LA City’s Best Get Ready for ‘24 XC
The Top City Runners From Each Division:
(l-r) Angelina Lopez-Sr Canoga Park, Amber Lopez-JR Verdugo Hills, Kellie Mena-Jr MaCES, Blake Sigworth-Jr Palisades Charter, Jorge Montenegro-Sr Monroe, Demitri Hernandez-Sr Mendez, Angeles Feliciano-Sr Santee, Abel Serrano-Sr East Valley, Valerie Palma-Jr Stern, Zoey Morris-So Palisades Charter; Not pictured Carlos Aguiar-Sr Washington Prep (D5)
2024 PRESEASON POWER RANKING
Sponsored by LACXC.com
The LA City Section Power Rankings have arrived and this is our biggest edition yet!
So as not to overwhelm, we are doling out the Power Ranking narratives incrementally. The girls will be published the week of July 8th, one division a day, Monday-Friday. Then the boys will be published the week of July 15th in the same manner.
For the girls rankings, we analyzed 2,379 XC performances from the ‘23 XC season that included 122 LA City section schools and 1,545 City athletes.
Here’s a summary of the performances that were included in this year’s rankings:
Note: “Returning” includes all 9th, 10th and 11th graders who participated in City XC in 2023.
Here are the average Pierce-equivalent times for all 1,545 LA City girl XC performances in Fall ‘23, by division and grade:
* ‘Pierce Time’ includes best performances by all City athletes that ran a timed race on the Pierce Course. If the athlete does not have a ‘23 Pierce performance than the best 3-mile ‘23 XC performance is used and the time converted to a pierce-course equivalent time.
The performances above were supplemented with results from the spring track season. And then we added the secret sauce - coach insights and updates - in order to provide the clearest assessment of the top City teams’ potential on November 23rd, 2024 - the City Championships.
Just a reminder, these power rankings are provided by LACXC.com and are not endorsed by CIF Los Angeles Section or its affiliates.
GIRLS - DIVISION 5
#1 EAST VALLEY
The Falcons dominated the team City Championships last fall in their first year in D5 but 2024 likely will not be as easy. East Valley has a potent top 3 led by senior SUSANA CRUZ who was a consistent #2 last year and showed big improvements over her freshman year. If she continues to make improvements this year she should finish in the top 3 at City Finals. Their #2 and #3, sophomore ASHLEY DONAYRE and junior LEILANI HERNANDEZ, will be important to East Valley’s title stake. They’re both within striking distance of 5 Sun Valley runners so it’s imperative that they show improvements this fall; they should be targeting low-22 minutes on Pierce. East Valley will need at least 1 additional runner that can break up Sun Valley’s top 5. Two sophomores will be called for duty on this front, LEAH SHIN and SARA SOTO. SHIN had some nice performances in the 1,600m this spring so she may be the runner who can get this done. Continued improvement is the theme for East Valley in ‘24 and that’s something this program does well.
Susana Cruz leads an East Valley team looking for a 2nd consecutive team title in November.
#2 SUN VALLEY MAGNET
It’s been six years since Sun Valley last won the D5 City team championship and 2024 is their best chance since to reclaim the title. Only 5 points separate Sun Valley from East Valley and the Pioneers have the tightest top 5 in City across all divisions; only 43 seconds separate their scoring runners. Junior GRISELDA ROCA is Sun Valley’s #1 but close behind are seniors ADRIANA CHEVEZ, BETSY AZUCAR and STEPAHNIE BARRERA and junior JENNIFER JARAMILLA. That’s the good news. The challenge is that East Valley’s top 3 finished in front of these 5 in ‘23. If just some of these Sun Valley girls can breakup East Valley’s top 3 than the title very well may theirs. The hope is that all 5 can progress together and take the D5 title en force.
Adriana Chevez and Stephanie Barrera will be an important part of Sun Valley’s quest for another CIty title.
Division 5 Best of the Rest . . .
Stern junior VALERIE PALMA will be running for her 2nd City XC title in ‘24 and should have little problem making this happen. Central City Value junior ELLIE PEREZ will likely have to settle for 2nd place again but she made huge improvements her sophomore year and if that continues this year she could contend for the City title. Lakeview Charter senior TESSA SOLANO is only seconds behind PEREZ and within striking distance. Rise Kohyang senior JACKIE ORNELAS-VENTURA and Animo Ralph Bunche sophomore GISELA ARIAS will both vie for top 5 finishes at the City Championships.
Standout Valerie Palma should continue her dominance in D5 this fall.
Junior Ellie Perez had an impressive sophomore year; continued improvement in ‘24 could make for a much more competitive race for the individual D5 title.
Senior Tessa Solano has shown steady improvement each year and will be targeting a sub-20 minute Pierce performance in November.
‘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!