Cross country teams from Redondo Union High School lived up to their title as the Sea Hawks proved they can run with the best in other states while competing in the 27th Annual Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota.
Redondo’s girls team finished second in the field of 44 teams competing in the 5K race. Kayla Ferron led the Sea Hawks with a time of 19 minutes, 31.5 seconds, finishing 19th out of 409 runners.
Coach Bob Leetch’s team is known for running in packs and Saturday was no different with Amber Gore (20th) senior Cara Ulizio (21st) both posting times of 19.35. Other scorers for Redondo were sophomores Paige Sullivan (57th, 20:23.4) and Nicole Pederson (72nd, 20:39.4).
Also running for the Sea Hawks were Erin South (99th, 21:08.4), Alexis Thibodeau (128th, 21:08.4), Thalia Silva (140th, 21:34.3), Anevey Heihle (173rd, 21:57.0) and junior Sabrina Zavala (303rd, 23:28.2).
Redondo is listed No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 2 rankings.
Redondo’s boys placed fourth among the 44 competing schools, missing the third spot by only two points. The Sea Hawks were led by Evan Malone-White who finished 23rd out of 429 runners with a time of 16:33.47.
Also running for the Sea Hawks were Dustin Herold (26th, 16:42.67), Garrett Klatte (38th, 16.51.5), Will Tait (74th, 17:21.27), Carlos Suarez (81st, 17:23.02), Tomohiro Yamaya (104th, 17:31.67), Waseem Radi (117th, 17:38.97), Takehiro Yamaya (134th, 17:47.97), Nicco Amorelli (244th, 18:35.67) and Nick Wells (256th, 18:39.97).
Redondo’s boys team is ranked No. 7 in CIF Division 2.
Redondo’s varsity squad and the next top seven runners will be competing Saturday in the Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Lady Mustangs run wild
Led by Abby Hong’s 17th-place finish at 18:44, Mira Costa’s girls cross country team placed 10th in the seeded Division 1 5K race at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday.
Lauren Hagedorn (39th, 19:13), Natasha Brunstein (70th, 19:50), Emma Lautanen (79th, 19:57) and Kellie Jeong (89th, 20:02) also scored for Mira Costa who is right on the heels of rival Redondo in the CIF Division 2 poll holding down the No. 5 spot.
Prior to the Stanford meet, Coach Rene Williams-Smith’s girls team captured the 11th South Cup held at Columbia Park in Torrance. The win marked the fifth consecutive South Bay Cup title for the Lady Mustangs whose 35 points outpaced South Torrance (63) and San Pedro (85).
South’s Kimberly Coscia set a new meet record on the 3-mile course with a time of 16:43. Hong (17:11) and teammate Sarah Locke-Henderson (17:16) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Also scoring for the Mustangs were Lauren Hagedorn (9th, 17:30), Natasha Brunstein (10th, 17:50) and Emma Lautenan (14th, 18:05).
Bay League schools Redondo, Palos Verdes and Peninsula opted not to compete in the meet.
Mira Costa will be competing in the Manhattan Beach 10K Saturday, tuning up for the second Bay League meet which will be held Thursday, Oct. 11 at Palos Verdes.
