Redondo distance-running star Amber Gore reached one of her goals Saturday when the senior captured the Division 2 title at the CIF Southern Section cross country finals held at Mt. SAC.
Gore completed the 3-mile course with a personal best 17 minutes, 3 seconds. Gore entered the race ranked 13th in the state by DyeStat and defeated the fourth and seventh ranked girls for the CIF title.
“The race went out pretty fast, but I tried to stay as calm and under control as possible,” Gore said. “I paced a little off the lead pack that consisted of Sam Ortega (Saugus), Claire Graves (Citrus Valley) and Amanda Gehrich (Tesoro). It was a little intimidating seeing all of the Southern Section’s top caliber girls in front of me, but I reminded myself to trust my coach’s race plan.
“After catching up to the leaders on the backside of the switchbacks and the crossover, I focused on staying with them for as long as possible, or until I felt that I could make a move. After mile 2, I took control of the race and tried to distance myself up the reservoir hill and used the downhill to my advantage as I kicked with all I had left.”
Graves placed second at 17:07 followed by Ortega (17:20) and Gehrich (17:23).
Gore’s performance led Redondo to a fifth-place finish with 158 points behind Saugus (81), Capistrano Valley (94), Serrano (113) and Simi Valley (113). The Sea Hawks earned a berth inn the 25th annual State Championship Meet to be held Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Helping Redondo advance were Anevay Hiehle (16th, 18:07), Taylor Beaudoin (37th, 18:28), Nicole Pederson (48th, 18:46), Trinity Leonard (74th, 19:20), Thalia Silva (81st, 19:24) and Nicole Beaudoin (95th, 19:45).
“It’s really exciting to have my girls qualify for State as well,” Gore said. “In addition to being huge supporters, each and every girl runs her hardest for the team, not just herself. Although we finished a little lower than we had hoped we would, I think we can fuel this displeasure and use it toward a higher state finish.”
Gore hopes winning the CIF finals will propel her to the podium in Fresno.
“This race gave me a boost of confidence that I believe is necessary to have going into the state meet,” Gore said. “I like the pressure of having a target” on my back because I believe I can turn that pressure into an amazing race.”
Mira Costa placed ninth in Division 2 but missed the cut for the State Meet. Natasha Brunstein (27th, 18:17) led the Mustangs followed by Emma Lautanen (42nd, 18:35), Avery Ward (52nd, 18:55), Elizabeth Chittenden (63rd, 19:07, Amanda Han (65th, 19:11), Leora Tofler (93rd, 19:42) and Kana Jeong (107th, 20:23).
A quad injury to Bay League champion Carlos Suarez and a fall by Ethan Comeaux prevented Redondo’s boys team from advancing to the State Meet after finishing ninth.
Suarez suffered the injury during the first mile and finished 21st with a time of 15:27. Comeaux placed 47th at 15:55 followed by fellow Sea Hawks Andrew Zavala (60th, 16:08), Harrison Fox (61st, 16:09), Sergio Rodriguez (72nd, 16:15), Jonathan Douglas (87th, 16:28) and Nicholas Elias (116th, 17:55).
Mira Costa finished 12th and was led by Ethan Williams (48th, 15:56). Also running for the Mustangs were Bram Osterhout (58th, 16:06), Caleb Llorin (59th, 16:09), Chance Weston (69th, 16:14), Brandon Shirazi (76th, 16:19), Matt O’Brien (82nd, 16:23) and Xavier Court (90th, 19:29).
