Local runners put in strong effort at the CIF-SS Finals

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY

Runners compete in the CIF-SS cross country finals on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. St. John Bosco’s boys finished eighth in Division 3. Photo by Howard Freshman, Contributing Photographer

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By John W. Davis

jdavis@scng.com

Several local boys and girls cross country teams, including Wilson and Long Beach Poly, competed Saturday in the CIF Southern Section Championships held on the 3-mile course at Mt. SAC.

On the girls side, Wilson and Long Beach Poly raced in Division 1 and La Mirada in Division 3.

On the boys side, Millikan and Downey raced in Division 1 and St. John Bosco in Division 3.

Here is a look at how the local teams and athletes fared Saturday:

GIRLS DIVISION 1

Wilson junior Nadia Meijia led Press-Telegram area runners with an 18th-place finish in 18 minutes and 13 seconds. Mejia led the Bruins to a ninth-place finish with 239 points.

The top seven teams qualified for the CIF State Championships next Saturday, Nov. 30, in Fresno.

Great Oak finished seventh with 204 points to claim the final team spot from Division 1.

Wilson was sixth overall after Mile 1 but could not sustain that top-7 pace over the final two miles.

Long Beach Poly junior Avery Peck finished 21st overall in 18:20. Peck led the Jackrabbits to a 13th-place finish with 291 points.

Trabuco Hills won the Division 1 title with 36 points.

GIRLS DIVISION 3

La Mirada sophomore Lauren Gutierrez finished 43th overall in 19:39. Gutierrez led the Matadores to a 16th-place finish.

Canyon finished seventh with 212 points to claim the final team spot from Division 3.

South Pasadena won the Division 3 team title with 43 points.

BOYS DIVISION 1

Millikan senior Jack Brown finished 50th overall in 16:02 and led the Rams to an 11th-place finish with 287 points.

Downey finished 13th overall with 334 points. The Vikings were led by junior Adrien Guerrero, who finished 57th overall in 16:06.

Redondo finished seventh in 159 points to claim the final team qualification spot from Division 1.

Beckman won the boys Division 1 title with 83 points.

BOYS DIVISION 3

St. John Bosco was second in the team standings after Mile 1 but faltered over the next two miles and narrowly missed out on qualifying for the CIF State Championships.

Bosco sophomore Justin Arredondo finished 34th overall in 16:09 and led the Braves to an eighth-place finish with 219 points.

The Braves missed out of on advancing to the state finals by finishing out of the top seven. The Braves were less than 20 points behind the seventh-place finisher.

Dana Hills, led by senior Evan Noonan’s first-place individual finish in 14:42, earned seventh with 202 points to claim the final team qualification spot from Division 3.

Oak Park won the boys Division 3 title with 107 points.