Four cross country teams qualified for the CIF-SS Division Finals at Saturday’s Prelims held at Mt. San Antonio College.
The Santa Barbara High boys won their heat and posted the third-best time Division 2 to advance to next week’s finals at Mt. SAC.
In Division 3, Dos Pueblos qualified its boys and girls teams, while the San Marcos girls also booked a spot in the Division 3 finals.
The Santa Barbara boys scored 59 points to best Mira Costa (73), Royal (74) and Ayala (75) in their heat.
“We knew we were up against some good teams, but were confident to a man we could execute our race plans and move on to the finals,” Dons coach Olivia Perdices said. “The win was a bit of a surprise, but at the same time, when these boys are running well, they’re tough to beat.”
The top 2 seeds in the division easily won their heats to advance, with Newbury Park posting a team time of 1:16:41 and Ventura a 1:19:09. The Dons ran 1:19:45.
“That’s a full minute faster than we ran on this course three weeks ago,” Perdices said.
The Dons who qualified were Andreas Dybdahl (3rd place, 15:33), Blaise Snow (6th, 15:39), Cainan Birchim (11th, 15:57), Oliver Levine (15th, 16:05), Nico Tassos (29th, 16:29), Bode Andrulaitis (36th, 16:37), and Jack Garza (54th, 17:32).
“The guys did a great job staying relaxed early and working in small groups through the whole course,” Perdices said.
Next week’s finals are back at Mt. San Antonio College and will have 16 teams battling for seven spots to the State Championships.
“That’s the meet these boys have been keying on all year,” Perdices said. “Division 2 is fast and deep. We get to line up with the number one team in the nation (Newbury Park). No doubt there’s going to be some great racing out there and we’re looking forward to being in the thick of it.”
For the SBHS girls, Anne Knecht wrapped up a short but successful high school cross country career with a 16th place in 19:37.
“For a kid to come in mid season as a senior and run like that the first time out on this course … it just speaks to her competitiveness and mental toughness,” Perdices said. “I can’t wait for track season with her.”
SAN MARCOS
Kiala Haas placed 9th in 20:08.5 and Shaina King 11th (20:11.1) to lead the Royals to qualifying for the finals.
“These two girls set the tone for our team,” San Marcos coach Marilyn Hantgin said. “They ran their race and fought together through the last mile, passing girls along the way.
“Samara Shalhoub was 17th (20:50) and ran an amazing race for the Royals. She ran a tough second mile, passing over 30 people along the way. I am very impressed with Samara being a freshman and so new to cross country.”
Baylie Bingham (27th, 21:20) and Melina Vela (38th, 21:25) rounded out the top five Royals runners, finishing with personal best times.
“Colette Keller and Malina Murray ran together the entire race, pushing each other to personal best times as well,” said Hantgin.
The coach was impressed by how much the girls improved during the season.
“If you would have asked me at the beginning of the season if my girls team was going to make it to CIF finals, I would have said ‘very doubtful.’ These girls have surpassed all expectations and continue to stay dedicated to their training. I’m looking forward to next Saturday at finals to see these girls race with a very competitive field.”
DOS PUEBLOS
The Chargers qualified both teams for next week’s Division 3 finals. The boys team placed second in their heat, while the girls took third.
Sophomore Eamon Gordon led the boys with a second place finish in DP’s heat at 15:20.9. Senior Luciani Koroshec was fifth in 16:01.9, followed by senior Tyler Jamieson (8th, 16:18.2), senior Orlando Ye (13th, 16:36.9) and junior Dominic Corral (25th, 17:15.0.)
In DP’s heat for the girls, senior Phoebe Wolfe Lyons took third place in 19:11.4. Senior Ellie Gleason was the next DP runner in 14th place in 20:37.2. Also scoring were senior Sophie Saleh (19th, 20:49.5), sophomore Quinn Gleason (23, 21:04.0) and freshman Vienza Machuca (26, 21:12.5).
“Eamon lead our way in a close team battle up front, and ran the 10th fastest time of the day,” said boys coach David Jackson. “While he’s run faster times, Eamon’s looking more comfortable than I’ve ever seen him during a race. I’m excited to see him in action at Finals.”
Koroshec moved up from 11th to sixth and eventually fifth place to help the Chargers’ score. He pulled ahead of Jamieson on the back side of the Reservoir.
Jackson praised No. 6 finisher Elijah Richardson, who filled in when one of DP’s racers was unable to compete.
“He stepped up in a big way,” said Jackson. “ Eli raced exactly as we’d planned, moved up from a good 5:14 first mile (37th place), fought hard and beat out two more guys and finished as our sixth runner. “
The DP girls finished third in their heat, just seven points behind Yorba Linda, which is ranked fifth in the Division.
Wolfe Lyons ran a strong race and was unchallenged for third place,” said girls coach Micks Purnell.
Quinn Gleason moved up 18 places from the first mile to the finish, showing her confidence is back.
“The pleasant surprise was Vienza Machuca,” said Purnell. “She earned her place in the varsity 7 just a week ago with a great performance in the JV race at League Finals. She continues to show both poise and grit and lowered her time for the Mt.SAC course by a minute to be our fifth scorer today.”