th/99:33 and , with the Santa Fe missing by just four points. However, their #1 Katie Bautista will advance individually with a life-time best 18:20, =31st All-Time SGV, 7th in the race. Adding extra disappointment for the Moors, their #1 Serena Duenas missed advancing by one spot at 16th/18:53.
CIF Div 2 Boys Merged Results
In the boys races SGV #5 Arroyo advanced in the first race, finishing 4th/79:49  Noah Hibbard was the winner in an easy 15:20, 1 second off his best here from last year’s Prelims. Junior Josh Orellana ran 15:41 – =45th All-Time SGV on the Riverside Course.
In the second race, #1 Claremont also ran a mixed A/B team that easily advanced in 4th/80:04 and advance. #6 Rowland was 8th/82:28 and will move on for the third straight year.
SGV Tops 10’s and Team Leaders after the jump
Continue reading CIF Prelims — Div 2: Mission Accomplished, Except…
By Bob Ramsey, on November 12th, 2018 The San Gabriel Valley advanced thirteen boys teams and seven girls teams to the CIF-SS cross country Prelims held Friday at The Riverside Cross Country Course. The teams picked to advance all did, along with several nice surprises and few heartbreaks.
 The SGV #7 Bonita boys easily moved on Division 3 Boys Merged Results
In the first boys race, SGV #7 Bonita advanced with a restrained 5th/83:03 along #13 South Hills – 7th/83:19. In a nice step up performance, Los Altos 10th/85.36 will join them in the finals. The Conqs, advancing for the first time since 2014, were especially helped by step-up performances from senior Isak Andrade and soph Noah Palafax.
BP junior Edwardo De Paz was an easy 5th/15:52 and will advance individually along with Pasadena wonder-frosh Isaiah Givens who was 10th/16:01. South Hills’ senior Devin Hightower was 2nd/15:36 which ranks him #35 All-Time SGV here.
La Mirada had a bit of a rough day -16th/86:55 – and will miss the final along with Baldwin Park 15th/88:02,  El Monte -18th/88:35 and Sierra Vista 21st/93:38. This ends the Braves’ streak of five straight finals.
In the second race, #11 Whitter moved on with a controlled 5th/83:14 effort. Rosemead fell frustratingly 4 points short of the final spot at 13th/86:58, followed by Temple City – 14th/88:04, Gabrielino – a disappointing 16th/89:07, Nogales – 17th/90:22 and Garey – 20th/95:10. Nogales senior Osvaldo Cervantes was in complete control, winning the heat in 15:33 and will advance individually.
In he girls races, SGV #14 Rosemead ran a really excellent 5th/101:02 to advance just ahead of #11 Bonita – who were a little off, running – 6th/101:03 as both teams advance.  Gabrielino – 14th/109:03 and South Hills – 15th/89:33 finish their seasons here, but the Huskie soph Arissa Hatcher finished 8th/19:19 and will move on individually.
In race 2: La Mirada was 10th/104:51 and will return to the Finals for the second year, while Nogales nabbed the final qualifying spot in 12/111:04 to advance for the maybe the first time ever, along with Monrovia junior Alayana Peters who was 2nd/18:54.  Sierra Vista was 17th/116:28
SGV Best 14’s & Team Leaders after the jump
Continue reading CIF Prelims — Division 3: Expectations Met — Surprises Celebrated
By Bob Ramsey, on November 12th, 2018 Of the CIF-SS five divisions for cross country, the San Gabriel Valley was best represented in Div. 4 with 10 boys teams and 13 girls teams advancing from their leagues to Saturday’s CIF Prelims at the Riverside Cross Country Course. On a nice day for our region, seven boys and seven girls teams moved on to next week’s final.
 The San Dimas Girls after to CIF Finals for the first time… ever! CIF-SS Div. 4 Girls Merged Results
In the girls races SGV ranked #7 Mayfield were 2nd/96:24 in their heat to advance along with #6 Bishop Amat, at 5th/99:12 and Covina – 8th/101:37, with both of those teams missing one of their usual first five. These teams have been regulars in the finals – this is the tenth straight year the Cubs have advanced, sixth straight for the Lancers and five straight for the Colts.
The real news from this heat came from San Dimas who finished 12th/104:27. This was the first time any San Dimas team had qualified for the finals! They were led by a strong efforts from their first two – senior Caroline Cobo (19:34) and junior Layla Graham (19:45).
Mayfield was led by super-soph Audrey Suarez who ran an easy 18:15, 4th-best in a merge of the D4 heats. Also moving on was Montview League Champ Hannah Eubanks (Sr, Gladstone) who was 14th/19:03.
In the second girls heat SGV #3 South Pasadena moved on with a nice 3rd/97:01 finish, as did Flintridge Sacred Heart – 98:34 and #8 La Cañada – 8th/99:55 – still running without their usual #3. The Spartans’ Ellaney Matarese ran 18:34, 10th best in D4 on the day, and now ranks 48th All-Time SGV on this course. St. Lucy’s frosh Sarah Gann was 15th in the heat with a very nice18:59, and she’ll also move on to the Finals.
Six teams did not move on. In heat 2, San Marino was first out by just seven points in 13th/104:43, while 2017 finalists South El Monte were 14th/104:41 and La Salle 23rd/125:09. In the first heat, Gladstone was 15th/112:27, 2017 finalists Bassett – 17th/112:43 and Edgewood – 20th/116:54.
CIF-SS Div 4 Boys Merged Results
 Daniel Hernandez with Coach Andrew Tachias There were some surprises in the boys races. As expected, SGV #9 South Pasadena – resting their #1 - were 5th/83:26, and Covina – 8th/83:43, both easily advanced. The Colts had a particularly good day, led by a 10th/15:42 overall D4 finish from senior Daniel Hernandez, a life-time best for him.  #14 Bishop Amat just squeaked in at 11th/84:45.
 Nicolas Castillo-Davidson A little unexpectedly, St. Francis stepped up to grab the last spot in the finals at 12th/86:05, advancing for the first time since 2010. Edgewood junior Nicolas Castillo-Davidson also moved on with his excellent 9th/15:59 finish. He’ll be the first Lion ever to compete in the Final!
In the second boys heat, SGV #15 Pioneer advanced with a solid 3rd/81:51 finish, along with Azusa – 10th/85:48 and La Cañada – 11th/85:20. Spartan senior Owen Serricchio is now 37th All-Time SGV with his 15:33 finish, 4th overall D4 on the day.
Don Bosco, competing here for the first time since 2013, had a rough day and finished a non-qualifying 13th/87:21. 2017 Finalists Bassett were 14th/90:25 and Southlands Christian – 15th/96:35, but Nathan Vallejo did move on with his excellent 11th/15:54 finish.
SGV Div 4 Top 14’s and Team Leaders after the jump Continue reading CIF Prelims — Div 4: San Dimas & St. Francis Lead Big Day
By Bob Ramsey, on November 11th, 2018 Flintridge Prep secured (at least) their tenth straight trip to the CIF-SS Finals Saturday at the Riverside Cross Country Course. Both the boys and girls advanced along with frequent finalists Webb and the girls from Poly.
While the expected teams all advanced there were two happy surprises that earned a spot in the Finals. Ramona Convent advanced for the first time in maybe ever, while Asa Barton (Sr, Blair) earned an individual spot.
The Tigers, who finished second in the Horizon League, were led by soph Isabelle Mix-Vachon 48th/21:48 and frosh Emily Silva – 49th/21:51. The team was 10th/114:07 in their heat. Asa finished 3rd in the Rio Hondo League, (moving up 19 spots from 2017) to advance, and ran an excellent 8th/16:53 finish in the rising heat to move on to the Finals, the first for Blair in years.
In the boys races, Flintridge Prep ran together and cruised to a 4th/86:56 finish. Maranatha advanced for the second year in a row with a 4th/88:02 heat finish, led by by senior Matt Rutzen who was 10th/16:19 overall in D5. Webb advanced at 8th/89:25 in their heat. Evan Hayes (Jr, Poly) ran a life-time best 6th/17:02 and will move on individually.
In the girls races SGV #9 Flintridge Prep put down the hammer with a 98:56 win, nearly 3 minutes ahead of the next team. Senior Haley Allen ran 18:34, 2nd best in D5 on the day,and senior Sasha Codiga was 8th/19:27. Poly was 5th/109:15 and Webb – 8th/110:2 in their heats and both move on, for the ninth and third times, respectively. Gaul soph Lily Miller – 5th/18:48 was 5th overall in D5.
SGV Top 7 and Team Bests after the jump Continue reading CIF Prelims — Div 5: Ramona Convent Joins the Usual Group
By Bob Ramsey, on November 9th, 2018  Thirty-seven San Gabriel Valley boys teams and thirty-nine girls teams have qualified for the CIF-Southern Section cross country Prelims, which will be held this Friday and Saturday at The Riverside Cross Country Course in Riverside.
Live Results
Southern Section cross country divides teams into five, enrollment based divisions. Teams advance to Prelims by finishing in the top half of their leagues, or through at-large bids given to the Top 16 in each division – the Bonita girls qualified this way. Individual runners from non-qualifying teams can also advance – 13 SGV boys and 5 girls will complete individually.
Twenty-Four teams will advance to the Championship Finals, which will be next Saturday, November 17 on the same Riverside course. Making the Final, when only sixteen teams advanced when the championships were at Mt. SAC, was the equivalent of making the semi’s of a ball sport. With twenty-four advancing, it’s not quite the same, but it’s still a huge achievement given the size and strength of the Southern Section
You can view the complete Heat Sheets here:Â 2018 CIF Heat Sheets
Here are the SGV Teams and Individuals taking part, with their CIF Divisional Rankings.
Teams & Individuals in Bold are likely to advance, those in Italics have a good chance to move on.
Division 2 – Friday Morning
- Boys Heat 1: #9 Arroyo plus Adam Alvarez (Sr, Mark Keppel) and Jason Phung (So, San Gabriel)
- Boys Heat 2: #2 Claremont and Rowland
- Girls Heat 1: Arroyo, #1 Claremont, Rowland and West Covina
- Girls Heat 2: Alhambra and Santa Fe
Division 3 – Friday Morning
- Boys Heat 1: Baldwin Park, #9 Bonita,El Monte, La Mirada, Los Altos, Sierra Vista and #16 South Hills plus Danny Ebiner (So, Damien) and Isaiah Givens(Fr, Pasadena)
- Boys Heat 2: Gabrielino, Garey, Nogales, Rosemead, Temple City and #13 Whittier plus Conner Parker (Jr, Diamond Ranch) and Roberto Soto (Sr, Monrovia)
- Girls Heat 1: #8 Bonita, Gabrielino, #13 Rosemead and South Hills
- Girls Heat 2: La Mirada, Nogales and Sierra Vista plus Brenda Caballero (So, Garey), Kaylee Sanchez (So, Los Altos) and Alayna Peters (Jr, Monrovia)
Division 1 – Saturday Morning
- Boys Heat 1: #10 California, Diamond Bar and Schurr
- Boys Heat 2: #10 Arcadia, Bell Gardens and Montebello
- Boys Heat 3: #10 La Serna and Walnut
- Girls Heat 1:Â Â Arcadia, Diamond Bar, Schurrand #7Â Walnut
- Girls Heat 2:Â La Serna
- Girls Heat 3:Â Bell Gardens
Division 4 – Saturday Morning
- Boys Heat 1: #12 Bishop Amat, Covina, #4 South Pasadena and St. Francisplus Nicolas Castillo-Davidson (Jr, Edgewood) & Daniel Martinez (Sr, Ganesha) & Joshua Hernandez (Fr, Edgewood)
- Boys Heat 2: Azusa, Bassett, Don Bosco, #15 La Cañada, #11 Pioneer and Southlands Christian plus Efrain Carillo (Jr, Ganesha) and Jon Pfeiffer(Sr, Wilson)
- Girls Heat 1: Bassett, #5 Bishop Amat, Covina, Edgewood, Gladstone, #8 Mayfield and San Dimas plus Jacqueline Campos (Jr, Azusa) and Raegan Lucero (Sr, St. Paul)
- Girls Heat 2: #10 Flintridge Sacred Heart, #11 La Cañada, La Salle, San Marino, South El Monte and #7 South Pasadena plus Sarah Gunn(Fr, St. Lucy’s)
Division 5 – Saturday Morning
- Boys Heat 1: #12 Maranatha and Webb plus Asa Barton (Sr, Blair)
- Boys Heat 2:Â Evan Hayes(Jr, Poly)
- Boys Heat 3: #3Â Flintridge Prep
- Girls Heat 1: Alverno and Ramona Convent
- Girls Heat 2: #2 Flintridge Prep, #7 Poly and #14 Webb
By Bob Ramsey, on November 9th, 2018 There were few changes in the rankings of the boys San Gabriel Valley cross country teams following league finals as Palomares champs Claremont remained well ahead of the rest of our region
These rankings are based on a merge of league finals results that tried to account for the vagaries of course types, lengths and heat.
#2 California and #3 La Serna finished 1-2 in the Del Rio Final – the Condors ran their best race of the year to beat an injury depleted Lancers team. It’s a measure of La Serna’s strength that they’re able to actually rise in the rankings this week even when they were not able to run their best five.
Others moving up were Valle Vista champs Rowland who had runners perform well after injury, and Hacienda champs Walnut, who have been improving all year.
605 League champ Pioneer fell four spots, but this is likely due to them taking it a bit easy in their final, which they won easily. We’ll find out more about them on Saturday.
No teams entered or left the rankings, but #8 Glendora and #10 Damien did not move on to CIF. The Tartans ran well but still finished 6th in the tough Palomares League, while the Spartans had to run a banged-up team in the Baseline final and fell short of advancing.
San Gabriel Valley Boys Cross Country Rankings
- Claremont (Previously 1)
- California (2)
- La Serna (5)
- Arcadia (3)
- Arroyo (4)
- Rowland (8)
- Bonita (6)
- Glendora (9)
- South Pasadena (7)
- Damien (10)
- Whittier (13)
- Walnut (15)
- South Hills (12)
- Bishop Amat (14)
- Pioneer (15)
By Bob Ramsey, on November 9th, 2018 There was quite a bit of movement in the girls cross country rankings for the San Gabriel Valley this week. While Claremont and Walnut remained stable at the top, two teams moved and two teams dropped out, and five teams moved at least four places.
These rankings are based on a merge of league finals results that tried to account for the vagaries of course types, lengths and heat.
Rio Hondo champs South Pasadena and Mission Valley winners Arroyo are third and fourth, moving up four and six spots respectively. Both teams have been building all year and turned in really impressive performances defeating ranked teams (#8 La Cañada and #14 Rosemead) in the process.
Other big movers were #9 Flintridge Prep who were able to run well with their best five to win the Prep League over #7 Mayfield, and #10 La Serna who bounced back from a rough day at Mt.SAC to finish a strong second in the Del Rio meet to #5 California. #13 Santa Fe moved into the rankings for the first time by finishing a strong third in the Del Rio.
Leaving the rankings were previously #4 Glendora and #14 Flintridge Sacred Heart. The Tartans had a disappointing league meet after a really strong performance at Riverside, while the Tologs ran well in the Mission finals, but were bumped by superior performances.
San Gabriel Valley Girls Cross Country Rankings
- Claremont (Previously 1)
- Walnut (2)
- South Pasadena (7)
- Arroyo (10)
- California (5)
- Bishop Amat (3)
- Mayfield (6)
- La Cañada (12)
- Flintridge Prep (13)
- La Serna (15)
- Bonita (8)
- Arcadia (8)
- Santa Fe (Not Ranked)
- Rosemead (NR)
- Alhambra (11)
By Bob Ramsey, on November 3rd, 2018 The Prelim Race heat sheets have been released for the CIF-Southern Section, the strongest sports region in the country. The CIF-SS divides its schools into five, enrollment based divisions, the fewest of any sport in the SS, and the SS is so big, making CIF finals is equal to or superior to making the state final anywhere else in the country.
The prelims and finals will be held again this year at the Riverside Cross Country Course, and because of the larger starting area on this course, twenty-four teams will advance to the Championship Finals instead of the traditional 16.
Divisions 2 & 3 race on Friday, Divisions 1, 4 & 5 Saturday.
You can view the complete Heat Sheets here:Â 2018 CIF Heat Sheets
Here are the SGV Teams and Individuals taking part, with their CIF Divisional Rankings. Continue reading CIF Prelims Heat Sheets Released
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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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