Bay League champs run to CIF titles

Mira Costa senior Melia Chittenden sprints past Anaheim Canyon’s Sara Leonard to become the school’s second CIF State champion in cross country. Photo by Damian Court

The road to a CIF State cross country is long and grueling but for many local distance runners, the hard work and sweat paid off..

For Mira Costa senior Elizabeth Melia Chittenden, it was the pinnacle of a successful career.

Chittenden, who goes by the name Melia, became the latest in a long list of standout distance runners produced at Mira Costa capturing the Bay League championship before winning Division 2 titles at the CIF-Southern Section and State.championships.

Chittenden ran a personal-best 16:49.4 to win the CIF-SS Division 2 championship in a field of 169 runners leading the Mustangs to a 5th-place finish and a spot in the State meet.

The following week in Fresno, Chittenden used a final sprint to overtake two runners to claim the CIF State Division 2 title,

Trailing Northwood’s Erika Adler and Anaheim Canyon’s Sara Leonard, Chittenden dug deep as she saw the finish line approaching wondering if there was enough time and a distance of 400 meters to surpass her rivals.

She did, finishing the 5000-meter race with a time of 17 minutes, 25.6 seconds edging Adler (17:26.1) and Leonard (17:26.7). All three runners qualified for the NXN Nationals.

Chittenden joined Savannah Pio (2010) as the only two CIF State Champions in Mira Costa history, beating Pio’s time by one second for a new school record.

“Melia ran smart moving up throughout the race when she needed to,” said Mira Costa Coach Renee Williams-Smith. “She was around 8th at mile one and looking strong, moving her way up to 5th with a little more than 800 meters to go.”

With the top three runners so close, Williams-Smith could not tell who won the race from where she was standing.

“Melia really overtook them with a combination of strength and speed,” Williams-Smith added. “She is a very bright girl and is very easy to coach. We talked about what it would take to win and the strategy that she would need to employ. She executed it perfectly even though she said afterwards that she was tired and it was hard.  I am so proud of her and her commitment to put all the pieces together to make it happen this year.”  

Chittenden admits she has surprised herself but was excited to see her hard work pay off.

“This is my senior year so I gave it all I had,” Chittenden said. “What Coach Renee has taught me is that the key to winning any race is to not be overconfident and go out with an early lead.

“I never expected to win a CIF Individual Championship, let alone a State title, so doing so came as an absolute surprise. At the CIF-SS meet in Riverside, I didn’t fully process the fact that I had won until a minute or two after I had crossed the finish line. Once I realized I was the D2 CIF Champion, I couldn’t stop smiling.”

While her smile continued after her race in Fresno, she was disappointed in her team’s 11th-place finish. She was hoping for an improvement on the Mustang’s 9th-place finish in 2015.

“I’m so incredibly proud of my team for all the work they’ve put in this year to make it to the State meet,” Chittenden said. “We have a strong group of runners, but we knew if we wanted to make the podium, we’d all have to work harder and race faster than we ever have.”

Also running for Mira Costa were Olivia Hacohen (68th, 19:10.9), Brooke Inouye (95th, 19:36.1), Emily Jones (97th, 19:38.5), Sierra Andrade (101st, 19:39.9), Gaby Guerrero (119th, 19:54.6) and Jessica Gregson-Williams (155th, 20:34.8).

After capturing the CIF-SS Division 3 championship the previous week, Palos Verdes’ girls squad won its sixth State title and third since 2011.

The Sea Kings dominated the competition scoring 75 points, well ahead of Esperanza and Aptos who both tallied 156 points. Palos Verdes’ team earned an at-large at the NXN Nationals, the first team from the hill to accomplish the feat.

CIF-SS Division 3 individual champ Mazzy Genovese led Palos Verdes finishing 10th in 18:12.7. Also running for the Sea Kings were Grace Catena (15th, 18:22.6), Caitlin Stoner (18th, 18:28.6), Alexandra Regan (24th, 18:38.8), Savannah Scriven (25th, 18:39.1), Olivia Polischeck (49th, 19:02.3) and Camille Hines (66th, 19:16.6).

Redondo’s Ethan Comeaux claimed the boys Bay League title then proceeded to win the CIF-SS Division 1 championship with a time of 14 minutes, 43.2 seconds earning the senior a spot in the state meet where he turned in an impressive performance finishing 5th in Division 1 with a time of 15:14.3.

For the first time at a State Meet, Mira Costa’s boys had two top-ten finishers as the Mustangs placed 5th in Division 2, setting a new school record for the fastest time at the state Championships.

Caleb Llorin finished 2nd with a time of 15:15.7 and Xavier Court placed 8th at 15:30.7. Llorin, who set a new individual school record for the State Meet, was edged by Claremont’s Owen Bishop (15:14.6) for the title.

Helping Mira Costa’s cause were Cy Chittenden (74th, 16:17.3), Matthew Arruda (75th, 16:17.4), Scott Healy (101st, 16:29.3), Quinn Satow (125th, 16:43.2) and Michael Yaskowitz (160th, 17:05.7).

Redondo’s Ethan Comeaux turned in an impressive performance finishing 5th in Division 1 with a time of 15:14.3.

West Torrance’s boys team placed second in Division 3 with 125 points sandwich by champion Cathedral Catholic (82) and Campolindo (138). Carson Bix finished 8th for the Warriors with a time of 15:23.4.

Comments:

comments so far. Comments posted to EasyReaderNews.com may be reprinted in the Easy Reader print edition, which is published each Thursday.