Fitzgerald, Burroughs boys, Virtue run to victory in Pacific League’s first meet
While it was hardly a surprise, it was still very much a brilliant effort as far as first races of the season go for Burroughs High junior Emily Virtue.
The reigning Pacific League champion and All-Area Girls’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year ran for the first time this season and left the field far behind, winning Thursday evening’s Pacific League meet by nearly a minute and 12 seconds.
“When I woke up, I was nervous for some reason,” said Virtue of her mindset leading into the first league meet of the season and her first race. “But, when I got here, it was so familiar, I was ready to go.”
Ready to go was an understatement, as Virtue took first on the 3.0-mile Crescenta Valley Park course in 18 minutes 18.18 seconds, far in front of second-place Eryca Yamane (19:30.15), who led a dominant Arcadia charge, as the Apaches defeated the field with their top six finishers coming across the line second through seventh.
It was a dominant day for the Burroughs boys’ team, as the league favorites had all their scorers in the top 10, led by junior Alexander Hirsch, who, like Virtue, was making his 2016 debut, but came in second in 15:43.69, as Crescenta Valley junior Colin Fitzgerald won the race in 15:32.53.
Fitzgerald had Hirsch just a step or two behind him before he pulled away to win impressively.
“I saw him coming up on me and I said, ‘Oh shoot,’” Fitzgerald said. “He’s got a kick and I was just trying to match him.”
Fitzgerald did more than match him as he kicked for his first-ever Pacific League victory.
“It feels really good. I’ve been trying a while for this and just to see the hard work come to fruition, it’s just really big,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s a stepping stone to something bigger and I’m happy I was able to accomplish it, but I have a lot in front of me.”
Burroughs, which won its first Pacific League title and then the school’s first CIF Southern Section championship in 2014, was thoroughly impressive.
“We definitely have a lot of work to do, but it was a great first meet,” Burroughs Coach John Peebles said. “It was our first race all together.”
Following Hirsh was junior Jagdeep Chahal (fourth, 15:50.43), senior Timothy Wells (fifth, 15:58.78), junior Jacob Calderon (eighth, 16:15.47) and senior Daniel Fendrich (10th, 16:18.84).
Under the dual meet scoring that the first two Pacific League meets are run under, Burroughs defeated Arcadia, 23-32, with the Apaches, last season’s champions, edging Crescenta Valley, 27-29.
Next up after Fitzgerald for the Falcons was sophomore Manan Vats at ninth in 16:16.75, followed by junior Zach Johnson (11th, 16:19.28), junior Artin Allahverdian (13th, 16:24.69) and junior Spencer Geck (14th, 16:28.03).
Burbank, which had the fourth-best day, was led by seniors Angel Flores (19th, 16:39.28) and Elijah Parrott (20th, 16:40).
Behind Burbank was Glendale, with senior Dexxer Medina (31st, 18:29.62) as its top finisher.
Hoover’s top runner was senior Chris Chereque (33rd, 18:38.18).
While Virtue distanced herself from the field in the girls’ race, Arcadia very much ran a controlled race.
“Arcadia’s girls just packed,” Peebles said. “If they run all out, she has work to do. She won by a lot, but they’re right there with her.”
On Thursday they weren’t, though, as Virtue didn’t go out spectacularly fast, but set a pace that nobody else was matching.
“I was expecting to run with them, so I kind of went out at a medium pace, but then nobody was going,” Virtue said.
Looking to chip away at the wall of Arcadia runners was Burbank senior Gabby Collins, who flirted with breaking the Apaches’ pack, but ultimately was forced to settle for eighth in 19:45.66.
“I feel pretty good about it,” Collins said of her performance. “I feel really good about my time because I ran a lot better than I did over the summer here.”
Collins led a Burbank contingent that bested rival Burroughs, 25-30, for the second-best day, with Crescenta Valley taking fourth.
“Our main goal was to beat Burroughs,” Collins said. “We want to go to CIF prelims and hopefully CIF finals.”
Joining Collins in the Burbank scoring five were freshman Sol Fernandez (11th, 20:39.22), sophomore Natalie Danao (13th, 20:46.38), senior Kira Bochard (14th, 20:47.59) and senior Jamie Giammichele (18th, 21:13.25).
Burroughs’ best finisher following Virtue was senior Heidi Elgiio in ninth at 20:02.47, as the Indians edged Crescenta Valley, 26-30. Junior Sapphire Sandoval was 15th in 21:02.15.
Crescenta Valley’s top finisher was 10th-place Nalia Ortiz, a junior who finished in 20:24.75.
Three other Falcons finished inside the top 20: sophomore Melissa Owens (16th, 21:10.38), freshman Sophia Atin (17th, 21:11.43) and sophomore Persiyana Petrova (19th, 21:20.75).
Hoover’s top finisher was freshman Gabriela Quinones, who was 20th in 21:25.75, while Glendale’s first finisher was right behind at 21st, as sophomore Vanneza Venzor clocked 21:26.09.
