Winning her third Bay League cross country meet in convincing fashion, Mira Costa’s Abby Hong led the Mustangs to their second straight league title and seventh in eight years.
Hong finished the 3-mile course with a time of 18 minutes, 59 seconds, outdistancing teammate Emma Lautanen who posted a time of 19:28. Palos Verdes’ Cassidy Webber placed third at 19:42.
Coach Renee Williams-Smith’s Mira Costa squad totaled 37 points, besting Palos Verdes (40), Redondo Union (48), Peninsula (109) and West Torrance (118).
Also running for the Mustang’s championship team were Natasha Brunstein (5th, 19:54), Alexis Johnson (13th, 20:51), Leora Tofler (16th, 21:06), Kellie Jeong (21st, 21:30) and Amanda Han (25th, 21:51).
Redondo runners finished in places 6-9 with Amber Gore (19:57), Nicole Beaudoin (19:58), Taylor Beaudoin (20:04) and Anevay Hiehle (20:15).
Other Sea Hawks finishing were Nicole Pederson (18th, 21:21), Jessica Washington (20th, 21:28) and Trinity Leonard (28th, 22:03).
Mira Costa entered the meet ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 poll. Redondo was ranked No. 5 while Palos Verdes held the No. 1 spot in Division 3.
Hong was coming off an impressive performance at the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational where she placed third among 108 runners in the Girls Individual Sweepstakes race. Mira Costa was runner-up to Davis in the team standings while Redondo placed fifth led by Gore’s 11th-place finish.
Palos Verdes’ boys team captured its fifth consecutive Bay League title and sixth in seven years with 30 points, outdistancing Redondo (39), Peninsula (93), Mira Costa (96) and West (109).
The Sea Kings, ranked No. 3 in Division 3, had five runners place in the top ten, led by Casey Celestin who took first with a time of 15:58 becoming only the second runner to break the 16-minute mark on the grueling Palos Verdes course.
Redondo’s Carlos Suarez (16:27) and William Tait (16:32) finished second and third, respectively. Also running for the Sea Hawks, who are ranked No. 3 in Division 2, were Takehiro Yamaya (13th, 17:26), Nicolas Wells (15th, 17:28), Tomohiro Yamaya (17th, 17:35) and Sergio Rodriguez (23rd, 18:14).
Mira Costa is ranked No. 11 in Division 2 and was led by JC Ohmstede (9th, 17:06). Other Mustang runners included Ethan Williams (16th, 17:29), Bram Osterhout (21st, 17:49), Brandon Shirazi (22nd, 18:08), Alex Graves (28th, 18:42), Shawn Wong (31st, 18:52) and Chance Weston (19:01).
Mt. SAC will host the CIF prelims and finals on Saturdays, Nov. 16 and 23. The State Championships take place at Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday, Nov. 30.
For more information and results, visit cifss.org.
