Newport Harbor’s Garcia, Costa Mesa’s Hachac to contend at finals
A cross country season full of fun and excitement will reach its climax this weekend.
That’s right, championship Saturday is here, and there is more than one prize on the table.
The glory of a CIF Southern Section divisional championship will be bestowed upon 10 well-deserving teams and individuals.
Those will not be the only ones celebrating as the results start to come in throughout the day.
Many would love nothing more than to spend Thanksgiving weekend traveling through the Grapevine, and that’s exactly what is at stake for the rest of the field.
The top seven teams in each race of Saturday’s CIF-SS Finals will advance to the state championship meet at Woodward Park in Fresno.
Individuals may also qualify for the state meet. They must finish among the first five individuals in their division whose team failed to qualify. In addition, those top five individuals must place in the top 20 overall of their race.
Among the local participants, Newport Harbor High’s Alexis Garcia and Costa Mesa’s Elliot Hachac have the best chance to win an individual crown.
Alexis was the runner-up in the Boys’ Sweepstakes race of the Orange County Championships. Newport Harbor is in Division 2. The county champion was Dana Hills’ Jack Landgraf, who competes in Division 1.
The sophomore placed third in his heat (eighth overall) in 15:06 in the CIF-SS Preliminaries, just 12 seconds off the pace set by Charlie Sherman of Los Angeles Loyola.
“I think realistically, he could finish in the top five individuals overall, and that would certainly make him one of the top five individuals,” Sailors Coach Nowell Kay said of Alexis. “He’s going for it, believe me.”
The same goes for Mustangs senior Elliot Hachac, who finds himself on the precipice of a state meet berth after missing out on the treasured trip by one spot last year.
Hachac’s time of 15:53 was fourth overall in the Division 4 Prelims. As he has all year, the Orange Coast League champion plans to race for the win.
“He’s running really well right now,” Mustangs Coach Steve Moreno said. “He’s looking at the top guys, and he’s telling me, ‘I can run with these guys.’”
“He’s really excited about Saturday. He’s looking forward to that opportunity, and I think he has a good shot.”
Hachac has had two looks at the top runners in his race, with Callum Bolger (San Luis Obispo) and Anthony Grover (JSerra) also taking the top two spots at the Mt. SAC Invitational.
The Mustangs need Myles Aguilar, Joseph Pena, and Christian Pham to close the gap on No. 2 runner Kevin Cortez to have any chance of advancing. There was a 45-second gap between Costa Mesa’s second and third runners last weekend.
Similarly, Newport Harbor is hoping to knock a minute-and-a-half off its Prelims team time. The Sailors ran 1:19:30, but that was with a bronchial illness penetrating the team.
Senior captain Ben Wilson missed the race due to the illness, and Mark Field ran at less than full strength.
If Wilson is inserted into the Sailors’ lineup at 100%, that alone projects to take a minute off of Newport Harbor’s team time.
CIF Finals Field Increase Not Popular, But Favorable
Newport Harbor’s Coach Kay was not a fan when he first heard that the qualifying field for the CIF-SS Finals would increase by 50%.
The sectional championship races went from having 16 teams to 24 this year, with Kay making the case that the decision to do so diluted the competition.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Kay said. “I don’t know why you want to have a more crowded final than you have a prelim. It’s just strange.”
Kay admitted that he can’t complain with how things worked out. Team-time metrics are not an exact indicator of a team’s placement, but Newport Harbor posted the 17th overall team time in Division 2 at the Prelims.
“If it had been last year, we wouldn’t have made it to Finals with the way that we ran,” Kay said. “Knowing that there were 24 teams, we didn’t have to take that chance and jeopardize [Wilson’s] recovery by having him run last week.”
Larger races have proven advantageous to strong pack-running programs. The Cinderella story Ocean View boys’ and Sage Hill’s girls’ team could benefit from this format.
“I certainly don’t mind it,” Sage Hill Coach Nate Miller said of the increase. “Actually, for a team with good depth like we have this year, it’s probably to our advantage.”
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CIF-SS Finals
Where: Riverside City Cross Country Course, 1011 Orange Street, Riverside, CA 92501
