Cross Country runners facing tough competition in Invitational meets
Redondo’s Isabella Landry ran a personal best 17 minutes, 55.2 seconds in the 3-mile race at the Cool Breeze Invitational. Photo
With their eyes set on high finishes in state competition, cross country runners from Mira Costa and Redondo are preparing for Bay League action by competing in tough meets featuring many of the top programs in Southern California and the state.
On Saturday, Redondo will compete in the Woodbridge Invitational at SilverLakes Sports Park. Varsity members will travel to Seaside, Oregon, to run in the Three Course Invitational on Sept. 22.
At last weekend’s Cool Breeze Invitational held at the Brookside Country Club at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Redondo’s girls (No. 9, Div. 1) finished 5th in the Sundown Showdown behind Claremont, Saugus, Serrano and Canyon of Anaheim.
Molly Ann Hastings led the Sea Hawks, placing 28th with a time of 17 minutes, 48.8 seconds. Other top runners for Redondo were Isabella Landry (33rd, 17:55.2), Domenica Villegas (52nd, 18:25.4), Kasey Bohney (57th, 18:27.6), Shelby Bender (60th, 18:29.5), Peyton Heiden (65th, 18:35.3) and Allison Montgomery (77th, 18:45.7).
Palos Verdes, led by Savannah Scriven who placed 7th at 17:03.9, finished just behind Redondo in 6th place. The Sea Kings’ boys and girls team are both are ranked No. 1 in Division 3.
Senior Olivia Hacohen has helped Mira Costa’s girls cross country team to a No. 3 ranking in the CIF-Southern Section Division 1 poll. Photo
Palos Verdes’ boys squad finished 3rd behind Claremont and Crescent Valley with William Teets (14:57.5) and Wade Nygren (14:59.8) finishing 24th and 25th, respectively.
Other Sea Kings included Brandon Farnsworth (44th, 1:51.8), Nicholas Holyfield (49th, 1:52.3) and Ryan Shikiya (53rd, 1:52.42).
At the Laguna Hills Invitational, Mira Costa had three boys and five girls place in the top 15 of their respective races.
Cy Chittenden placed second with a time of 15:53.3 followed by Cole Gamble (5th, 16:16.7) and JP Soares (14th, 16:55.7).
Leading a strong pack of Mira Costa girls (No. 3, Div. 1) was Brooke Inouye who finished second at 19:08. She was followed by teammates Lucy Atkinson (3rd, 20:22.7), Anna Graves (4th, 20:23.4), Allyson Doyle (5th, 20:40.9) and Sydney Pell (10th, 21:23.7).
Mira Costa will send select athletes to compete in the Iolani Invitational in Hawaii on Saturday before running in the Master’s University Invitational at Central Park in Santa Clarita on Saturday, Sept. 29.