CIF State-qualifying cross-country teams thankful for each other

The holidays are a welcomed time of good cheer.

For the high school cross-country teams that punched their ticket to Woodward Park in Fresno by qualifying for the CIF State championship meet, they are certainly filled with warm feelings.

It is Thanksgiving, and there may not be a more appropriate day to precede the state meet. Each team that has qualified has so much to be thankful for — health, good coaching, and of course, their teammates.

A group of five is required to put up a team score, and often times, it has taken more than that for five local teams — the Ocean View boys, Laguna Beach boys, Corona del Mar girls, Laguna Beach girls and Sage Hill girls — to push on this season.

The Ocean View boys’ team had to replace five seniors from last year’s starting seven. Still, the Seahawks managed to push through, securing their first state berth in program history by placing seventh in last week’s CIF Southern Section Division 3 final at the Riverside City Cross-Country Course.

“There are people on the outside of the sport that say, ‘It [is too bad] that you won’t be home for Thanksgiving,’” said Ocean View coach Daniel Hurtado, whose team is competing in Division III at state. “There is no other place we would rather be on Thanksgiving weekend than state. This is what we have worked for all year.”

The marquee race for an individual can come at any point in the season. Hurtado said that Miguel Flores, who had alternated between the fifth and sixth spots in the Seahawks’ order all season, ran “the race of his life” in the section final.

Flores picked up 43 spots after the halfway split. The sophomore who had made infrequent appearances in his team’s scoring five wound up being Ocean View’s third runner in the biggest race in the program’s history to date.

“I’m just proud of my team,” Flores said. “I wasn’t sure if we made it or not, but I just knew that our team gave its full and honest effort, so that’s all I really expected of them.

“I don’t know what state is going to feel like. At Clovis, when we went over there, I had one of my best races of the season. I’m just looking forward to another great race.”

Flores finished in 16 minutes, 41 seconds at the Clovis Invitational, which was held Oct. 7. The Clovis Invitational is also run on the 5K state championship course at Woodward Park.

While unsung heroes have stepped up to help their teams get a step in front of the field, staying power is provided by the frontrunners. The Laguna Beach girls’ cross-country team had to do without Evie Cant for stretches this year.

Evie Cant (1948) is healthy and ready to run with the Laguna Beach girls’ cross-country team at the CIF State championships on Saturday.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer )

The senior ace of the Breakers has dealt with injuries to her hips and calves, but Cant persevered through the pain, finishing 13th in 18:20 to lead her team in the Division 4 final. Laguna Beach took the seventh and final state berth in the division, proving all the more her importance to the Breakers.

Laguna Beach’s girls have won seven consecutive Orange Coast League titles, but it has been far less than automatic in translating into appearances at the state meet. The girls are heading to their first state meet since 2014.

As time has gone on, Breakers girls’ coach Steve Lalim has trained his mind to think differently about what constitutes a state-caliber team. He looks at the stuff his kids are made of rather than using league meets as a barometer for making the state field.

“I think it’s just the culture of our team that is the best way to kind of gauge where we’re at year to year,” said Lalim, whose Breakers are in the Division IV race at state. “Having the league titles has been great, but you can just get a certain sense when certain teams want it more than others.

“This team has been very hungry from day one. I haven’t heard a complaint. This team has just been focused and really wanting to get there.”

On the boys’ side, the coaching staff at Laguna Beach had projected junior Sebastian Fisher to take over the No. 1 spot this year, but a hip injury has sidelined him for the postseason.

In his stead, newcomer Ryan Smithers has jumped to the front of the pack, with last year’s top runner Luc La Montagne slotting in right behind him.

“Step for step, every bit of training, every bit of mileage, we had a mentality [of], ‘We’re a team. We’re going to run in a group,’” said Breakers boys’ coach Scott Wittkop, whose team is in Division IV. “When kids were getting sore or hurt, we just kind of put the next man up. We never even ran our whole varsity team together until league finals, and that was without Sebastian.”

The CdM girls’ team will be going to its fourth straight state meet and 28th in 31 years overall under Bill Sumner. The Sea Kings are competing in Division III.

Although returners like Gigi Lee and Julia Tung have been to the state meet before, Sumner recognizes the work put in by first-timers like Annabelle Boudreau, Emma Montgomery and Sydney Sharp to add to the program’s storied success.

“Our team does not go to the state championship 28 times because of any individuals,” Sumner said. “No one individual has come through our program and taken us to the state meet, and we’ve been there 28 times. It’s always that fifth, sixth and seventh runner.”

Sage Hill’s girls and Newport Harbor’s Alexis Garcia are also returning area representatives at the state meet. The Lightning are competing in Division V, while Garcia, a junior, is in Division II.

Costa Mesa sophomore Diane Molina will be making her first appearance at state. Molina, who is competing in Division IV, has never run the state championship course at Woodward Park.

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CIF State cross-country championships

When: Saturday. The first race is at 8:30 a.m.

Where: Woodward Park (7775 N. Friant Road, Fresno, CA 93720)

Fan info: Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for students with current high school I.D., children and seniors. Children ages 5 and under are free. Spectator parking is only allowed at the North East gate off Friant Road.

Race schedule (locals included)

Girls’ Division V, 8:30 a.m.: Sage Hill

Boys’ Division III, 11:05 a.m.: Ocean View

Girls’ Division IV, 11:35 a.m.: Laguna Beach; Diane Molina, Costa Mesa, So.

Boys’ Division II, 12:05 p.m.: Alexis Garcia, Newport Harbor, Jr.

Girls’ Division III, 12:35 p.m.: Corona del Mar

Boys’ Division IV, 1:05 p.m.: Laguna Beach

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner