Of the top 50 City finishers at Central Park this year only 3 set a PR or SR on this course and Hunter Bennett was the best of the lot by a big margin. His time of 15:25.8 is the 2nd top City performance since 2016, the 1st year City teams participated at Central Park.
Heard on the Trail . . .
The Bell Gardens Invitational has moved to Griffth Park for the 38th running of the event that will host 25 City teams this year, a record. The new course will start and finish at the Autry Museum at Griffith Park and makes a single loop around the Griffith Park golf course on a predominantly flat dirt trail. Top City teams running at Bell Gardens include D1 Palisades, Venice and Kennedy; D2 Eagle Rock, Marshall and Bravo Medical; D3 Verdugo Hills and SOCES; D4 Belmont, and D5 Central City Value.
There were 3 American records at today’s Chicago Marathon. TRACY WILSON and MARIO CASTILLO ran, no crushed, the Chicago Marathon to set Taft coaching records. Tracy finished in 3:17:25 and Mario 2:37:56 (that’s 6 min/mile). On a lesser note, Conner Mantz broke the American record placing 4th in 2:04.43.
On day 2 at Clovis, Birmingham senior YESENIA VALEDEZ ran 19-minutes flat to place 17th in the 1st race of the day. That’s a 1-minute 6-second improvement over her Clovis time last year and keeps her on track for a sub 18-minute performance at City Finals. In the same race SAMANTHA PACHECO led the Granada Hills girls with in 43rd place in 19:36.7. In the Rob Brenner Boys Championship race Jackson Spenser of Herriman (Utah school) crushed the Woodward Park record that has stood since 2007, winning in 14:16.9 (German Fernandez held the previous record at 14:24.0 - check him out, a generational talent). Herriman is coached by Doug Soles who led the Great Oaks dynasty of the 2010’s. JOAQUIN ORTEGA-TOMASELLI was the top Granada Hills finisher in the D1 Varsity race placing 33rd in a time of 16:17.2. Joaquin moved up 7 positions in the final mile which he covered in 5:11.5.
Two sophomores led Eagle Rock teams in Friday morning’s small-school races at Clovis. OLIVIA CORRIGAN was the top finisher for the girls placing 36th in the D4 Varsity race in a time of 20:12.4 for 5k. Not a PR but Olivia is working through some minor injuries so good to see her back! Teammate DAVID KANNER ran an impressive 16:41.3 to place 37th in the D4 Varsity race. That’s getting close to sub-16 minutes for 3 miles.
Last year Larchmont’s ROSE MATHEU, a senior, came out of nowhere to set school and D5 City Finals records (and nearly the D5 Pierce course record) on her way to winning the City title in 19:13.4. This year, AVERY CAVALIER may challenge those records and earn Larchmont their 2nd consecutive individual title in her first year of running. The Larchmont freshman won the varsity race at the LAUSD League Cluster #1 at 22nd Street Park that included 241 runners from 36 schools from City’s Coast division. Her time of 20:29.9 is just 3 seconds off the time Rose set on the Peck Park course last year at this time. Note: Coast Division teams will be running at 22nd Street Park in lieu of Peck Park this year due to storm damage at Peck Park.
The New West Charter girls’ team (D5) gave San Pedro a run for their money in the same race, placing their top 5 runners in the top 25 to score 47 points to San Pedro’s 35. There were 241 runners in the varsity girls race so those are impressive performances and scores. Junior DAISY HUBER was New West’s top runner; she placed 3rd in 21:07.6. Four of New West’s scoring 5 will be returning next year so this is a team that will continue their reign in D5 for the foreseeable future. Sophomore AVA GOMEZ led San Pedro with a 2nd place finish in 20:53.5.
San Pedro’s boys ran away in the varsity race placing their top 5 in the top 7. Senior CAMILLO VISESSIRI-PETIT led the Pirates and won the race in 16:39.1. Junior ZACHARY MCGRATH placed 2nd and TRISTAN LOMEDICO 3rd for San Pedro. Watch out for freshman LOGAN ABELLANEDA-ARTEAGA; he was San Pedro’s #5 and placed 7th overall, the fastest freshman at Peck Park today.
(l-r) Zach Cohen, Sebastian Funk, Ethan Funk,
Jackson Taylor, Andrew Razo, Mako Holt, Theo Mayeda
City Champions?
As City teams move into the second half of the ‘25 XC season the Palisades boys have set a standard that will be hard to beat in November . . . and they have yet to run at full strength!
Huntington Beach, CA
Octoboer 4th, 2025
Granada Hills was the first team to run at Central Park back in 2016. The following year Canoga Park and Venice competed, and these three teams have been the City mainstays of this race to this day. On Saturday, 10 City schools competed, the most since 2016. This year Palisades Charter ran for the first time as did D3 Panorama and D5 schools Middle College and Stella Charter. This is not a fast course in the vein of Rosemead or Woodbridge, so very few SR’s or PR’s, but it is an honest course and provides some reliable information on City team strength at mid-season.
Palisades continued a theme at Central Park dominating both the girls and boys City power rankings and individual City rankings. Seniors ZACH COHEN and DAILA HARINCK led each of the Dolphins teams with top City times. THEO MAYEDO placed well in the Boys Sweepstakes race but this kid’s true talents are still relatively untapped. ANDREW RAZO is back - not nearly at 100% but in plenty of time to get there by November. ETHAN FUNK and JACKSON TAYLOR were well off their best. Lots of variability in performances and team rank right now, undoubtedly due to an intense training block. If this boys’ team can get all 5 of their varsity scoring runners firing at the same time it will be scary - they all are capable of running under 15:20 and most of them under 15 minutes. For the girls ZOEY MORRIS ran her strongest race yet, the MAMMEN sisters are back from their sabbatical at Corona del Mar, and KENDAL SHAVER and MAYA BHASIN continue to impress in scoring positions for the Dolphins. This team is consistent if nothing else but the fun will begin in November when the tapers take hold after some very intense training in August-September. MAYA HIVELY is still MIA so odds are she will not be competing this season.
ZACH COHEN continues his reign as City’s top athlete with a 15:04.8 9th place finish in the Sweepstakes race at the Central Park Invite.
Junior KENDAL SHAVER transferred from San Diego section last year and since that time she’s moved up in the team rankings as a consistent top-5 varsity runner for Pali. Her times this year have been 1-2 minutes better than in ‘24 and City Park was no exception where she ran 19:27.4.
Both Taft varsity teams continue to show strong, particularly in their top 3. HUNTER BENNETT took top honors this week with a big performance that earned him 2nd place. ETHAN BAROK was close behind in a gutsy performance that may have been a bit too hot in the 1st mile (no criticism, love to see that). ISABELA SAKALOWSKY continues her role as the de facto leader for the girl Toreadors with a nice performance at Central Park. Going forward, her mission, if she decides to accept :), is finding a way to shave another 20-30 seconds off her performances - that puts her in D1 top-5 range where she belongs. Sophomore HUDSON SONG and junior JONAH SIMKIN have impressed all year and Central Park was no exception. They’re the backbone of their respective Taft teams this year and should be setting themselves up for some remarkable stuff in ‘26. Junior JENNY NAVA will be critical in Taft’s quest for a first-ever State qualification; she hasn’t run since Woodbridge so a big question mark. Freshmen UNICA GUERRO and MAILE BRADY posted the top City 9th-grade times across all races at Central Park in the Varsity S1 race.
State Qualifier?
Both the Taft boys and girls will be looking to send teams to State for the first time since the inception of the State meet in 1997. The boys need to qualify in the top 3 at the D1 City Championships and JONAH SIMKIN will likely be key to achieving this milestone. Palisades and Granada Hills will be their obvious competition but do not disregard San Pedro; they have a solid top 3 and if they can get 1 more runner in the low 16’s both Taft and Granada are vulnerable. The road to State for the girls will be more difficult. Only 2 City D1 girls teams qualify and that means the Taft girls will need to dethrone one of two teams - Palisades Charter or Granada Hills - that have won every City Final since 2012. Sophomore HUDSON SONG may be the difference that helps Taft earn their 1st State team appearance.
JONAH SIMKIN is in top form at the Central Park Invite. Jonah is Taft’s #3 and the linchpin to Taft’s post season success.
HUDSON SONG will be a pivotal player in the Taft girl’s quest for a first-ever State qualification in November.
The Venice girls’ underclassmen impressed with their top 3 finishing in the top 20 in the Sophomore S1 race. WHITNEY DERBY placed 2nd in 19:38.1, HARINA GIRMAY 7th in 21:10.2 and ZOEY KLEBER 20th in 21:47.7. This team will be formidable in the next 2 years. For the boys, senior RYAN PERRELLA was the top Gondolier in 16:26.1.
Most of Granada’s varsity teams did not compete this weekend in preparation for Clovis on Oct. 11th. But GAVIN FINEGAN did and he impressed in the Sophomore S1 race. Gavin placed 2nd in this race in 16:38.8 and was closing quickly on the leader; another 200 meters and he would have won the race.
Canoga Park ran in the afternoon races and showed well, particularly their upper classmen girls and under classmen boys. SARAI ROSAS posted the 10th best City girls’ performance and junior ABRIANNA ROBLES and senior ABRILEA ARCILLA were both in the City Top-20. Freshman DAISHA CASCO posted the #3 City 9th-grade time. The Canoga girls’ team ranked #3 among all City teams at Central Park. The boys were led by freshman DANIEL TORRES who ran 17:45.7 in the Frosh/Soph S2 race. The best freshman performance at City Park by a Canoga Park athlete ever and the 2nd best all-time Canoga 9th grade performance, ever! Canoga sophomore ALEXANDER OCANA also beat 18 minutes.
Panaroma showed up at Central Park for the first time this year and senior ANDY TOBAR ran a commendable 17:09.0, the #20th ranked City performance. D5 City school Stella Charter Academy brought 20 runners down to the OC to compete at Central Park - this is where greatness starts! Another D5 school Middle College also ran for the 1st time at Central Park this year; they also competed at Woodbridge. Love to see these D5 teams competing at the bigger invitationals.
Here are the City Team Power Rankings from the 2025 Central Park Invitational:
THEO MAYEDA was Palisades #2 in the Sweepstakes race where he finished 40th in 15:45.9. Theo’s success will be Pali’s success in post season and we are expecting big things from him in November!
ZOEY MORRIS had her best race so far this year at Central Park and looks to be on a trajectory that should have her in contention for a top finish headed into November. This wasn’t her best time this season but for the course and the competition a solid effort.
ETHAN BAROK finishes strong in the Varsity S1 race at Central Park. Ethan was Taft’s 2nd finisher in the race and posted the 3rd best City time at Central Park.
ISABELLA SAKALOWSKY took nearly a minute off her time from last year’s race at Central Park when she won the sophomore race. This year she placed 10th in the Varsity race in a time of 19:06.2; the 3rd best City performance.
With a mile to go GAVIN FINEGAN was 22 seconds off the lead and in a battle with 2 other runners for 2nd place in the Sophomore S1 race. With 600 meters to go Gavin launched a finish that got him within 5 seconds of the winner and left the other runners far behind.
WHITNEY DERBY heads into the final mile of the Sophomore S1 race. Whitney placed 2nd in 19:38.1, over a minute faster than her ‘24 time when she also placed 2nd in the Freshman race.
Venice sophomore HARINA GIRMAY placed 7th in Sophomore S1 race, a full minute and 40 seconds faster than her performance in 2024. She’s part of a youth renaissance at Venice that bodes well for the team’s future.
Granada Hills sophomore ELENA MEDRANO looks strong 800m into the Sophomore S1 race. She finished in 10th place in a time of 21:23.4. Elena was one of four City sophomores to place in the top 20 in this race.
Here are the Top-10 City performances across all races at the 2025 Central Park Invitational:
Monroe - Varsity S1 Race
Front: Yeime Perez, Mishelle Zuniga
Mid: Leilani Saldana, Mea Servin
Back: Angeline Torres, Laura Maya, Sheyli Sajche
Front: Zoey Kleber, Whitney Derby
Back: Avery Cilfone, Harina Girmay, Breanna Morales
Venice - Sophomore S1 Race
Front: Emily Erezuma
Rear: Angela Melixetov, Madison Fabro, Nikkan Shahzeidi, Tiffany Zherdev, Juliana Rodriguez
TAFT - JV S1 Race
Griffith Park - Park Central
September 27th, 2025
Here are the City Teams Power Rankings from the 2025 Bellarmine-Sacred Heart Invitational:
Note: Teams with less than 5 runners across all races at Bell-Jeff are not included in the Power Rankings.
Here are the top City performances across all races at the 2025 Bellarmine-Sacred Heart Invitational:
BELL-JEFF CHAMPS - KENNEDY
Giada Di Salvo, Cameron Rose A Ramos, Georgia Illingworth, Emily Rodriguez, Arianna Aguilar, Emma Quezada, Colleen Kidwell
On a damp, cloudy morning the Kennedy girls took Bell-Jeff by storm, winning the varsity large school team contest. The Marshall girls also showed well earning 3rd for the team, above Granada Hills who was 5th. The Marshall boys continue to be the team to beat in City D2 finishing 4th in the large school race.
In only her 2nd XC race Kennedy sophomore EMILY RODRIGUEZ was the top placing varsity City runner, boy or girl, placing 2nd in 20:15.0 in the varsity large school race. Teammate GEORGIA ILLINGWORTH placed 5th, running over a minute faster than last year. For Marshall, ANNABEL ROBERTSON led the girls with a 11th place finish in 21:45.2 and Granada senior SAMMY PACHECO placed 4th in the race placing 4 City runners in the top 5.
Marshall senior RYE JUNKER was the top City finisher in the boys varsity large school race placing 12th in 16:47.3. Birmingham junior DANIEL SALAZAR finished just under 17 minutes to close as City’s #2. Daniel finished 3rd in the West Valley League Cluster on Thursday and ran well at Woodbridge so, like his teammate Yesenia, he is having a big month. City’s #3 finisher FAUSTO NOBOA (Jr-Bravo Medical) shaved over a minute off his time from last year to finish 19th in 17:16.8.
The Sophomores, both boys and girls, ran impressively at Bell-Jeff. North Hollywood’s KENSUKE OHSHIMA posted the #4 City time at Bell-Jeff and the top sophomore time to win the JV Large school race in 17:18.1. FELIPE FRANSUAT PEREZ, running well below his potential due to a lost shoe mid-race, was the #2 sophomore City finisher. Eagle Rock’s DAVID KANNER was seconds behind Felipe finishing 29th in 17:45.5 followed closely by newcomer ANGEL ROMAN of Fairfax who ran his 1st high school XC race on Saturday. Marshall freshman ALEXANDER SWARTZ was the top City freshman placing 37th in 17:57.6.
In addition to Emily Rodriguez (see above), Verdugo Hills sophomore HANNAH GALLIDORO posted the #7 City time at Bell-Jeff and Kennedy’s GIADA DI SALVO took almost 7 minutes off her ‘24 time at Bell Jeff to place 22nd in the Varsity large school race. Granada Hill’s TONI CRUZ was the top City Freshman placing 32nd in the same race.
The future looks bright for City!
Kennedy sophomore EMILY RODRIGUEZ crosses the finish line in 20:15.0 (the timing was off) to place 2nd in the Varsity Large School race, the top City finisher at Bell-Jeff.
While most of her varsity team was up at Portland SAMMY PACHECO held the fort for Granada Hills placing 4th in a time of 20:29.0.
Cleveland junior KIWA MCKNELLY finishes in 10th place in 21:49.00 to lead the Cavalier’s varsity team. She also placed 10th in the West Valley Cluster #2 on Thursday.
Annabel Robertson, Nico Weinberg, Katherine Clowes, Niamh Dodd, Marlowe Henderson, Kayley Castillo, Isela Guizar, Izabel Nunez
MARSHALL VARSITY
Margot Cendreda, Summer Carluen, Katherine Lewis,
Alondra Gutierrez, Celia Rainman
EAGLE ROCK VARSITY
Marshall senior RYE JUNKER heads into the hills for the 2nd time at Bell-Jeff. Rye was the highest placing boy in the Varsity large school race placing 12th in 16:47.3
Senior JOSIA CASTRO led Kennedy with a 23rd place in 17:28.5 in the Varsity Large School race.
Sophomore DAVID KANNER continues his reign as Eagle Rock’s top runner placing 20th in 17:45.50; a performance that is over 3 minutes faster than his time at last year’s Bell-Jeff.
A diamond in the rough? In his first high school race ever, track or XC, Fairfax sophomore ANGEL ROMAN placed 31st in the Varsity Large School race with a commendable 17:46.4. Definitely a runner to watch.
Taft’s JULIAN SEGAL and Birmingham’s ALEXIS HEURTA sprint through the gauntlet to the finish on the new Pierce course at the West Valley Cluster on Thursday, September 25th, 2025.
West Valley League Cluster #2
GIRLS VARSITY
Three leagues converged on Pierce on Thursday to try their hand on the new 3-mile “flat” course that is in the running (pardon the pun) as the venue for City Finals. Despite early criticisms that this new course is boring, desolate, hot and flat - on balance it wasn’t bad. A wide 300-meter long team staging area sits directly adjacent to the start and finish which provides fantastic viewing and an athlete village vibe. The start and finish are long, wide stretches that should create plenty of excitement. As for the hills, nothing close to the traditional course for sure but every runner I spoke to commented on “The Hill”, a man-made hillock which is run 3 times during the race. Much of the course is behind a chain link fence that limits the inadvertent spectator incursions that are endemic on the hill course, but this does contribute to the sense of “desolation” on the back sections of the course.
Now to the running. In the 2nd West Valley Cluster of the 2025 season Taft dominated, winning all 6 team contests and five of the six individual races. To be fair, much of Granada Hills’ varsity teams were on their way to Nike Portland XC and other teams ran at less than 100% due to Bell-Jeff on Saturday. Nonetheless, as the sun set on Pierce there was a definite sense of a changing of the guard in the West Valley.
NEW COURSE RECORD
Taft seniors ETHAN BAROK and HUNTER BENNETT led from start to finish to help the Toreadors to an impressive team score of 19. Ethan set a course record of 16:02.2 while Hunter finished in 16:04.2.
Birmingham senior YESENIA VALDEZ leads the varsity race on the 2nd loop. Yesenia won her 2nd West Valley Cluster this year in 19:24.9; she set a course record on Sept 11th of 19:14.5.
We missed ANGEL SOLORIO’s record setting performance at Woodbridge so made a point to catch him in the Central Valley League Cluster. The Sun Valley senior set a D5 and school record of 15:42.7 on a slow Woodbridge course. Angel won Thursday’s race easily but well off his PR.
Birmingham junior DANIEL SALAZAR kept the varsity race honest pushing the leaders for half of the race and breaking up Taft’s top 4 to finish in 3rd place in 16:35.1.
UPDATED: Freshmen UNICA GUERRERO and MAILE BRADY placed 1st and 2nd in the JV race at the West Valley Cluster #2.
Sophomore MILES GOHIL was the top finisher in the Valley League race
TAFT VARSITY
Indie Hyman, Julian Segal, Angel Rodriguez, Hunter Bennet
Ethan Barok, Jonah Simkin, Mark Banuelos
Pierce Course - 2025
For only the 3rd time in 67 years the City Prelims and Finals will NOT be held on the vaunted Pierce “hill” course that’s hosted some of the City’s greatest runners, a virtually uninterrupted legacy of running unrivaled anywhere in California. Due to construction at Pierce, this year’s post-season competitions will be held on a flat 2-loop course on the north-west side of the Pierce campus (see diagram below). This major course change will have a notable impact on the City Champions, especially affecting individual titles more than team titles. More on this in our upcoming ‘Power Rankings’ issue coming out later this week.
Before 1959, LA City ran their championship races on a 2.0-mile course at “the trails” at UCLA. The record on that course was set by KIRBY TRUE of Marshall in 1958 (9:55.0). The record on the 2-mile Pierce course, the course where City Finals were run from 1959 through 1974, is held by Wilson’s JOSE AMAYA who ran 8:35.0 at City Finals in 1970. Considered by many to be the finest performance at Pierce.
Since the move to Pierce, there have only been 2 deviations to the current Pierce ‘Hill” course and 2 times when the varsity boys did not run the standard Pierce ”Hill” course. The first deviation occurred in 1975, a transition year for City runners in anticipation of the state-wide CIF implementation of a 3-mile/5k standard in 1976, where the course was advertised as 2.85 miles (the record on that course is University’s DAVID PASCAL in 13:54.8). In 1976 the City Section transitioned to the 3-mile course we know today (2.87 miles, actually). The records for the 3-mile Pierce “Hill” course are 14:31.3 by PABLO ROSALES (San Pedro ‘09) and 16:33.2 by MARISSA WILLIAMS (Palisades Charter ‘14).
Note - girls started running City Finals in 1984 so the 3-mile record is all there is.
For reasons unknown, Pierce was not the venue for the 1963 Prelims or Finals; instead both races were run at Peck Park in San Pedro. And in 2010 and 2012 rain caused the races to be moved off of the standard Pierce “Hill” course. In 2010 all races were held on a 5k Pierce rain course, which consisted of two laps around Shepard Stadium and featured relatively flat terrain. In 2012 the boys Varsity Finals race was run on the Pierce hill course (see video – it was a mess) but all the other races that day were moved to Birmingham.
Below is an image of the Pierce Course for the 2025 XC season. The course is 2 loops with each loop 1.5 miles (photo and graphics courtesy of Taft coach Mario Castillo of Taft).
City Division Assignments - 2025
For the 2025 season, there are 10 fewer City team registered for Cross-Country, all from divisions 4 and 5. Last year was a high-water mark by a long shot so hard to say that interest in cross-country is waning but the trend is concerning. Likely though that some notable teams such as Academia Avance and Westchester will ultimately run so the final numbers may be better.
Here are the City XC teams that moved divisions in 2025:
The most surprising change is Monroe’s move from D2 to D1. It’s only the 3rd time in the last 5 years that a team has moved up to D1, the other 2 being Robert F. Kennedy and Venice back in 2023. This move may be a year late for Monroe as last year’s boys varsity team likely would have been chomping on the bit to compete in D1; this year not so much.
A shame to see Mendez back in Division 4 this year. They moved up to D3 in ‘23 and in 2 years usurped the perennial city champs Verdugo Hills last year to win the individual and team boys City titles. This is a program that has shown consistent improvement, both boys and girls, and really should be competing in D2.
‘The Drive’
Is dedicated to LA City’s high school distance running community
The goal is to evangelize exceptional teams and athletes with high quality, curated content and editorial perspectives in an online periodic publication.
Each volume will include a ‘Special’ section, as well as Athletes of the Week/Month, ‘The Week in Pictures’ including a ‘Picture of the Week’, ‘The Numbers’, and ‘Heard on the Trail’.
ENJOY!