Capitalizing on Lyndsey Mull’s 7th-place finish, Redondo’s girls cross country team turned in one of its best races of the season Saturday to finish third in the CIF State Championships held at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Coach Bob Leetch’s squad finished with a team time of 18 minutes, 28 seconds to tally 101 points. CIF Southern Section rival Saugus placed first with 67 points followed by San Diego-area La Costa Canyon with 88 points.
The Sea Hawk’s performance qualified the team to compete in the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, OR this Saturday.
In usual fashion, Redondo’s pack of runners provided a strong finish to keep its season alive. After Mull, a senior, pulled away with a time of 17:54, senior Rachel Bush placed 13th with a mark of 18:06 and juniors Cara Ulizio (18:13) and Kayla Ferron (18:15) finished 14th and 16th, respectively.
Also running for the Sea Hawks were junior Alexis Thibodeaux (85th, 19:51), senior Anique Villegas (20:23) and freshman Nicole Pederson (128th, 20:23).
Redondo qualified for the State Championships after placing third in CIF Southern Section Division 2 finals with 121 points behind Simi Valley and Saugus, which saw its four-year championship streak end by a score of 60-69.
Ferron (12th, 17:43) led the Sea Hawk team that included Bush (14th, 17:49), Ulizio (18th, 17:51), Mull (31st, 18:25), Villegas (106th, 20:17) and Siena Hsu (114th, 20:50).
Mira Costa and Redondo each sent one of its teams to the State Championships but for Mira Costa, it wasn’t the team most people expected.
Despite Kelli Sugimoto’s 4th-place finish in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 race at Mt. San Antonio, it wasn’t enough to propel Mira Costa’s girls team to the state meet. After placing second in the CIF championship the last four years, the Mustangs failed to qualify for the State Championships with a 9th-place finish.
Also running for Mira Costa were Jenna Tong (28th, 18:18), Sarah Locke-Henderson (65th, 19:12), Vivien Cherrette (71st, 19:20), Abby Hong (91st, 19:49) and Kellie Jeong (104th, 20:14).
Sugimoto, who earned at individual berth with her high finish in the CIF Southern Section finals, placed 17th in the state meet with a time of 18:15.
After winning her third Bay League individual champion Rebecca Mehra, led Palos Verdes to Division 3 titles in the CIF Southern Section and State Championships but the Sea King’s team time of 18:42 in Fresno failed to qualify the team for a berth at the Nike Cross Nationals. Mehra, who won captured her third consecutive CIF title with a time of 17:23, will represent Palos Verdes at the Nike meet with an individual berth.
Other South Bay teams competing in the state meet were El Segundo, which placed fourth in Division 4 and Chadwick with an 8th-place finish in Division 5.
In boys competition, Mira Costa advanced to the state competition for the first time since 2007 with a 5th-place team finish at the CIF Southern Section Division 2 championships. The Mustangs were led by Travis Taylor (29th, 15:43), Adam Perez (34th, 15:48), Zach Adler, (35th, 15:48), Sammy Nunan (43rd, 15:58), Nico Pappas (75th, 16:23) and Dillon Shambaugh (76th, 16:24).
The Mustangs had a respectively 13-place finish in the state meet with Perez (46th, 16:09), Taylor (63rd, 16:24), Nunan (87th, 16:32), Pappas (109th, 16:43), Adler, (113th, 16:47), Shambaugh (121st, 16:48) and Pablo Diaz (142nd, 17:05).
Redondo’s boys team finished 11th in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 finals behind the running of Evan Malone-White (37th, 15:51), Tyler Caracoza (42nd, 15:57), Garrett Klatte (74th, 16:22), Takeshiro Yamaya (94th, 16:40), Tomohiro Yamaya (109th, 17:01) and Alex Guzman (115th, 17:09).
Bay league champion Palos Verdes duplicated the feat of its girls team by taking home CIF championships in the Division 3 CIF Southern Section and State competitions.
The Sea Kings (100) held off St. John Bosco (112) and Piner (161) but their team time of 15:55 was only good for seventh place which failed to qualify the team for the Nike Cross Nationals.
Senior Jonah Diaz led Palos Verdes with an impressive second-place finish at 15:16
Bay League rival West Torrance fourth at the state meet after earning a berth in with a third-place finish in Division 3 at the CIF Southern Section finals.
Results are available at www.dyestatcal.com.
