Eagle’s Ready to Rock
LACXC.com returns to Marshall High this week for the Northern League Prelims on Friday, May 2nd!
The picture above - one of our favorites - is from the 2023 Northern League Prelims.
The ‘25 Track Season is Finishing Strong
The tables below compare City’s 2025 track distance performances to the best year in City track since 2006 for each event, per athletic.com. Based on results so far ‘25 is looking to rank as one of City’s best. 2013 was the highwater mark for the boys with San Pedro’s Steve Correa leading the rankings. For the girls Granada Hills’ record setting 2018 team led by Sofia Abrego set standards that will be difficult to beat. In past years approximately 60-75% of the top times occurred in May and June so we’ll re-publish these tables after City Finals for a final tally on how 2025 City track season ranks. The ‘Trend’ icon indicates LACXC.com’s prediction on how 2025 performances for each event will ultimately rank against the referenced ‘Best’ year.
RUNNERS SET . . . .
Updates for Month Ending April 30th
This is the final installment of “Runners Set . . .” for the ‘25 track season. Stay tuned for LACXC.com’s in-depth coverage of City’s post season in May including deep-dive statistical analysis.
April typically delivers in terms of top performances as athletes gear up for league and City final competitions and five invitationals provided the venues that continued that tradition: ASICS Irvine Distance Carnival on April 11th, Arcadia Invite on April 11-12th, Tiger Invite on April 12th, Mt. SAC on April 18-19th, and the South Bay Championships on April 18th.
BOYS
CHARLES SIMON has had an epic April. He’s now ranked in the City Top-5 in all 3 distance events with 3 superlative PR performances in April. At ASICS Irvine on April 12th in his first high school 800m race he posted the top time at the meet, winning in 1:57.55 (#5 City). A week later at the South Bay Championships he posted another PR in the 1,600m, 4:22.48 (#5 City), to place 5th in the fastest heat. The evening before, at the Mt. SAC Relays, he ran a PR of 9:24.23 (#2 City)! Rested and tapered Charles should be targeting low 9’s for the 3,200 in post- season. Very impressive stuff from a program that is on fire!
Some big performances at the South Bay Championships on April 18th where San Pedro’s CHRISTOPHER FRELIX and EVAN HADEISHI both set PRs in the 800m (1:54.66, 1:56.19). Frelix’s time was a 4-second PR and both performances rank them in the top 3 in City. At the Tiger Invite in Arcadia a week earlier Frelix also set a PR in the 1,600m crossing the line in 4:20.87. In the right race (not tactical) on May 22nd, San Pedro has the potential to accomplish what no City team ever has; have 3 runners (Jack Butterfield is the other) finish under 4:20 at City Finals. Side note: Evan and Jack are both ranked in the City top-10 in all the distance events. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget their record-setting DMR performance at the Mt. SAC Relays. Another program that is firing on all cylinders.
At the Tiger Invite on April 12th Eagle Rock senior OLIVER BARR ran a PR of 1:56.56 in the 800m, a 2-second improvement over his previous PR. Barr saves his best for May so look for him to be in the mix for the 800m City Championship. Also at Tiger, In Heat 2 of the 1,600m, ROLAND BALDERAS (Sr-Santee) placed 2nd in 4:26.10, #6 City. A week later at the Mt. SAC Relays Roland posted a 9:34.19 in the 3,200m, just off his 9:27.33 PR (#3 City).
Down in Irvine at the ASICS Distance Carnival on April 12th ALEJANDRO HERRERA (Sr-Bravo Medical) posted an otherworldly 1:57.57 in Heat 2 of the 800m, a 6-second PR that ranks him #6 in City. Later in the afternoon in the 1,600m at Irvine ASICS Taft junior ETHAN BAROK dropped a monster final lap of 1:01.27 to move from 9th to 4th in the final 300m in a PR of 4:22.23, #6 in City. Teammate HUNTER BENNET set a PR in the 3,200m of 9:41.82 later in the day, his best since City Finals last year. Look for continued improvements from the Taft boys in May. Ethan and Hunter, along with GABE PEREZ (400m) and DANIEL TOCHNER (800m), also broke a 35-year old school record in the 4K Distance Medley Relay at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 19th with a time of 10:38.61 (see updated City DMR top school performances below). A program in ascendancy for sure!
The Palisades team has had a rough go if it in 2025 but junior JACKSON TAYLOR is defying the odds with top-10 City times in the 800m and 1,600m. On April 11th at the Tiger Invite he posted a PR of 4:28.83 and a week later the South Bay Championships he ran 1:59.94 in the 800m.
GIRLS
ANGELES FELICIANO is back. After struggling with some injuries in the fall she’s on top of her game with 3 impressive PR’s in April. At the Tiger Invite on April 12th she placed 3rd in the fastest heat in 2:20.68, a school record and #3 in City. The same day in the 1,600m she placed 7th in the 1,600m in 5:11.96, (#2 City). And then, a week later at the Mt. SAC Relays, she posted a 22-second PR of 10:57.89, a school record and one of the best City 3,200 performances ever.
MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ set a near PR of 5:15.23 in the 1,600m at the Tiger Invite, her 3rd sub-5:20 performance this year, to place 9th in the top heat. She already has a #4 City-ranked 2:22.34 PR in the 800m from the Don Greene Invite. Like every post- season she’s participated in, track or XC, Meztli will be in the mix for a championship in May.
The Palisades girls will keep the 800m interesting this year. ANNABELLE REFNES finally broke through the 2:20 barrier in the 800m, first at Simi Valley and then again this week in a tri-meet where she ran a PR of 2:18.93, #2 in City. And teammate DAILA HARINCK was just ½ second off her PR in the same race, 2:24.62 (#8 City) and should be gunning for a time somewhere closer to 2:20 on May 22nd.
Birmingham junior YESENIA VALDEZ impressed this past fall with a 10th place finish in the D1 City Finals and she continues her ascent this spring with a PR of 11:38.02 at the Tiger Invite, which ranks #5 in City. There is a lot more there in Yesenia. Maybe not this year but imminently she'll be winning races.
ISABELLA SAKALOWSKY (So-Taft) and OLIVIA CORRIGAN (Fr-Eagle Rock) have both set PR’s in each of their 1,600m efforts this year; 5 for Isabella and 4 for Olivia. Isabella’s top time is 5:26.51 (#8 City) which she ran in a dual meet on April 21st and Olivia’s PR is 5:28.52 (#9 City) at the Tiger Invite. Both should be targeting sub 5:20 in May.
KIANA DIAMOND is in top form running a near-PR 2:23.83 (#8 City) in the 800m at a GHC-ECR dual meet and a PR of 5:31.70 (#12 City) in the 1,600m at Simi Valley. If previous seasons are an indication look for Kiana to shine in May with a sub-2:20 in the 800m on her radar.
Freshman WHITNEY DERBY, part of Venice’s youth movement that includes freshmans HARINA GIRMAY and BREANNA MORALES, scored a big 3,200m PR at Irvine ASICS of 11:41.23 (#7 City). Harina was close behind in 11:59.83. They both have impressive freshman 1,600m PR’s as well, 5:32.08 for Harina and 5:32.75 for Whitney. And all 3 have top ranked 800m times.
San Pedro Sets City DMR 4k Record
The San Pedro boys continue to impress with a City record in the 4,000m DMR at the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday, April 12th. Top-notch performances by all members but Butterfield’s 51.59 in the 400m leg stands out! This team has at least 5 seconds more in them if they all run closer to their PRs. Congratulations to CHRISTOPHR FRELIX, JACK BUTTERFIELD, ROBBIE RIVAS and EVAN HADIEISHI.
The table above is a compilation of results from the ‘Athletic.net Era’ which is limited to performances beginning in 2006 for most City teams. This ranking begged the question, “what are the best City 4k DMR performances all time”. For this query, our crack statisticians combed the regional newspapers that covered track and field during the ‘Metric Era’, from 1980 to present. Below are the top school performances under 11 minutes::
CITY’S ELITE RUN ARCADIA AND MT. SAC
CHARLES SIMON - Sr. Venice
Charles has a big decision to make as he approaches post season - focus on the 800m, or the 3,200m, or both. He’s posted City top-5 PR performances in both events the last 2 weeks with his 9:24.07 3,200m run at the Mt. Sac Relays earning him a #2 City ranking.
NASIR ANILOLOBO - Sr. Granada Hills
Nasir posted the #2 110m hurdle’s time in City, 14:89 at Maurice Greene. This image is from Arcadia where Nasir unfortunately DQ’d.
NATHAN SANTACRUZ - Sr. Venice
Nathan set the City 400m top mark in the final heat at Arcadia where he posted the 5th fasted time of the day of 47.74 His performance sets up an exciting showdown with Granada’s Justin Hart.
ANANYA BALARAMA - Jr. N. Hollywood
Ananya has put together an impressive string of performances this Spring and her 2:17.93 in the 800m at Arcadia is a nice addition. Not a PR, and for that reason Ananya will undoubtedly be disappointed, but a lot of positives to to take into post-seaason.
CHRISTINA GRAY - Jr. Carson
Christina had a busy day at Arcadia, starting with the anchor on Carson’s winning 4X100m performance in the seeded the race, a City top mark of 46.58 (image above). She placed 7th in the Invitational 100m and 4th in the 200m Seeded races.
ZACHARY TANG - Sr. Eagle Rock
Zachary runs in heat 3 of the Open 100m at the Arcadia Invitational. He’s currently ranked #4 in City with a PR of 10:69.
JUSTIN HART - Sr. Granada Hills
Justin placed 4th at Arcadia in the fastest 200m race in California this year. His time of 21.45 is just off his PR set at Maurice Greene - 21:35 - #2 in City. A week later At Mt. Sac he ran the top City time in the 400m in 47:58, #11 in the State.
ROBBIE RIVAS, JACK BUTTERFIELD - Sr’s San Pedro
Two Pirates that sometimes get lost among the talent at San Pedro, Robbie and Jack ran the 2nd and 3rd legs of their record setting DMR performance at Arcadia. Both of these runners are having exceptional senior years.
SAVANAH WILLIAMS - So. Granada Hills
Savanah closes out the final leg of heat 6 of the Open 4x100 at Arcadia. Granada Hills finished in 6th place with a time of 49.26.
TIMOTH WYATT - Jr. Granada Hills
Timothy leads off Granada Hills’ 4x100m relay team at the Arcadia Invitational. The team finished 2nd in the Open heat 4 race in a time of 42.25.
Hi-Racer Meet of Champions
Arroyo High School - El Monte
Saturday, March 22nd, 2025
EPIC PERFORMANCES
Venice senior PAUL TRANQUILLA dropped a devastating 56.74- second on the final lap in the Elite 3,200m to take the win. His time of 9:00.44 just missed the school record of 8:59.57 and is the 6th fastest City 3,200m time ever (see table below). Paul is now ranked #7 in State in the 800m and #6 in the 3,200m.
North Hollywood junior ANANYA BALARAMAN heads for the finish line in the Elite 1-Mile varsity race, placing 6th in 4:59.97. Ananya ran negative splits on laps 2-4 finishing the final 400m in 1:10.00. Her time for both the 1-mile and 1,600m (4:58.38 captured in the same race) set new school records. Only 8 City girls have ever broken 5 minutes since the inception of the 1,600m in 1980 (see chart below).
Top City Freshman*
ETHAN FUNK just added the 3,200m freshman Palisades Charter school record to his list of accomplishments in his first year of high school competition. For those new to City distance running, Palisades is an honor roll of City freshman greats so this is not a frivolous record (see table below). In the modern history of City distance running only 3 other freshmen have bettered Ethan’s time of 9:52.62, one of those being the greatest runner in City history Belmont’s Roman Gomez. With Arcadia and City Finals in the future who knows . . .
* And 5th fastest in City overall this year!
The table below lists the 8 City girl runners that have broken 5-minutes in the 1,600m since its inception in 1980:
And here are the top City boys performances in the 3,200m since its inception 1980:
Mid-Season Parallax
This is the tough part of every track season. That period of time after the early season PR’s and before the post-season glory when lackluster performances defy the effort and commitment of athletes and coaches. For those of you currently suffering this fate (you know who your are) be mindful of this . . . adaption is not linear, it occurs in quantum leaps over time across a variety of biological systems. That’s a complicated way of saying improvements happens in fits and starts, not in a smooth progression. The good news: my VERY unscientific observations over the last 20 years suggest that these mid-season lulls presage big performances in post season. So, stay true to the process, listen to your body, and let the PR’s rain down!
Irvine ASICS Invitational
Irvine High School - March 8th, 2025
Venice senior CARYS WILSON posted a 5:54.79 PR in the heat 2 of the 1,600m at Irvine ASICS.
DAVID GARCIA set a PR of 5:09.66 in heat 2 of the 1.600m.
Venice senior ELLA SENELICK rounds a turn on the 4th lap of heat 2 in the 1,600m at Irvine ASICS.
Venice senior ERIC SMITH won heat 6 of the 400m in 52.78; #3 in City.
DEMITRI HERNANDEZ (Sr-Mendez) rounds the penultimate turn in the varsity 1,600m on his was to a 4:45.86 14th place finish.
NATHAN SANTA CRUZ (Sr-Venice) had the top 400m time at Irvine ASICS, wining the final heat in 49:09; #1 in City and #18 in State.
The Mammen sisters, Lulu and Louisa, are running for D3 Southern Section Corona del Mar this season due to the Palisades fires. Eleanor ran a 5:52.80 in the F/S 1,600m and Lulu ran 5:34.62 in the varsity race.
Culver City Invitational
Culver City High School - March 1st, 2025
Palisades junior ANDREW RAZZO leads the pack into the 4th lap of the 1,600M. Andrew won the race in 4:35.89; #5 in the City rankings.
ISABELLA SAKALOWSY and KENNEDY BRANNON lineup for the 3,200m at Culver City. Both ran PR’s with Kennedy winning the race in 12:34.70 and Isabella coming in 2nd in 12:38.22.
ETHAN BAROK starts the final 400m leg of the Sprint Medley Relay on the way to posting a Taft school record of 1:42.78.
Palisades top freshman THEO MAYEDA placed 5th in the 1,600m in a PR of 4:43.28, #7 overall in LA City.
ANTRELL HARRIS leads off Birmingham in the 800m Sprint Medley Relay.
GABRIELLA GILYARD (Soph-Palisades) was the top City finisher in the 1,600m. She finished 4th overall in 5:38.68, currently #10 in City rankings.
TIFFANY ZHERDEV, MIKAELA TULLIUS, LEAH DANIELS and HUDSON SONG were part of the Taft 4000m Distance Relay Medley at Culver City that placed 3rd in 14:16.09.
KEIRA OWEN brings it on home in the varsity DMR at Culver City. The Hamilton team that also included GEMMA ALFARA, ISIS GONZALES and SAMANTHA UGOLNIK set a PR of 18:01.67.
Birmingham Freshman JUSTIN MAZARIEGO competes in the varsty 1,600m at the Culver City Invite, He finished 18th overall in 5:27.05.
Crescenta Valley Distance Invitational
La Canada High School February 22nd, 2025
BLAKE SIGWORTH takes the win in Heat 1 of the 3,200m in 9:28.06 to post the #2 time in California.
CHARLES SIMON competes in heat 1 of the 1,600m. Charles doubled in the 3,200m (9:44.84) and 1,600m (4:44.88).
ANGELINA LOPEZ posted a PR of 11:44.92 to place 5th in heat 1 of the 3,200m. Her time is #2 in LA City.
OLIVER BARR just missed breaking 2-minutes in the 800m posting 2:00.42, ranking him 4th in LA City. This image is from the heat 1 of the 1,600m, his 2nd race, where he placed 16th in 4:54.50.
OLIVIA CORRIGAN ran the 12th fastest 3,200m on Saturday to record the 2nd best all-time Eagle Rock time of 12:06.65. This picture is from her 2nd race in heat 2 of the 1,600m where she placed 5th in 5:46.23 (#5 LA City).
JORGE MONTENEGRO leads heat 1 of the 3,200m at the CV Distance Invite. Jorge placed 8th in the race and his time of 9:59.42 ranks 3rd in LA City.
Eagle Rock freshman FIONA WALTS placed 3rd in heat 2 of the 800m with the top City time of 2:41.05, the 11th fastest on the day.
ELLA SENELICK leads on lap 2 in heat 6 of the 1,600m. Ella finished the race in 2nd place in 6:17.07.
SUSANA MIER takes 1st place in heat 6 of the 1,600m with a time of 6:13.97
Eagle Rock’s 4 x 100 Relay Team Places 2nd
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
BENJAMIN HARO finishes the final leg of the 4 x 400m to help San Fernando to a 4th place finish.
‘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!