Andreas Dybdahl of Santa Barbara High won his heat race, and four local teams advanced to the CIF-SS Division 2 Finals at Friday’s prelims on the challenging 3-mile course at Mt. San Antonio College.
The Santa Barbara boys, San Marcos girls and the Dos Pueblos boys and girls teams finished among the top six in their respective Division 2 heats to earn a return trip to Mt. SAC for the finals next weekend.
Santa Barbara finished second in Heat 3 with 59 points, two points behind defending state champion Newbury Park. Dos Pueblos came in third (76 points) behind the second-place finish of Eamon Gordon.
Dybdahl, who on Wednesday signed to run cross country at UCLA, was the individual winner of the heat in 15 minutes, 10.3 seconds. It was the second fastest time in the division behind Ventura’s Anthony Fast Horse, who won the Heat 1 in 15:09.3.
Gordon, a junior, clocked 15:25.6 and DP sophomore Cullen Gully was the third-best local boys finisher in 7th place in 15:37.3.
Junior Cainan Birchim was Santa Barbara’s No. 2 finisher, placing 9th in 15:47.4. Junior Blaise Snow came in 11th for the Dons in 15:59.9. Senior Bode Andrulaitis (18th, 16:20.3) and junior Matthias Everest (20th, 16:21.8) rounded out the scoring for Santa Barbara. Magne Henriques (32nd, 16:47.7) and William Covington (52nd, 17:11.5) completed the Dons’ lineup.
“We had the number 3 team time (1:19:40) and Andreas had the number 2 individual time on the day, looking really relaxed and controlled,” said Santa Barbara coach Olivia Perdices. “We talked this week about checking the box and moving on to the finals, feeling good about the course and our performance. I think we did that and put ourselves in a good place moving forward.”
Perdices said Snow provided a big boost for the Dons.
“It’s great to have Blaise back in the lineup. We also had a chance to get a couple of younger guys some CIF experience. Good day top to bottom and looking forward to next week.”
Senior Williams Mathews (16th, 16:41) was the No. 3 finisher for the Dos Pueblos boys, while sophomore Oliver Saleh (25th, 16:34.5) and junior Andy Brennan (26th, 16:34.5) rounded out the team’s scoring. Sophomore Linus Martin (36th, 16:52.5) and senior Finn Wright (43rd, 17:03.6) completed the DP team of seven runners.
“It’s an amazing feeling to see a friendly face at every corner of the course cheering you on,” Brennan said. “Especially when I could return the favor for our girls team.”
The DP girls were the final qualifier out of Heat 3 of the Division 2 competition, taking fifth place with 129 points. Murrieta Valley won the heat with 53 points.
Sophomore Vienza Machuca led the Charger girls with a ninth-place finish in 18:59.6. The other scoring runners were Sophie Saleh (18th, 19:45.5), junior Eloise Shea (33rd, 20:31.5), Sophomore Cate Bishop (38th, 20:43.5) and sophomore Maddy Myers (43rd, 20:53.8). Torrey Beckstrand (61st, 22:00.5) and freshman Selah Blackwell (67th, 22:16.6) were the sixth and seventh runners for DP.
“The Chargers worked well as a team with many packs,” Dos Pueblos coach David Jackson said. “In both our races, they got off the line quickly and settled in together.
“Within the first mile, our teams put themselves in striking distance of securing their qualification to the Championship next Saturday.”
San Marcos qualified as the No. 6 team out of Heat 1 with 169 points. Powerhouse Ventura scored 27 points to finish first. Star junior Sadie Engelhardt was the individual winner in 16:52.4
“I’m so impressed with our team this season,” San Marcos coach Marilyn Hantgin said. “They push each other in practice, which helps all of them feel they are ready to run in a varsity meet.
The Royals were led by senior Kiala Haas who came in 8th place with a time of 18:51.2. Sophomore Samara Shalhoub (28th, 19:56.5), sophomore Layla Llewellyn (38th, 20:51.6), senior Ellie Monson (49th, 21:09) and freshman Gabrielle Jaramilla (60th, 21:45.8) completed the scoring for San Marcos. Freshman Autumn Richardson (64th, 21:54.5) and Colette Keller (74th, 22:34.4) rounded out the team.
“Our mindset today was to go out and see what we can do,” Hantgin said. “Four of our girls have never run this course before, so today was a learning day for them. I think next week they will feel more confident in knowing the course.”
