Mira Costa’s Abby Hong won her second individual crown in a decisive manner and Redondo Union’s boys team overtook Palos Verdes to win the team title in the second Bay League cross country meet held at Redondo Union High School.
The Sea Hawk’s boys squad placed five runners in the top ten, scoring 29 points to Palos Verdes’ 39. Mira Costa placed third with 61 points followed by Peninsula (109) and West Torrance (140).
Palos Verdes’ Casey Celestin won his second league title completing the 5K course in 15 minutes, 2 seconds, but it was the pack of Redondo runners who thrilled the home crowd.
Carlos Suarez (15:10) and William Tait (15:13) placed second and third, respectively, Dustin Herold (15:17) finished fifth, Nicolas Wells (15:45) placed ninth and Takehiro Yamaya (15:42) finished in the tenth spot.
Also running for Redondo were Tomohiro Yamaya (12th, 15:53) and Waseem Radi (16th, 16:07).
Mira Costa placed two runners in the top ten with Niko Pappas (15:14) placing fourth and JC Ohmstede (15:33) finishing eighth.
Rounding out the Mustang team were Chance Weston (13th, 15:55), Brandon Shirazi (17th, 16:08), Ethan Williams (19th, 16:14), matt O’Brien (22nd, 16:21) and Bram Osterhout (27th, 16:36).
Redondo is ranked No. 3 and Mira Costa is 12th in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 poll. Palos Verdes is No.2 in Division 3.
After not enjoying a league win since 1990, Palos Verdes’ girls team placed five runners in the top ten to win its second Bay League meet of the season, edging Mira Costa 36-38.
Redondo finished third with 49 points, well ahead of West (116) and Peninsula (119).
Hong’s time of 17:11 bested Redondo’s Amber Gore (17:34) and Palos Verdes’ Cassidy Webber (17:35). Mira Costa’s Emma Lautanen finished fourth at 17:41 and Natasha Brunstein placed seventh with a mark of 18:09.
Other Mustang runners included Kara Jeong (12th, 18:25), Alexis Johnson (14th, 18:41), Leora Tofler (20th, 19:15) and Kellie Jeong (21st, 19:16).
Redondo received strong performances from sophomores Nicole Beaudoin (5th, 17:49) and twin sister Taylor (11th, 18:24) who made their debuts after transferring from South Torrance.
Also running for Redondo were Jessica Washington (15th, 18:47), Anevay Hiehle (16th, 18:53), Trinity Leonard (17th, 19:01) and Breya Winn (25th, 19:36).
Mira Costa’s girls are ranked No. 3 and Redondo is No. 6 in Division 2 while Palos Verdes remains in the top spot in Division 3.
Bay League teams will get a better idea of how they will fare in the CIF championships when all five schools compete in the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational on Saturday.
The Bay League finals will be held Thursday, Nov. 7 at 1:30 p.m. on the challenging Palos Verdes Course. Mt. SAC hosts the CIF Prelims on Saturday, Nov. 16 and the finals on Saturday, Nov. 23. The State Championships are slated for Saturday, Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
