Local runners set for X-Country Finals
Mira Costa and Redondo runners have advanced to Saturday’s CIF Finals where they will attempt to qualify for the State championship the following week.
The Riverside City Cross Country Course hosts both the prelims and finals. Both boys and girls teams from Mira Costa and Redondo advanced to the finals after turning in fine performances that included two first-place finishes.
Mira Costa’s girls won its CIF Division 1 heat scoring 61 points. Redondo was third with 111 points among the field of 20 schools.
The Mustangs were led by freshman standout Dalia Frias who won her race with a time of 17 minutes, 32.4 seconds.
Also finishing strong for Mira Costa were Lucy Atkinson (10th, 18:27.3), Brooke Inouye (11th, 18:33.9), Cara Chittenden (14th, 18:36.8) and Carmen Mel (26th, 18:53.4).
Top Redondo runners included Molly Anne Hastings (13th, 18:35.9), Montgomery Allison (20th, 18:44.8), Isabella Landry (21st, 18:45.5) and Kasey Boyney (23rd, 18:49.0).
In boys competition, Redondo placed third in Division 1 with 149 points followed by Mira Costa (160).
Leading Redondo were Christoph Waligorski (14th, 15:24.6), Benjamin Tait (21st, 15:27.6) and Jackson Chambers (23rd, 15:32.5).
Mira Costa was led by Cy Chittenden, who turned in an impressive performance in winning the race with a time of 15:02.3. Other Mustangs included Thomas Velvin (35th, 15:41.1) and Cormac Carew (36th, 15:44.5).
In its Division 3 heat, Palos Verdes finished second behind Moorpark. Top runners on the boys squad were Nathan Lantz (12th, 16:07.0), Tate Nygren (13th 16:07.9) and Frankie Reid (20th, 16:17.6).
The girls were led by Isabella Martinez (11th, 19:26.4), Grace Bonvechio (18th, 19:47.6) and Jade Readyhoff (19th, 19:49.7).
On Saturday, teams race for a berth at the State Meet which will take place Nov. 24 at Woodward Park in Fresno. In order to qualify for the State Meet our teams need to place in the top 7. A maximum of five individual finishers who are not members of qualifying teams and who finish in the first twenty places in their respective divisions, will also advance to the State Championships.