Redondo’s Amber Gore set a Palos Verdes course record Thursday and teammate Carlos Suarez captured the boys race while winning their second Bay League cross country meet titles.
Gore’s time of 18 minutes, 34 seconds broke the previous record by two seconds and led the Sea Hawks to a second-place team finish.
“It was such an honor to set the course record after the amount of talented runners that have competed at that course over the years – even our own assistant coach, Kirsten Leetch,” Gore said. “Fortunately, the dry conditions did not hinder me too much. Even though it was more humid that I was expecting, I tried to push that to the back of my mind and focus on my racing.”
Palos Verdes swept the team titles outscoring Redondo in both races. The Lady Sea Kings scored 26 points, well ahead of Redondo (43) and Mira Costa (57).
Palos Verdes is ranked No. 1 and Pioneer League leader South is ranked No. 5 in CIF Southern Section Division 3. Redondo and Mira Costa are ranked No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, in Division 2. Chadwick’s girls team is ranked No. 7 in Division 7.
Camille Hines led Palos Verdes with a second-place finish at 19:03 and was followed by teammates Cassidy Webber (3rd, 19:19) and Jacqueline Smith (4th, 19:29).
Redondo was helped by Anevay Hiehle (7th, 19:59), Taylor Beaudoin (10th, 20:15), Trinity Leonard (11th, 12:24), Nicole Pederson (14th, 20:41), Thalia Silva (16th, 20:50) and Nicole Beaudoin (19th, 21:05).
Mira Costa had top-ten finishes by Emma Lautanen (5th, 19:38) and Natasha Brunstein (6th, 19:54). Also running for the Mustangs were Avery Ward (13th, 20:34), Elizabeth Chittenden (15th, 20:47), Sierra Andrade (18th, 20:59), Alexis Johnson (21st, 21:21) and Leora Tofler (23rd, 21:35).
Palos Verdes’ boys tallied 28 points to best Redondo’s 47 and Mira Costa’s 56. Palos Verdes is ranked No. 3 in CIF-Southern Section Division 3 while Redondo is ranked No. 9 in Division 2 just ahead of Pioneer League leader West who holds the tenth spot.
Suarez ran a 16:13 to outdistance Palos Verdes runners Robert Franklin (2nd, 16:20), Duncan Reid (3rd, 16:27), Bennett Gagnon (5th, 16:41) and Jake Cohen (6th, 16:50).
Redondo’s Ethan Comeaux finished fourth with a time of 16:36 and Sergio Rodriguez placed tenth at 17:11. Also running for the Sea Hawks were Andrew Zavala (14th, 17:24), Harrison Fox (18th, 17:31), Jonathon Douglas (21st, 17:49) and Nicholas Elias (28th, 21:26).
Mira Costa’s Brandon Shirazi led the Mustangs with a seventh-place finish at 16:58. Chance Weston also turned in a top-ten performance placing ninth at 17:11.
Other Mira Costa runners included Bram Osterhout (11th, 17:19), Caleb Llorin (13th, 17:22), Matt O’Brian (16th, 17:26), Ethan Williams (17th, 17:26) and Jacob Helfgott (20th, 17:49).
Prior to the Bay League finals, which Redondo will host on Nov. 6, top team will be competing in the 66th Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24-25.
Last year a record 25,000 participants competed in what has become the nation’s largest cross country invitational meet. The names “Valley Loop”, “Switchbacks”, “Poop Out Hill” and “Reservoir Hill” on the famed 3-mile course have become part of cross country legend.
“It’s always a goal of mine to PR at Mt. SAC,” Gore said. “Seeing as to how my team is in the Individual Sweeps, my goal is to race and see how I measure up with the best in the area.”
