Mira Costa and Redondo will each send one of its cross country teams to the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday. But for Mira Costa it won’t be the team most people expected.
Despite Kelli Sugimoto’s 4th-place finish in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 race at Mt. San Antonio College last Saturday, 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).
Mira Costa’s boys teams did advance, however, with a 5th-place team finish 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).
Redondo’s girls team placed third in Division 2 with 121 points behind Simi Valley and Saugus, who saw its four-year championship streak end by a score of 60-69.
Kayla Ferron (12th, 17:43) led the Sea Hawk team that included Rachel Bush (14th, 17:49), Cara Ulizio (18th, 17:51), Lyndsey Mull (31st, 18:25), Anique Villegas (106th, 20:17) and Siena Hsu (114th, 20:50).
Redondo’s boys team finished 11th in Division 2 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).
Palos Verdes took home CIF championships in the boys and girls Division 3 competition. Bay League individual champion Rebecca Mehra captured her third consecutive CIF title posting a time of 17:23. The Sea King’s boys team join Bay League rival West Torrance in advancing to the state meet. West finished third in Division 2.
El Segundo’s girls team advanced after finishing third in Division 4, and Chadwick qualified both its teams in Division 5 when its boys team finished second and its girls team placed fourth.
