Pattinelli, Flintridge Prep girls win titles at state cross-country meet filled with area highlights

FRESNO — One of the most successful days in area cross-country history began with Flintridge Prep’s march to a historic fourth consecutive Division V girls’ championship and ended with La Cañada’s improbable journey to finishing third in the Division IV girls’ final Saturday at the 31st CIF State Championships at Woodward Park.

In between, Flintridge Prep senior Evan Pattinelli became the Rebels’ second Division V boys’ individual champion, Burroughs senior Emily Virtue added to her legacy with a third Division I all-state honor and Crescenta Valley senior Colin FitzGerald became the third Falcons’ runner to secure a runner-up finish in the Division I boys’ final.

Pattinelli joined 2013 winner Alan Yoho in capturing the individual title, clocking 15 minutes, 38.7 seconds on the 5,000-meter course to hold off Crystal Springs Uplands senior Nicholas Medearis by three seconds.

“I’m glad I could carry on the legacy Prep has of really strong top runners, like Alan Yoho and Jack Van Scoter, to really push myself and go out there for the win,” said Pattinelli, who earned his third all-state honor after finishing ninth as a sophomore and second last year. “The race didn’t go out too hard and the time wasn’t blazing fast, but it became a competition among three runners and I’m glad I was able to finish first.”

Despite’s Pattinelli’s efforts, Flintridge Prep just missed adding to its all-time state record 16 podium finishes, placing fourth with 137 points, just three points behind third-place Lick Wilmerding. San Francisco University won its first boys’ state title with 100 points and Thacher was second with 120.

“For the team, it was a great day. We all had great finishes. Everybody did what they needed to do, it’s just Lick Wilmerding snuck in there ahead of us,” Pattinelli said. “It’s been a year where we graduated a lot of people and we had to rely on a lot of younger guys to step up, but everybody we had gave it their all, so we’re definitely proud of ourselves.”

Carson Hasbrouck was 11th in 16:02, Bennett Oakes finished 37th in 16:52.8, Seb Evans took 58th in 17:16.9 and Andrew Odom was the team’s fifth scorer, placing 76th in 17:26.6. Ethan Moutes was 106th (17:52.7) and Grady Morrissey took 118th (18:02.9) for the Rebels.

Pattinelli contributed to a significant achievement for Flintridge Prep, which captured state individual and team titles in the same day for the first time in school history with the girls’ championship by a 74-120 margin over San Francisco University.

Flintridge Prep became the fourth school in California history to win at least four consecutive girls’ state championships in any division, joining Saugus (seven), Great Oak (six) and San Francisco University (four in Division V from 2009-12).

Sophie Gitlin was one of four seniors in Division V and seven overall Saturday to earn a third career all-state honor, a group that also included Virtue in Division I.

Gitlin placed fifth in 18:32.9, leading three Rebels among the first 16 finishers and all five scorers in the top 45. The Rebels’ captain was the top CIF Southern Section finisher in the division after placing second Nov. 18 at the section final behind Village Christian freshman and La Crescenta resident Mia Barnett, who was 12th in her state debut in 18:58.7.

“Today the girls ran with heart,” said Gitlin, who finished seventh as a sophomore and 10th last year.”I told them on the starting line, ‘No matter what happens, as long as you run your heart out, I’m going to be so proud of you.’ Each and every one of them did, I promise, and I couldn’t be prouder. I’m so happy to be part of this team.”

Sasha Codiga clocked 19:02.8 to finish 13th for the second year in a row after taking 11th as a freshman, and Haley Allen secured 16th in 19:20.8 in her state finals return after placing 42nd in 2015.

“I honestly have my best friends on this team,” Codiga said. “When you go out there and you know it hurts, you think, ‘Well, what if someone behind me is having a bad race or what if Sophie is falling off?’ You don’t always know what’s going on out there, so I had to make sure I was doing everything I should be doing and beyond that, because I know it’s for them.”

Allen’s impact was profound for Flintridge Prep, which had to replace Natalie O’Brien and Maia Cohen from last year’s lineup that ran the fastest time in division history at 95:19 and set the state record for largest margin of victory at 119 points.

“Coming back from last year, I had a new fire inside me and I was so grateful for the opportunity to run with this team,” Allen said. “Last year, I was so happy for them, but this year, it’s a whole different experience being back here running with them.”

Gabi Bennett became the only member of all four state championship lineups, placing 39th (20:11.1), and junior Jenna Mijares joined Gitlin and Codiga as a three-time winner by finishing 44th (20:18.2). Hope Codiga was 69th (20:42.8) and Molly Schwartz finished 113th (21:48.2) for the Rebels, who boast five of the top nine team times in division history.

FitzGerald bounced back from a 44th-place finish in last year’s Division I final to take second in 15:10.1. El Camino Real senior Justin Hazell became the first L.A. City Section runner to capture an individual title, winning in 15:03.8, and Burroughs senior Jagdeep Chahal placed 15th in 15:32.7.

“Honestly, (the turning point) was last year at state, finishing 44th was so disappointing,” FitzGerald said. “The main goal this season was just to finish the [darn] season. I’ve never finished well at state, so it just feels really good.”

FitzGerald joined Nathan Sellers (2005) and Zack Torres (2008) with runner-up finishes in Division I for the Falcons, who were fifth overall with 154 points. Great Oak won its fourth consecutive championship with 75 points, followed by Roosevelt (90), Dana Hills (127) and Loyola (137).

“Just being with the guys was an amazing feeling,” FitzGerald said. “Having to race it alone last year was weird. Having the team here with me meant a lot.”

Artin Allahverdian placed 17th (15:34.7), Zach Johnson took 26th (15:44.1) and Manan Vats finished 48th (16:05.5) for the Falcons, who improved from seventh at the CIF Southern Section final Nov. 18. Carter Walch was 107th (16:36.3), Dylan Wilbur took 137th (17:00.8) and Spencer Geck finished 174th (17:29.4) to round out the CV lineup.

Virtue made her final trip to Woodward Park memorable with her fastest career time in the Division I girls’ final to place seventh in 17:36.1.

“I was kind of feeling a little bit down about the season, so I just wanted to make sure I made the best of it,” Virtue said. “Even today I was a little bit sick, but I was like, ‘I don’t care, it’s my last race and I’m just going to go out there and prove I can still run longer distances even though it’s a little bit tougher.’”

Virtue was the only senior in the race to earn a third all-state honor after placing sixth as a sophomore and ninth last season. Walnut junior Chloe Arriaga, who has finished one spot behind Virtue each year, also earned all-state recognition for the third time after placing eighth.

“This season has been a little rough, but at the end of the season, I kind of pulled it together,” Virtue said.

La Cañada reached the state podium for the first time since 2001, improving from fifth place at the CIF Southern Section Division IV final. The Spartans, led by freshman Kayley Bond taking seventh in 18:35.7, had 147 points, trailing only two-time champion Foothill Tech (59) and Sage Creek (138).

“It’s pretty surreal. We were going into this kind of like, ‘OK, we made it to state, that was our goal.’ So once we made it here, we were just going to try to run our best race and it’s really awesome that we ended up getting third and we’re really proud,” said Bond, the Spartans’ first all-state honoree since teammate Katie Scoville took 10th in 2015. “We knew the people that we needed to beat and we kept our eyes on them. Knowing them personally after last week really helped give us the motivation we needed.”

Mayfield junior McKenna Smith, a La Cañada resident, helped the Cubs finish fourth with 154 points. Smith placed fifth in 18:26.9, with freshman teammate Audrey Suarez taking third in 18:04.1.

Scoville took 29th (19:19.3), Sarah Auther was 53rd (19:54.7), Ellaney Matarese finished 56th (20:01.9) and Adena DiPaolo secured 67th (20:13.5) for La Cañada, whose last top-three state finish was 16 years ago in Division III after capturing team championships in 1997-98. Kallie Rushing finished 122nd (21:15.4) and Madison Pirkey took 185th (23:35.7) for the Spartans, who return four of their top five and five athletes overall next season.