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ALL-CITY TEAMS
The ‘All-City’ teams are comprised of the top 7 LAC Section athletes across all divisions based on performances at the ‘21 City XC Championships.
CORRECTION: Francisco Rodriguez was inadvertently left off of the All-City 1st Team gallery in the initial publication. He has now been rightfully included as the 7th boy in the gallery below.
Click on the images below to see individual athletes in larger format.
Girls from 3 divisions achieved ‘All City’ honors showing the overall strength of girls City running programs. Brynn Bogue is the youngest athlete, boy or girl, to make the ‘All City’ team.
Division 1 athletes dominated the boys ‘All City’ team including Palisades Charter which earned 3 of the 7 spots. Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin) was the only non-D1 runner to make the 1st team.
2021 IN REVIEW
FINALLY . . . RACING RESUMES
RUNNING RESUMES . . . FINALLY
PIERCE OPENS! Cleveland's James Lopez put the hammer down at mile 2 to take the lead and then win the 1st race at Pierce in 18 months.
PIERCE OPENS! Juan Alcala, Austin Ledgerwood & James Lopez set the pace in the boys Varsity race.
JOCELYN PACHECO Jocelyn led the Highlander girls with an impressive win in her first race as a Junior.
West Valley Preview
August 19th, 2021
After 18 months the 1st official LAC Section XC meet was held at Pierce College. A ‘rust-buster’ for sure but Granada showed their wares winning both the girls and boys team competitions as well as the girls individual honors with Jocelyn Pacheco leading the race from start to finish. Cleveland’s James Lopez won the boys race and ECR’s Austin Ledgerwood and Max Liberman finished 2nd and 3rd getting the Royals within 1 point of a team victory.
CITY’S BEST COMPETE AT WOODBRIDGE
Woodbridge Invitational
September
18th, 2021
SOFIA IS BACK! In her 1st major race in over 18 months Sofia Abrego cruised an 18:05.8 at the Woodbridge invite.
MAX FIELDS A Star is Born! Sophomore Max Fields took City by storm with the top time and a 2nd-place finish at Woodbridge.
KYRA MORRIS The Palisade girls showed they were a team to watch with a 2nd place ranking at Wood- bridge among City teams.
E. PALACIOS Led a burgeoning Taft team at Woodbridge with a 16:41.5 in the Varsity Blue race.
FINALLY…RACING RESUMES
West Valley Preview
August 19th, 2021
After 18 months the 1st official LAS City meet was held at Pierce College. A ‘rust-buster’ for sure but Granada showed their wares winning both the girls and boys team competitions as well as the girls individual honors with Jocelyn Pacheco leading the race from start to finish. Cleveland’s James Lopez won the boys race and ECR’s Austin Ledgerwood and Max Liberman finished 2nd and 3rd getting the Royals within 1 point of a team victory.
CITY’S BEST COMPETE AT WOODBRIGE
Woodbridge Invitational
September 18th, 2021
An early-season bellwether, the Woodbridge Invitational is always a showcase of LA City’s top athletes. Max Fields (Palisades) and Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills) were top individual performers and the Granada girls and Palisades boys had the top City team times. Overall, though, the performances were slower revealing the toll COVID had taken.
MAX FIELDS (1576) - Palisades
SOFIA ABREGO - Granada Hills
In her 1st major race in over 18 months Sofia Abrego cruised to an 18:05.8 at the Woodbridge invite.
THE FIRST REAL TEST
Bell-Jeff Invitational
September 25th, 2021
A favorite LA City meet, 16 teams and 322 athletes competed on the hilly Griffith Park course. Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez scored big placing 1st & 2nd. Granada’s Isabel Castagnola had the top girls time.
Keely Miyamoto - Eagle Rock
ISABEL CASTAGNOLA - Granada Hills
CELESTE CORRIGAN (407) - Eagle Rock, AVA BAAK - Palisades
FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (480) AND DAVID MARTINEZ (478) - Franklin
NEW COURSE AND FAST TIMES
Santa Clarita Invitational
October 9th, 2021
This meet is typically a medal grab versus a venue for PR’s and that was the case this year on a new 2.85 mile course at Central Park. Granada’s top runners were at Clovis but their girls still posted the top City team time. Fiona Le led Granada in the Large School race while Dulce Gonzalez had the top girls City time of 19:16.4 in the Small School race. In the boys races Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) had the top City time and Ferbin Orellana (Helen Bernstein) had the top City time in the Small School race.
Austin Ledgerwood (537) - ECR, Joseph Vargas (377) - Cleveland, Emmanuel Palacios (2338) Taft
FIONA LE - Granada Hills
WILLIAM ROJAS - Monroe
KAYLA TJENALOOI (2322) - Taft, SOPHIA RICHARDSON (363) - Cleveland, and CAMILLA CASTANEDA (695) - Granada Hills
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE
Mt. Sac
October 22nd & 23rd, 2021
The top City performances at Mt. Sac often presage the City championships and ‘21 was no exception. On an unusually cool day in Walnut, Max Fields (15:40.2) and Austin Ledgerwood (15:45.2) had the top boys times while Isabel Castignola (18:46.2) continued to impress with the girls top time. The Palisades boys had 4 of the top 6 City times and the Granada girls top 5 scores ranked within the top 15 City time. Keely Miyamoto (Eagle Rock) posted the 2nd fastest girls City time on Friday afternoon.
Jude Sandridge (8287) - Reseda, Daniel Ruiz (8930) - San Pedro
AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD - El Camino Real
Finlay Robertson - Marshall
PABLO APBREGO - Granada Hills
ISABEL CASTAGNOLA - Granada Hills
Luciana Valencia - Hmnilton
MOLLY WITTENBERG - Palisades Charter
An early-season bellwether, the Woodbridge Invitational is a showcase for LA City’s top athletes. Max Fields (Palisades) and Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills) were top individual performers and the Granada girls and Palisades boys had the top City team times. Overall, though, the performances were slower revealing the toll COVID had taken.
THE FIRST REAL TEST
DYNAMIC DUO Franklin's Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez after their huge 1-2 finish in the Varsity Red Race at Bell-Jeff.
JAMES LOPEZ Gets off to a fast start in the Doug Speck race at Bell-Jeff. James posted the 2nd fastest City time, 15:57.5
I. CASTAGNOLA Isabel descends from the hills at Bell-Jeff to finish in 3rd place in 19:11.5.
JOSE SEVILLA Leads a chase pack up the first hill at the Bell-Jeff Invite.
BELL-JEFF INVITATIONAL
September
25th, 2021
A favorite of LA City teams, 16 schools and 322 athletes competed on the hilly Griffith Park course at the Bell-Jeff Invitational. Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez scored big placing 1st & 2nd and Francisco’s time of 15:46.7 was the fastest City time on the day. Granada’s Isabel Castagnola had the top girls time.
NEW COURSE AND FAST TIMES
SANTA CLARITA INVITE
October
9th, 2021
BIG FINISH! Austin Ledgerwood and William Rojas sprint to the finish and to stake a claim for top City honors at Santa Clarita.
CANOGA PARK Dulce Gonzalez posted the top City time at Santa Clarita to lead the Hunters to a 4th place finish in the Small School race.
WILLIAM ROJAS Descends from the hills on the first loop at Santa Clarita. He finished with the 2nd fastest City time in 15:57.3.
FIONA LE Led the Highlanders and all City girls at Santa Clarita with a 19.55.7 in the Large School race.
L. VALENICIA Luciana led Hamilton to a 13th place finish in the Large School race at Santa Clarita in a time of 20:24.3
Santa Clarita is typically a medal grab versus a venue for top performances and that was the case this year on a new 2.85 mile course at Central Park. Granada’s top runners were up at Clovis but their girls still posted the top City team time. Fiona Le led the Highlanders in the Large School race while Canoga Park’s Dulce Gonzalez had the top girls City time of 19:16.4 in the Small School race. In the boys races Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) posted the top City time and Ferbin Orellana (Helen Bernstein) the top City time in the Small School race.
THE HILLS ARE ALIVE…
ISABEL CASTAGNOLA Continued her City reign with a huge 2nd place finish in 18:46.2 that helped the Highlanders win the D1 Varsity Blue race.
SOPHOMORE SOARS! Max Fields posted one of the fastest times ever by a City Sophomore, 15:40.0, and the fastest City time on the day.
AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD In a break-out performance Austin posted the 2nd fastest City time at Mt. Sac, 15:48.0, to set the stage for a City Final show- down in November.
MOLLY WITTENBERG Ran the 3rd fastest City time of 19:39.1 to place 9th in the D1 Varsity Red race and help the Dolphins to 3rd place.
ALEC SCHMITT Charges to the finish with 400M to go. His time of 16:24.1 ranked 4th in the City and earned him 11th place in the D1 Yellow Varsity race.
FRESHMAN FEATS! Two of City's best freshman girls, Meztli Velazquez and Gabbi Cannesson climb 'Poop-Out' hill at Mt. Sac.
DANIEL RUIZ Climbs 'Poop-Out' Hill at the Mt. Sac Invite. Reseda's June Sandridge follows close behind.
PABLO AGREGO Descends 'Reservoir Hill' with about 500M to the finish. Pablo finished in 16:37.9 to earn a top-10 City ranking.
MT SAC INVITE
October
22nd & 23rd, 2021
The top City performances at Mt. Sac often presage the City championships and ‘21 was no exception. On an unusually cool day in Walnut, Max Fields (15:40.2) and Austin Ledgerwood (15:45.2) had the top boys times while Isabel Castagnola (18:46.2) continued to impress with the girls top time. The Palisades boys had 4 of the top 6 City performances and the Granada girls top 5 scorers ranked within the top 15 City time. Keely Miyamoto (Eagle Rock) posted the 2nd fastest girls City time on Friday afternoon.
LEAGUE FINALS
MISSION VALLEY/ NORTHERN LEAGUE FINALS
Pierce College
November
3rd, 2021
RACE OF THE SEASON Yanilette Montana (283), Gabrielle Cannesson (188), and Frieda Cedillo (138) in the Mission Valley/Northern league finals.
RACE TO THE FINISH Francisco Rodriguez, William Rojas and Jude Sandridge vie for the lead at the 2-mile mark.
DULCE GONZALEZ Ascends Chalk Hill in the lead at the 1-mile mark in the combined Varsity race at Pierce. She led the Hunters to a league title.
FINLAY ROBERTSON Placed 4th in the combined race and 3rd in the Northern league standings to lead the Barristers to 1st place in their league.
KEELY MIYAMOTO Won the Northern league finals race and helped Eagle Rock capture the team league title as well.
The East Valley, Mission Valley and Northern leagues ran combined races for their league finals bringing together some of the City’s finest athletes at Pierce for the first and last time this season. Canoga Park, Franklin, Marshall, Monroe & Reseda showed well in the boys races and Canoga Park, Eagle Rock, Marshall, and Reseda the girls. Jude Sandridge (Reseda) won the overall boys race and Frieda Cedillo (Kennedy) the girls. Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez placed 1-2 in the Northern League final while Finlay Robertson and Panos Papadeas led Marshall to the Northern league team title. In the girls race Keely Miymota and Celeste Corrigan placed 1st and 2nd to lead Eagle Rock to a narrow Northern league team victory over Marshall. Dulce Gonzalez placed 2nd in the Mission Valley league final to help Canoga Park win over Reseda and Carlos Argueta led the boys team to a league title as well. In the East Valley league finals, Monroe dominated both the girls and boys races led by William Rojas and Leyla Huerta who both won their respective league final races.
PALISADES ROLLS! Sophomore Max Fields set the season Pierce course standard at the Western league finals with a 15:43.8 clocking
MOLLIE WITTENBERG Took top honors in the girls Western league finals in a time of 19.29.10; the 2nd fastest time at Pierce so far this season.
JOSE SEVILLA Sprints towards the finish gauntlet to place 2nd in the Western league finals with Alec Schmitt close behind.
AVA BAAK Heads up Chalk Hill with 2 Venice runners in tow. Ava held off both runners to capture 2nd place in the Western League Finals.
WESTERN
LEAGUE FINALS
Pierce College
November
1st, 2021
Palisades boys and girls dominated both the team and individual races in the Western league finals though Venice was able to break-up a sweep. Max Fields set the Pierce course standard for the season winning in 15:43.8 and Mollie Wittenberg did the same in the girls race winning in 19:29.1. Venice’s James Jimenez placed 4th in a time that makes him a favorite for the division 2 City title and his teamates Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin and Elin Nowak placed 4th and 5th, also with division 2 top times on Pierce.
WEST
VALLEY
LEAGUE FINALS
Pierce College
Nov. 1st, 2021
GRANADA SWEEPS Isabel Catagnola and Jocelyn Pacheco led a Highlander team that scored a perfect 15-points in the West Valley league finals.
ECR TRIUMPHS! Austin Ledgerwood led a resurgent ECR team to win the individual West Valley league title.
MAX LIBERMAN Ran an impressive 3rd mile to move up 4 places and provide the margin of victory for ECR.
KYLIE TJENALOOI Kylie was the top placing non-GHC runner in the West Valley league finals. She led Taft to a 2nd place finish.
FINAL SURGE! James Lopez (1127), PabloAbrego (1214) and Isaac Torres charge to a photo- finish in the West Valley League Finals.
SOPHIA RICHARDSON Was Cleveland's top finisher in the West Valley league finals, placing 8th and leading the Cavaliers to a 3rd-place finish.
Granada’s girls went 1-5 to post a perfect score in the West Valley league finals. Three girls broke 20 minutes: Isabel Castagnola, Jocelyn Pacheco, and freshman Meztli Velazquez. In the boys race Austin Ledgerwood and Max Liberman led El Camino Real to a 7-point margin over 2nd place Granada Hills. Granada was lead by Juan Alcala and Reese Robles
SISTER ACT Sophia and Kelia Naranjo-Champion went 1-2 to help the Bulldogs win the Eastern league finals over rival Bell.
HALLE PEREZ En route to a 3rd- place finish in the Eastern league finals at Elysian Park.
EASTERN
LEAGUE FINALS
Elysian
Park
November
3rd, 2021
The Garfield girls had 6 athletes finish in the top 10 to take a convincing win at the Eastern League finals led by Sonia and Kelia Naranjo-Champion. The Garfield boys also won big with Carmelo Rodriguez placing 3rd to lead the Bulldogs. Antonio Sanchez of Southgate won the boys race.
POST SEASON IS HERE!
‘21 LAC SECTION PRELIMS
Pierce College
November
13th, 2021
ANGELICA MILAR Ran what looked to be an effortless Prelim to post the 2nd fastest time and claim top seed in the Division 2 City Finals.
JAMES JIMENEZ Let is be known that he had arrived with a powerful Prelim performances that won his heat and ranked as the 2nd fastest that day.
AMELIE MISSIG Racing at Pierce on mostly cross-training might be one of the hardest things to do but Amelie delivered, with one of the top times at Prelims.
WILLIAM BUJAKE Had the 2nd fastest Div 2 time at Prelims and helped New West post the top Div 5 team time.
ECR'S X FACTORS Isaac Torres, Max Liberman and Mateo Glass are the core to a Royals team that came within 5 seconds of the top Ranked Palisades team.
MOLLY WITTENBERG Posted the 5th fastest time at Prelims to lead the Dolphins to the 2nd fastest team time.
THEA AMON-FRANCESCHI Led a Marshall team that posted the 6th best team time at Prelims.
MICHELLE GUTIERREZ ECR's surprise freshman emerged in the post season as one of ECR's top runners.
WILLIAM ROJAS Led a dominant Monroe team that placed 1 - 5 in their division 2 heat. William's time ranked 2nd in Division 2 and Monroe posted the 5th best time.
JENNIFER PENA-MEJIA Placed 5th in her Prelim heat to lead San Fernando to 3rd place.
EFRAIN HERNANDEZ Continued to make big improvements and was Birmingham's top runner at Prelims.
The LAC Section Prelims arrived and with it the prospect of a ‘21 City Championship at Pierce. The Prelims are the first opportunity for most to see smaller schools compete but this year was different. While division 5 did participate, divisions 3 and 4 opted out due to low school participation, and so division 3 & 4 teams wishing to participate automatically qualified for the City Finals.
The Prelims saw the return of some of City’s top runners. Taft’s Amelie Missig ran in her first race at Prelims since an early-season injury kept her out of competition. Kennedy’s Vivian Meraz, a top-5 returner from 2019 who had not run a race since September, also reappeared. And James Lopez, an early-season City favorite injured after Bell-Jeff, continued his come-back at Prelims while admittedly not at 100%.
The biggest news of the day though was that City Champion Sofia Abrego would not be running Prelims. Still recovering from an ankle injury that she incurred during the abbreviated track season in Spring, Sofia decided to forego Prelims and focus on the City Championship.
City Championships
WOW!
What a City Finals!
A perfect morning for racing welcomed our LA City finalists and they delivered with some remarkable performances!
Here is a rundown of the LA City Championships.
Continue to check-in, we’ll be updating the site through-out the week!
Start of the Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College - Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS
PALISADES BOYS TURN IN A HISTORIC PERFOMANCE
You have to go back 24 years to witness a better City Championship performance than the Palisades Boys teams delivered at the City Finals on Saturday. Not since the great Belmont teams of 1997-1998 has an LA City team run so fast! MAX FIELDS led the Dolphins in their historic performance and clinched the individual City title in the process - the 1st time a Sophomore has won the Division 1 LA City title since 1997 when Belmont’s Humberto Vargas accomplished the same feat. Max’s time ranks as the 4th fastest performance EVER by a Sophomore at the City Finals.
PALISADES CHARTER - Division 1 Boys City Champs
LA CITY DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS Front (l-r): Max Fields (1485), Jose Sevilla (1489), Back (l-r): Joshua Kovaks (1486), Jeremy Santiago (1487), David Tobin (1490), Noah Wexler (1491), Alec Schmitt (1488)
Max Fields’ win at City was an inspired performance. It wasn’t until the last 200 meters that he surged ahead of Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) to take the lead for good and capture the City title. David Tobin, his teammate and the 2nd Palisades runner to cross the finish line, had the race of his life posting an incredible 15:37.7 to place 3rd and take almost a minute off his best time at Pierce. Jose Sevilla (15:40.8) and Alec Schmitt (15:51.2) ran well to both post times under 16 minutes. Palisades top 5 scoring runners all placed within the top 14 in the Division 1 championship race.
Max Fields leads the Division 1 Championship race on the 1st pass through ‘The Steps’ on his way to winning the individual City title at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021.
In September we predicted a Palisades City Title - both individually and for the team. We also thought they could deliver 5 runners under 16 minutes - a feat only accomplished by Belmont. They were close; 4 Palisades boys ran under 16 on Saturday and their 5th was only off by 10 seconds. On the whole not a bad day of running!
Well done and congratulations to the Division 1 Champions - Max Fields (1st - 16:24.1), David Novak (3rd-15:37.7), Jose Seville (4th-15:40.8), Alec Schmidt (7th-15:51.2), Noah Wexler (14th-16:10.2), Joshua Kovacs (28th-16:55.4) and Jeremy Santiago (17:32.7). And Coach Rob Hockley!
EL CAMINO REAL - Division 1 Boys 2nd Place
If not for the impressive Palisades performance, El Camino Real would have been the story of the day. Just 2 weeks ago, at the West Valley League Finals, this team was struggling to get 5 runners under 17 minutes and only had one runner showing any promise of a sub-16 performance.
Evan Sinnott (1201), Isaac Torres (1202), Max Liberman (1200), Justin Canas (1197), Austin Ledgerwood (1199), Mateo Glass (1198), Kevin Alvarez (1196)
What a difference 2 weeks makes! To a person this team delivered at City Finals. Austin Ledgerwood smashed his Pierce PR by 48 seconds to post an incredible 15:25.7 - breaking 15:30.0 on Pierce is where legends are made! Max Liberman took over 30 seconds off his Pierce PR to go under 16-minutes in 15:52.8. Mateo Glass, a sophomore, was just one second off of a sub-16 minute performance; his 16:01.0 is 24 seconds faster than his previous Pierce PR. Isaac Torres, who finally showed hints of what he is capable of in Prelims, took 16 seconds off of that time to post a 16:11.0 at Finals. And finally, their 5th boy, Evan Sinnott, a runner who came into this season as one of the top returning athletes from 2019 but has been sidelined with injuries, put together an inspired performance finishing in 16:48.0 - almost a minute off of his best time at Pierce this year. Amazing performances - congratulations to the team and to Coach Colson.
El Camino Real’s Austin Ledgerwood crosses the finish line in 2nd place in the Division 1 Championship race with a massive course PR of 15:25.7. He led an ECR team that peaked to perfection to take 2nd place.
BREAKING 16 MINUTES
Last week we predicted that 5 runners in Division 1 would break 16 minutes; an off year by any standard but understandable in light of COVID. Nine boys broke 16 minutes on Saturday in Division 1 with some brilliant and unexpected break-throughs. We assumed Max Fields, Austin Ledgerwood, Jose Seville, Alec Schmitt and Max Liberman would break 16 - that was our 5. The surprises were David Tobin who absolutely knocked it out of the park on Saturday with a 3rd place finish and 15:37.7 clocking. San Pedro’s Luis Sandoval (15:44.7) and Daniel Ruiz (15:47.6), who both posted huge course PR’s (Bruce Thomson would have been very proud of these boys!). Sophomore Joseph Vargas, Cleveland’s break-out star, took over 2 minutes off his Pierce course time back in September to break 16 minutes in the Finals - 15:590 - phenomenal!
San Pedro’s LUIS SANDOVAL (1576) and DANIEL RUIZ had big races at the City Finals, posting the 5th (15:44.7) and 6th (15:47.6) best times on the day. San Pedro had a 3rd runner that nearly broke 16-minutes as well, junior ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDOZA (16:03.6 - not pictured). JAMES LOPEZ (Cleveland-1124) was a certain pick for a sub-16 City Final performance as well as ‘All-City Team’ recognition but was hampered by a late-season injury.
ALL-CITY TEAM
Below we’ve compiled the top times from Saturday’s City Finals across all divisions to recognize the best-of-the-best. The top 14 athletes, boys and girls, that comprise our ALL-CITY TEAMS.
The Boys All-City Teams are directly below. The girls table is in the next section.
BOYS ALL-CITY TEAMS
All-City Notes - Boys
Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin) is the only non-Division 1 runner to make the All-City 1st team. He’s also the Division 3 Individual City Champion and the Northern league champion. Jude Sandridge, Reseda’s stand-out sophomore and a member of the elite sub-16, shaved 20 seconds off his Pierce Course PR to take 3rd in the Division 3 race. He is the Valley Mission league champ. James Jimenez, Division 2 champion and another elite sub-16er, continues the Venice tradition of delivering top-tier performances at the City Finals in his final race at Pierce. James posted the 2nd fastest time in Prelims to win the combined Division 1&2 Heat 1 race. And finally, Finlay Robertson, in his best performance this year and his final race at Pierce, ran a course PR of 16:00.8 to take 10th place in the division 1 race; less than a second off a sub-16 performance!
FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin) crosses the finish line to win the Division 3 City Championship at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021. His time of 15:48.1 smashed the previous Division 3 City record and helped the Panthers to a historic 2nd place team finish in the City title race.
DIVISION 2 CITY CHAMPS - MONROE: (l-r) Nicolas del Angel, Brendon Valadez (1423), Rigoberto Castellanos, William Rojas (1422), Daniel Rivera. Missing - Netzer Escobr, Jefler Alonzo
Four of LA City’s best individuals from four of the City’s best XC teams stretch for the finish at the City Championships. MATEO GLASS (ecr-1198), FINLAY ROBERTSON (Marshall), REESE ROBLES (Granada Hills) and ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDEZ (San Pedro) all had huge PR’s on the Pierce course and just missed breaking 16- minutes by seconds.
A final note on the Boys All-City team: In 2021 13 athletes broke 16 minutes; the same number of runners in 2019. So in a very difficult year LA City cross-country continues to excel and inspire!
GIRLS CHAMPSIONSHIPS
Start of Girls Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021
GRANADA HILLS - DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS: Coach Johnny Wiley, Isabel Castagnola, Sofia Abrego, Meztli Velazquez, Jocelyn Pacheco, Zaida Velazquez, Naima Salazar, Fiona Le, Coach Bernardo Abrego
GRANADA GIRLS SOAR AT CITY FINALS
Granada placed 5 girls in the top 12 in the Division 1 City Final race to continue a City Final winning streak that goes back to 2017. They didn’t quite match the time of their legendary 2018 team but still managed to get 5 girls under 19 minutes! Isabel Castagnola, 2021’s LA City Champion, once again set a course PR taking almost 20 seconds of her Prelim time. Jocelyn Pacheco finished her City season strong (and without glasses!) with a 2nd place finish in 19:13.0. Naima Salazar (19:23.6) had a brilliant race to take 4th place, dropping almost a minute off her Prelim time and returning to her ‘19 form. And Sofia Abrego returned for her final Pierce race to place 10th in 19:50.9 after a difficult season waylaid with injuries.
Isabel Castagnola holds a commanding lead at the half-way point in the Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021. Isabel won the race in a course PR of 18:18.9.
At Mile 1 in the girls Division 1 Championship race Naima Salazar (Granada Hills-1247) runs with Frieda Cedilla (Kennedy-1247) in 11th place. Naima ran a very strong 2nd half of the race to chase down 7 girls and finish in 4th place in 19:23.6. Frieda placed 8th in 19:44.0. Palisades’ Layla Adeli (17th-20:31.0) and Taft’s Amelie Missig (15th-20:16.9) are close behind.
DIVISION 2 GIRLS - EAGLE ROCK WINS BIG OVER BRAVO
EAGLE ROCK DIVISION 2 CITY CHAMPS (l-r) KIANA ADRADA (1163), Celeste Corrigan (1165), Elizabeth Corrigan (1166), Ixtlalli Chavez (1164), Marielle Williamson (1168), Keely Miyamoto (1167), Tory Yetter (1169)
Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin crosses the finish line to take the Division 2 individual title in 19:07.0. The Venice junior, in only her 3rd LA City race, posted the 3rd best time of the year at Pierce.
CELESTE CORRIGAN (Eagle Rock) takes 3rd place in the Division 2 Championship race with a PR of 19:17.7. Celeste had a phenomenal post-season, taking 2nd place in the Northern League final, then dropping her Pierce PR by over a minute at City Prelims to win her heat, and finally this performance at Finals.
DIVISION 3 GIRLS - CANOGA PARK WINS A THRILLER OVER RESEDA
Dulce Gonzlez has the Division 3 race well in hand at about .75 miles into the Championship race. She was 1 of 2 girls to break 19 minutes on Saturday and her 18:52.0 is the 2nd fastest time at Pierce this year.
CANOGA PARK - DIVISION 3 CITY CHAMPIONS: (L-R) ANGIE PINEDA, KARINA PEREZ (1095), DULCE GONZALEZ (1093), SARAH GODINEZ (1092), ASHLEY PINEDA (1097), ANGLEINA LOPEZ, ANGELINE VALLADARES (1098)
Reseda’s YANILETTE MONTANA emerges out of the fog at the top of ‘Horseshoe’ in 4th place. Yanilette finished impressively to move up two places and finish in 2nd place in the Division 3 Championship race with a PR of 19:41.2.
GIRLS ALL-CITY TEAMS
Sophomore Gabriela Nascimento put New West and Division 5 on the map with her 19:37.6 performance at City Finals. In only her 2nd high school race she won the Division 5 City title and ranks 13th in City overall. Gabriela is a ‘Rising Star’!
Kaylee Vargas (San Pedro) and Fiona Le (Granada Hills) both came through BIG at the end of this season. Kaylee took almost a minute off her Prelim time to break 20 minutes (19:58.7) and place 11th in the Division 1 Championship Race. She also qualified for State as an individual. Fiona scratched her way up from JV with a big performance at League finals and continued to improve through City Finals where she broke 20 minutes (19:59.1) - and placed 12th as Granada’s 5th scoring runner.
Dulce Gonzalez’s final appearance at Pierce was an appropriate finish to a superlative season. Dulce won the Division 3 race, smashing her course PR by over 40 seconds in a time of 18:52.0 and posting the 2nd fastest time at the City Championships. In her 1st race this year at the Western League finals, unknown Venice junior Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin placed 4th with an impressive 19:47.80 at Pierce. And in only 3 races, EVER, she’s claimed the Division 2 City title and risen to #3 overall in LA City with a time this past Saturday of 19:07.3. Lidia is someone to watch in 2022! Freshman Brynn Bogue (Bravo Medical) was our ‘Rising Star’ selection back in September and she definitely delivered in the championships with an impressive 2nd place finish in Division 2 and a sub-19 performance, 19:14.4. Celeste Corrigan (Eagle Rock) had been running well all year but took it to another level in post season. In the Northern league finals at Pierce she took 2nd in 20:42.0. The following week at Prelims she dropped her Pierce PR to 19:31.1 and then in the Finals to 19:17.7 to take 3rd in the Division 2 race and rank 6th overall in LA City. When you look at Ava Baak’s Woodbridge and Mt. Sac times the expectation is that she’ll run mid-19’s at City Finals. But expectations and reality are different things and Ava was able to deliver on those expectations. Her 19:20.0 at City Finals is a modest Pierce PR for her but a a very strong performance that ranks as the 7th best time at the Championships and led Palisades to a 2nd-place team finish.
Well done to all these runners. The best-of-the best!
Garfield’s talented sisters, sophomore Sophia & freshman Kelia Naranjo-Champion, placed 5th and 7th in the Division 1 Championship race. Their times of 19:32.7 and 19:38 were the 10th and 12th fastest on the day.
The Sophomore Class
In case your counting, that’s 3 sophomores that broke 16 minutes at City Finals - Max Fields-Palisades-15:22.5, Jude Sandridge-Reseda-15:56.0, and Joseph Vargas-Cleveland-15:59.0. And that doesn’t include Mateo Glass who missed the mark by only one second. That’s the 1st time in the history of LA City XC that 3 sophomores have broken 16 minutes on the Pierce course in the City Finals.
Max Fields’ 15:22.5 on Saturday ranks as the 4th best sophomore time ever at City Finals behind City greats Roman Gomez (1982-Belmont-14:53.0), Martin Morales (Wilson-1988-15:04.7), and Humberto Vargas (Belmont-1997-15:21.9).
Sophomore Joseph Vargas sprints down the gauntlet to finish in 15:59.0. The final sub-16 runner in the Division 1 race, Joseph was also the 3rd sophomore to break 16 minutes on Saturday; an LA City record. That’s sophomore Mateo Glass (ECR-1198) behind him; Mateo finished in 16:01.0.
Jude Sandridge posted the 1st sub-16 sophomore time on Saturday in the Division 3 race. He took 3rd place in 15:56.0.
FRANKLIN
Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez capped an incredible cross-country season for Franklin placing 1st and 2nd in the Division 3 Final race. They both clipped more than 4o seconds off of their Northern League final performances to reclaim the Division 3 City title from Reseda’s very talented Jude Sandridge. All 3 ran under 16 minutes in a 1st for Division 3. A really amazing race.
Franklin’s David Martinez (1205) and Francisco Rodriguez (1209) lead the boys Varsity race at the 1-Mile mark. Reseda’s Jude Sandridge is close behind.
The Finals were bitter-sweet for Franklin though. They were attempting to win the 1st City title in any sport for Franklin High. They lost out to Verdugo Hills by 5 point in a battle that was won in the last mile. Franklin had a faster team-time but Verdugo had stronger 3-5 runners and that was he difference
In addition to Francisco and David, Franklin Gonzalez will be headed to the State meet as an individual qualifier.
Stay tuned - we’ll be updating through-out the day!
THE FINAL ANALYSIS
City Performances Down 5.5% - The Impact of COVID
The ‘21 City Championships provided a final opportunity to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the ‘21 City XC season. Comparing performances from the ‘21 Championships to the ‘19 Championships we determined City performances were down 5.4-5.7% in ‘21 compared to ‘19. The results from this final analysis are a significant improvement from the results we published at the beginning of the season based on Woodbridge performances. In September we showed performances were down by 8.7% (boys) and 13.9% (girls) in ‘21 versus ‘19. So, City athletes did make up ground over the course of the ‘21 season but on average did not fully take back the performance loss due to COVID-19.
The tables below provide a summary of the tabulated data from ‘19 and ‘21 City Championships and Woodbridge.
CITY FINALS 2009 - 2021
The tables below are a compilation of results from the Division 1 Boys races at the City Finals from 2009 through 2021. Sorry, no girls or divisions 2-5. The categories in the left column are key metrics to evaluate yearly performances. Each category has rankings for each of the 12 years, 2009-2021, which ranks a specific year’s performance against other years in that category.
Three things stand-out!
FIRST, how exceptional the 2009 division 1 boys runners were. They ranked 1st or 2nd in every performance category in ALL 12 years.
SECOND, what a phenomenal performance the Palisades boys team delivered this season. In a year in which COVID-19 obviously factored into City performances, Palisades transcended City norms with a truly outlier performance.
THIRD, City Final performances were very consistent with early season results from Woodbridge. In both cases there were exceptional performances by specific individuals and teams but on overall the times were well off City averages.
LA CITY’S RISING STARS
The tables below list the TOP 10 State performances by City 9th and 10th graders.
BOYS
Palisade’s MAX FIELDS led the State rankings, both for the underclassmen and overall. Venice’s PAUL TRANQUILLA was the only freshman to make the list. JOSEPH VARGAS (Cleveland) started off fast in his Division 1 race, clearing the first mile in 5:03.3, and then settled in to a more conservative pace that earned him a City rank of 19 overall in 17:12.8 and 3rd in our ‘Rising Star’ ranking. Verdugo’s future looks to be promising with 2 runners on our ‘Rising Star’ ranking - sophomores DUSTIN HARZMAN and EVAN ELLERSIECK. Final note: Seven of the Top-10 ranked underclassmen run for Divisions 2-5.
MAX FIELDS (1258-Palisades) was the top City runner in the State meet finishing in 16:10.3.
GIRLS
GABRIELA NASCIMENTO (New West-1116) crests a hill prior to mile-1 in her Division 5 race. Gabriela posted the top City underclassman time at State, 19:50.3.
GABRIELA NASCIMENTO (New West) continued her post-season excellence with a sub-20 performance at State (19:50.3) that ranks her as the top City underclassmen. Canoga Park’s ANGELINA VALLADARES may have had the most impressive State performance, leading her team with the top time and one of only 5 City girls to break 20 minutes. Garfield’s sisters KELIA & SOPHIA NARANJO-CHAMPION have exchanged places all year and at State Kelia took the sibling honors with a time of 20:14.3. Both made our Top-10 ranking and look to be top Division 1 competitors in the coming years. MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ (Granada Hills) was the top City freshman for most of ‘21 and she continued the streak posting a time of 20:13.5 at State. Final note: CANOGA PARK has 3 girls on the ‘Rising Stars’ list; in addition to Angelina Valladares, ANGELINA LOPEZ and KARINA PEREZ also made the list - watch out for this team in the next 2 years!
CITY TOP-10 STATE PERFORMANCES
The tables below rank the Top-10 LA City BOYS and GIRLS performances, across all divisions. Scroll through the tables to see rankings by 1st, 2nd and 3rd-mile splits.
Thirty-three City schools and 125 City athletes competed in this year’s State meet. And while overall performances where a bit lackluster (it’ been 16 years since an LA section boy has not broken 16 minutes and 14 years since a girl hasn’t broken 19 minutes) there were some noteworthy City performances nonetheless.
ISABEL CASTAGNOLA (Granada Hills) placed 61st in the Division1 Championship race, posting the fastest City time of 19:06.0.
BRANDON ADREANI (New West) was the top Division 5 runner at State with a time of 17:26.9.
KEELY MIYAMOTO (Eagle Rock) competes in the Division 2 championship race. Keely was 1 of 5 City girls to break 20 minutes, finishing in 19:51.6.
AUSTIN LEDERWOOD (ECR-559) running at less than 100% still posted a respectable time (16:30.6) ranking 5th overall among City runners,
DAVID MARTINEZ (Franklin) posted the 2nd fastest City time at State with a 6:15.8 to take 53rd place in the Division 3 Championship race.
KIANA ANDRADA (Eagle Rock) smiles all the way to the finish :)
LUIS SANDOVAL & DANIEL RUIZ of San Pedro pose in front of their team pavilion after finishing their Division 1 race.
JAMES JIMENEZ (venice) posted the top Division 2 City time at State, 16:38.0.
MOLLY SANDRIDGE (Reseda) continued her post-season prowess at State with a time of 21:03.1, ranking her 20th in City across all divisions.
EAGLE ROCK lines up prior to their Division 2 Championship race. (l-r) Kiana Andrada (538), Keely Miyamoto (542), Elizabeth Corrigan (541), Celeste Corrigan (540), Tory Yetter (540), Marielle Williamson (543)
MAX FIELDS (Palisades Charter) started slow but quickly picked up the pace to post the top City time at State, 16:10.3.
ANGELINA VILLADARES (Canoga Park) is only a sophomore but ranked 4th among all City runners at State. Her time of 19:57.4 was an impressive finish to a season that showed continuous improvement.
CHRISTIAN ALVARADO ORTIZ comes over the final ridge with 1000m to go in his Division 5 race.
Bravo Medical standouts ANGELICA MILAR and BRYN BOGUE relaxing after their State Division 2 performances. Angelica finished in 20:24.3 (ranked 11th i City) and Bryn in 21:06.1.
The STERN boys team after their Division 5 championship race: (l-r) Juan Pablo Morales (61), Jonathan Machic (60), Victor Gonzalez (62), Angel Garcia (57), Christian Alvarado Ortiz (58), Alberto Hernandez (56)
VICTOR GONZALEZ (Stern)
One of City's greatest runners SOFIA ABREGO (Granada Hills) competes in the Division 1 State Championship race.
PACIFIC PALISADES girls team after their Division 1 race.
WILLIAM BUJAKE (New West) ranked 2nd in City's division 2 behind his teammate in 17:50.6.
CELESTE CORRIGAN (Eagle Rock) with about 700m to go in the Division 2 championship race.
FIONA LE (Granada Hills) finishes up an incredible post season in 20:53.9, ranking 18th in the City overall
RIGOBERTO CASTELLANOS (Monroe) charges down a hill just prior to the 1st mile in the Division 2 Championship race. Rigoberto finished the race n 16:54.8.
CRISTIAN ALVARADO ORTIZ (Stern) was the top runner for Stern, finishing his Division 5 race in a time of 19:06.7.
ISABEL BRENNINKMEIJER (New West-23:06.4) with 800m to go in her Division 5 Championship race. Isabel ranked as New West's 2nd runner in her 1st season running.
MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ (Granada Hills) continued her reign as the top City freshman girl with a 20:13.5 in the Division 1 Championships race.
LA CITY FINALS
CITY PRELIMS ‘21
The City Prelims tend to be a mixed bag that has the top teams holding back and the challengers running for PR’s. The 2021 City Prelims, for the most part, held true to form. Take a look at our analysis below for specifics on team and individual performances at the City Prelims and projections for the City Final.
In this year of COVID we’d be remis if we didn’t highlight a few of the impacts to City’s XC programs in post season as a result of the pandemic:
Belmont, the most successful cross-country program in the modern history of LA City distance running, by any measure, did not have 5 runners at their League Finals. As a result, they did not participate in the City Prelims and will not be in the Finals.
Elizabeth Learning Center girl’s team, which were the City division 5 runner-up team at the 2019 City Finals did not field a team in 2021.
North Hollywood, home of one of the top City runners in the last 30 years, Natalie Stein, did not have a qualifying team, boys or girls, at Prelims.
Manual Arts, Polytechnic, and Dorsey are just a few more of the 20 City schools that did not field a qualifying team for league finals or Prelims.
As part of this issue on the ‘Post Season’ we’re including team and individual rankings, by division, based on Prelim and League Final results. Read on for the details.
LA CITY RANKINGS
Preparing cross-country rankings is far from a perfect science and using the City Prelims as the primary data set doesn’t help the cause, mostly for the reasons mentioned above. In 2021 there was an additional wrinkle in that divisions 3-4 did not run Prelims at Pierce. For these divisions we used the teams’ performances from their League Finals. This introduced further complexities in that many of these teams ran their League Finals at Elysian Park or Peck Park, NOT Pierce. For the division 3 and 4 teams that ran their league finals at Elysian or Peck Park we’ve converted the individual and team times to Pierce-equivalents. Very scientific :)
So……here are our rankings and analysis. We’ll continue to update throughout the week to cover all of the divisions.
TEAM RANKINGS
The tables below rank all teams that participated in the LA City Prelims at Pierce College (divisions 1,2&5) and League Finals at Elysian Park, Peck Park and Pierce (divisions 3&4). Overall team rankings are based on each team’s top 5 runner’s times at the Prelims or League Finals.
Click on the tables below to see TEAM RANKINGS BY DIVISION
BOYS TEAM RANKINGS - ALL DIVISIONS
GIRLS - ALL DIVISIONS
Division 1 Girls Analysis
DIVISIONS
2-5 Girls Analysis
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS - BOYS TOP 25
Click on the tables below to see INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS BY DIVISION
INDIVIUDAL RANKINGS - GIRLS TOP 25
CITY PRELIMS WINNERS CIRCLE
BOYS Division 1 - Heat 2
MAX FIELDS - Palisades Charter - 15:50.1
GIRLS Division 1 - Heat 2
ISABEL CASTAGNOLA - Granada Hills - 18:37.9
BOYS Division 2 - Heat 1
JAMES JIMINEZ - Venice - 16:08.7
GIRLS Division 2 - Heat 1
ANGELICA MILAR - Bravo Medical - 19:11.9
BOYS Division 1 - Heat 1
AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD - El Camino Real - 16:16.0
GIRLS Division 1 - Heat 1
MOLLIE WINTTENBERG - Palisades Charter - 19:23.5
BOYS Division 2 - Heat 2
WILLIAM ROJAS - Monroe - 16:30.1
GIRLS Division 2 - Heat 2
CELEST CORRIGAN - Eagle Rock - 19:31.1
BOYS Division 5 - Heat 2
BRANDON ADREANI - New West - 17:13.1
BOYS Division 5 - Heat 1
ISIDRO VALDEZ - Sun Valley Magnet - 18:07.1
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
JOCELYN PACHECO - Granada Hills - 19:12.5 and FRIEDA CEDILLA - Kennedy - 19:47.5
MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ - Granada Hills - 19:16.3
BRYNN BOGUE - Bravo Medical - 19:42.9
KELIA & SOPHIA NARANJO-CHAMPION - Garfield - 19:30.7 & 20:17.0
JOSE SEVILLA - Palisades Charter - 16:14.7
KEELY MYAMOTO - Eagle Rock - 20:15.7
LUIS SANDOVAL - San Pedro - 16:20.8
AMELIE MISSIG - Taft - 20:45.7
ECR’s ISAAC TORRES - 16:26.6, MAX LIBERMAN - 16:26.0 and MATEO GLASS - 16:24.5
KAYLEE VARGAS - San Pedro - 20:54.9
ANDREW REYES-GOMEZ - Miguel Contreras - 16:33.4
THEA AMON-FRANCESCHI - Marshall - 21:05.0
RIGOBERTO CASTELLANOS - Monroe - 16:52.4
DANIEL RIVERA - Monroe - 17:05.9
WILLIAM BUJAKE - New West - 17:47.0
LEAGUE FINALS
Three venues across greater Los Angeles hosted the 2021 LA City League Finals - Elysian Park, Peck Park and Pierce College. In all, 955 boys and girls competed, representing 5 divisions, 12 leagues and 35 schools.
What makes LA City’s League Finals unique is that it is often the first and last time some of the top LA City teams run against each other. In some of the best racing all year, the East Valley, Northern, and Valley Mission leagues met in a combined League Final race that was awe inspiring. The girls varsity race was absolutely packed with talent that included Freida Cedillo (race winner, Valley Mission champ), Dulce Gonzalez, Keely Miyamoto (Northern League Champ), Yanilette Montano, Celeste Corrigan, Thea Amon-Franceschi, Gabrielle Cannesson, Leyla Huerta (East Valley Champ), and Angelina Valladares to name just a few.
Yanilette Montano (283) and Frieda Cedillo (138) chase the leaders up Chalk Hill just prior to the 1st mile. That’s Marshall’s fantastic freshman Gabrielle Cannesson (188) hanging tough just steps behind!
The boys race was equally exciting with Reseda stand-out Jude Sandridge, Franklin’s dynamic duo Francisco Gonzalez and David Martinez, and Monroe’s William Rojos all toeing the line against the venerable Marshall team that has Finlay Robertson, Panos Papadaes, and Anton Hense.
Jude Sandridge (Reseda), Francisco Rodriguez (109), and David Martinez (105) lead through the 1st pass up ‘The Switchbacks’ at Pierce College at the combined East Valley/Northern/Valley Mission League Finals race on Wed Nov 4th, 2021
The next day, Thur Nov 4th, West Valley’s finest met at Pierce College for the final day of LA City league finals. The Granada Hill’s girls came in as the prohibitive favorites and did not disappoint. Running without 2 of their top runners the Highlanders still placed all of their runners in front of the competition to tally a perfect team score of 15. Granada’s top 3 ISABEL CASTAGNOLA, JOCELYN PACHECO and MEZTLE VELAZQUEZ joined 8 other City girls who broke 20 minutes on the Pierce course in league finals this week.
The boys varsity West Valley league finals proved to be much more competitive with El Camino Real and Granada Hills competing for valley honors. Granada led the race at 1-mile but ECR turned the tides in mile-2 with a team-wide surge that culminated in AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD and MAX LIBERMAN moving into 1st and 2nd and their 5th runner ISAAC TORRES making a big move in the last mile.
Cleveland ran well enough to take 3rd despite JAMES LOPEZ still working to get back to top form. HARRISON NYUGEN looks to be back after missing most of October and JOSEPH VARGAS continues to impress.
Fourth place went to Taft who continues to improve. EMMANUEL PALACIOS went out hard with the lead pack and was able to hold on to take 12th place and the top place for the Toreadors.
Granada’s Juan Alcala (1215) and Pablo Abrego lead the varsity West Valley race on the 1st pass up Chalk Hill. Taft’s Emannuel Palacios (1260), Cleveland’s Joseph Vargas (1130), and several of the ECR team are close behind.
Ranking of TOP-15 BOYS LA City teams participating in League Finals. * Times from finals held at Elysian Park and Peck Park have been converted to Pierce Equivalents. CLICK ON THE TABLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL TOP-10 RANKINGS BY DIVISION.
Ranking of TOP-15 GIRLS LA City teams participating in League Finals. * Times from finals held at Elysian Park and Peck Park have been converted to Pierce Equivalents. CLICK ON THE TABLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL TOP-10 RANKINGS BY DIVISION.
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Runners from three of the top teams in the West Valley League sprint to the finish!
Isaac Torres (right) won this battle as part of the larger war for League Team Champion.
West Valley League Finals - Pierce College - Nov 4th, 2021 (l-r) James Lopez (Cleveland), Pablo Abrego (Granada Hills), Isaac Torres (El Camino Real)
BOYS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at PIERCE. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
GIRLS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at PIERCE. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
* Pierce Conversion 1:18.0 for boys. BOYS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at Elysian Park. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
* Pierce Conversion 2:01.0 for girls. GIRLS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at Elysian Park. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
BOYS Western League Champ MAX FIELDS (Palisades - 15:43.8)
GIRLS Western League Champ MOLLIE WITTENBERG (Palisades - 19:29.1)
Jose Sevilla (2nd-16:06.7) and Alec Schmitt (3rd-16:10.6)
BOYS West Valley League Champs - EL CAMINO REAL (l-r) Isaac Torres, Matteo, Glass, Kevin Alvarez, Max Liberman, Justin Canas, Austin Ledgerwood, Evan Sinnot
GIRLS West Valley League Champs - GRANADA HILLS (l-r) Naima Salazar, Jocelyn Pacheco, Isabel Castagnola, Meztli Velazquez, Reece Trice
BOYS West Valley League Champ: AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD (ECR 16:13.5)
GIRLS West Valley League Champ: ISABEL CASTAGNOLA (Granada Hills 19:07.8)
GIRLS Valley Mission League Champ FRIEDA CEDILLO (Kennedy - 19:15.3)
BOYS Valley Mission League Champ JUDE SANDRIDGE (Reseda - 16:16.1)
DULCE GONZALES - Canoga Park - 2nd place Valley Mission (19:34.6).
YANILETTE MONTANO - Reseda - 3rd place Valley Mission (20:17.0).
BOYS Northern League Champ FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin - 16:28.0)
GIRLS Northern League Champ KEELY MIYAMOTO (Eagle Rock - 19:37.5)
BOYS Northern League Team Champions MARSHALL (l-r) Finlay Robinson (213), Anton Hense (211), Panos Papadeos (212)
BOYS East Valley League Champ WILLIAM ROJAS (Monroe - 16:35.3)
BOYS East Valley League Team Champs MONROE (l-r) Brandon Valadez, Rigoberto Castellanos, Netzer Escobar, William Rojas, Jefler Alonzo, Daniel Rivera, Nicolas Del Angel
GIRLS East Valley League Champ LEYLA HUERTA (Monroe - 21:25.0)
GIRLS East Valley League Team Champs MONROE l(r) Front: Mirabel Parra, Suleymi Navarro, Leyla Huerta Back: Noelia Ortega, Yasmin Liera, Emili Alacantara, Isabella Miguel, Daniela Dorantes, Stephanie Jeronimo
Garfield's Varsity Team (l-r) Alyson Perez, Mia Reyes, Jacqueline Ramirez, Halle Perez, Sophia Naranjo-Champion, Kelia Naranjo-Champion
Halle Perez (Garfield-20:21.5) 4th place Eastern League Finals - Elysian Park, Thurs Nov 4th.
HANNAH CARLSON (Northridge-22:37.3) Valley City Champ
TESSO SOLLANO (Lakeview Terrace-22:03.0-) North Valley City Champ
ISIDRO VALDEZ (Sun Valley Magnate-18:18.7) Central Valley Champ
ALEXIS RAMIREZ (East Valley-18:44.9) Valley League Champ and ALAN HERNANDEZ (SOCES-18:53.8) runner-up Valley League finals
EAST VALLEY VARSITY - Valley League Champs (l-r) Cristian Cortez (1326), Alexis Ramirez (1330, Samuel Membreno (1329), Gabriel Herrera (1328), Ernesto Hernandez (1327)
COMMUNITY CHARTER VARSITY-North Valley League Champs (l-r) Josue Gonzalez (1315), Eric Cortez (1311), Daniel Martinez (1313), Emanuel Cobos (1308), Emanuel Moreno (1314), William Salcedo (1312), Yamil Ballcels (1310)
FULTON PREP VARSITY - Valley League Runner-Up (l-r) Ronald Portillo (1349), Joshua Bahingire (1345), Aaron Wegulo (1351) Joshua Driottez (1346), Anthony Sanchez (1350), Yael Marrufo (1347), Hector Miranda (1348)
AROUND THE LEAGUES
CITY UPDATES
Team captains, and Olympians, join Sofia Abrego for a photo op at the 2019 Footlocker Nationals in San Diego, Ca.
Jenny Simpson, Brenda Martinez, Sofia Abrego and Abbey Cooper
Congratulations to Sofia Abrego of Granada Hills who has verbally committed to Ivy League Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. In addition to having a rich tradition in running including Olympic qualifier Abbey Cooper the school is also one of the premier educational institutions in the US.
‘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!
