First published in the Nov. 3 print issue of the Pasadena Outlook.
The hierarchy of Prep League cross-country seems to have shifted since the coronavirus pandemic as the league crowns were claimed by programs not named Flintridge Prep or Mayfield Senior, something that had not occurred in more than a decade.
The Burbank Providence High School varsity boys captured their second consecutive league title with 40 points and Palos Verdes Chadwick staved off Mayfield Senior and Flintridge Prep to win the varsity girls’ championship in the Prep League finals at Pierce College in Woodland Hills on Saturday.
The Cubs and Wolves each scored 65 points for runner-up, but the former won the tiebreaker with their sixth runner posting a better time.
Cecilia Kvochak paced Mayfield with a time of 20 minutes, 26.2 seconds, which was good for fourth place, and teammate Sissy Page placed 10th with a time of 21:48.5. Lauren Hoshek wasn’t far behind and finished in 21:57.1 for 12th place, Sophie Limongelli posted a time of 22:39.8 for 18th and Leah Whitfield’s time of 22:50.2 was good for 21st. As the tiebreaker, Lara Georgian crossed the finish line with a time of 23:08.6 for 25th place — the time was nearly 30 seconds better than Flintridge Prep’s sixth runner. Natalie Miera also ran for the Cubs and finished in 23:32.2 for 28th place.
The Wolves were led by Jenna Moutes, who crossed the finish line in 21:26.7 and placed eighth. Sara Bonk ran the three-mile race and posted a time of 21:51.5 for 11th place. Anya Rose finished in 22:01.4 for 14th and Julia Bonk was right behind her to take 15th with a time of 22:08.7, Lucy Helfenstein contributed a 17th-place finish (22:33.4), Nicol Riley was 30th (23:41.3) and Audrey Jung finished in 23:56.1 for 32nd.
The Flintridge Prep boys placed second in the boys’ standings with 49 points and were led by Carter Sakai, who was seventh place with a time of 17:17.4. Kevin Martinez was right behind his teammate for eighth (17:39.6) and Nicolas Stanton just made it to the top 10 with a time of 17:48.8. Evan Guyer finished in 17:54.7 for 11th place, Bryan Taniguchi was 13th (17:59:6), Leo McDonald placed 14th (18:01.4) and Ryan Ginn was the final Wolf to cross the finish line with a time of 18:25.7, which was good for 16th.
Adrian Lazzi led the Polytechnic boys by posting an impressive time of 17:03.4, placing him fourth overall, and teammate Ronen Peters finished in 17:09.6 for sixth place. Daniel Zheng contributed a 15th-place finish (18:26.2), Nathan Menelik was 17th (18:26.2), Brandon Shin finished 18th (18:35.6) and Nathaniel Karafillis-Spensley was the final Panther to cross the finish line with a time of 19:52.9, placing 23rd.
Stella Keatley paced the Poly girls and finished in 20:48.4 for seventh place, and Phoebe Salvati was 20th with a time of 22:49.3. Madeleine Kashkooli was 24th (23:05.9), Anastasia Volkoff finished 29th (23:40.5), Audrey Tomlin wasn’t far behind to take 31st place (23:44.9), Aria Wang placed 38th (25:26.6) and Sofia Flores-Castro contributed a 39th-place finish with a time of 25:47.5.
Westridge School also participated in the Prep League finals at Pierce College and was led by Ximena Alvarado, who finished in 22:09.6 for 16th place. Margaret Northrup also posted a solid finish for the Tigers with a time of 22:56.4, which was good for 23rd. Atalanta Carrig-Braun placed 26th (23:19.8), Kaitlyn Hong wasn’t far behind to take 27th place (23:29.5), Katherine Northrup was 34th (24:19.7), Emmabella Barragan Martinez was right behind her teammate to place 35th (24:22.4) and Lilia Rangel placed 36th with a time of 24:43.6.
Qualified teams and runners will move on to compete in the CIF Southern Section preliminaries on Friday, Nov. 11.
