Savannah Pio captured her second Bay League meet with a time of 17 minutes, 18 seconds just ahead of teammate Aryn Foland (17:29) but the 1-2 finish wasn’t enough for Mira Costa to overtake the girls team from Redondo which held the third through seventh spots to win the team title by a score of 25-37.
With the exception of Foland, the race duplicated the first Bay League meet, with Redondo’ pack holding its own behind Mira Costa’s front runner. Redondo’s Rachel Bush placed third with a time of 17:38 followed by Sea Hawks Laura O’Neill (4th, 17:44), Cara Ulizio (5th, 17:48), Kelly Ryan (6th, 17:50) and Lyndsey Mull (7th, 17:53).
Kayla Ferron (14th, 18:39) and Anique Villegas (15th, 18:39) were other finishers for Redondo.
Other Mira Costa runners included Kelli Sugimoto (8th, 18:01), Vivien Cherrette (10th, 18:11), Jenna Tong (16th, 18:41), Sara Miller (22nd, 19:24) and Lauren Inouye (29th, 20:10).
Mira Costa coach Renee Williams-Smith remains optimistic about her team’s chances of overtaking Redondo, ranked No. 2 in CIF Division 2, in the Bay League finals to be held Thursday, Nov. 4 at Palos Verdes. Her team closed the gap by seven points in the second Bay League meet and is ranked fifth the CIF Division 2 poll.
“We’re moving up,” Williams-Smith said. “Our team hasn’t raced as much as Redondo’s but we’re improving. It’s said that you’re only as good as your fifth runner and ours (Jenna Tong) is only in her first year of running and improves with every meet. Plus, we’ll have Shannon Hagedorn back who has been fighting an illness.”
Tong improved her time by 2:25 in the second Bay League meet on her home course at Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach.
Palos Verdes star runner Rebecca Mehra will undoubtedly have an impact on the outcome of the Bay League finals. The defending Bay League, CIF Southern Section Division 3 and State Division 3 champion has been nursing a stress fracture for most of the season but returned to finish first in the junior varsity race at Polliwog Park with a time of 18:27.
“Rebecca ran well and without a doubt will be a top scorer in the final meet,” Williams-Smith said. “She’ll set the pace and move everyone back which could be beneficial for us.”
In the boys competition, Palos Verdes (No. 5 in CIF Division 3) edged West ((No. 7 in Division 3) 47-48 to win its second straight Bay League meet behind winner Justin Unno who finished with a time of 15:11.
Redondo’s team placed third with 65 points and was led by Dezhan Bland who finished fourth with a time of 15:31. Tyler Caracoza (7th, 15:35), Patrick Borgerding (15th, 15:55), Evan Malone-White (19th, 16:07), Garrett Klatte (20th, 16:10), Nick Herold (30th, 16:32) and Alex Guzman (34th, 16:47) rounded out the Sea Hawk squad.
Mira Costa’s boy team finished fifth with 98 points and was led by Adam Perez who placed 10th at 15:42. Other Mustang finishers were Zachary Adler (14th, 15:52), Travis Taylor (17th, 16:00), Pablo Diaz (26th, 16:22), Sammy Nunan (31st, 16:34), Brett Douville (32nd, 16:44) and Ryan Ascencio (33rd, 16:46). ER
