Flintridge Sacred Heart, St. Francis cross-country show signs of improvement
LOS ANGELES — Improvement in cross-country is measured in better times and scoring.
While neither the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy nor St. Francis cross-country teams made huge jumps at Tuesday afternoon’s second Mission League at Griffith Park’s Pote Field Course, both teams did improve.
The Tologs took third with 78 points and increased their grip on the league’s final playoff spot while the Golden Knights were fifth with 127 points and showed strides in pushing for that last postseason spot.
“Our main goal was to take third, we did that, so I’m happy,” Tologs Coach Kirk Nishiyama said. “It’s like I said at the beginning of the year. Our season is going to rest on the freshmen and how they do. We’re hoping to get them up to speed as quickly as possible.”
In the first meet of the season Sept. 22 at Crescenta Valley Park, Flintridge Sacred Heart just fended off a strong challenge from Alemany, 78-81.
While the Tologs generated the exact point total Tuesday, Alemany was pushed back a bit, as the Warriors finished in fourth with 102 points.
Besides the scoring, there was also another big difference as Tuesday’s girls’ race was run as a cluster meet, meaning the Mission League’s quintet of squads were joined by five additional teams from the Sunshine League.
So, while Flintridge Sacred Heart sophomore Bobbie Byrne’s finished 14th overall, she was eighth in her league with a time of 20 minutes, 18 seconds.
“There were a lot of different girls out in today’s race, so that was different,” Byrne said. “It honestly felt like more an invitational than a league meet, but it was a good challenge.”
Byrne dropped a spot in the standings from her performance at the league’s first meet, but she caused some unexpected chaos when the sophomore caught up to and passed one of five consecutive Harvard-Westlake runners.
Byrne directly took a point away from the Wolverines, who were defeated in the meet, 30-31, by Sherman Oaks Notre Dame.
Flintridge Sacred Heart’s scoring team also included Samantha Covey (16th, 21:33), Emily Beeve (17th, 21:33), Kristina Mercolino (19th, 21:40) and Kiley Wilson (21st, 21:48).
Notre Dame’s Mariah Moro won her second meet of the season in 18:20.
As for St. Francis, the Golden Knights found themselves 23 points out of fourth place, cutting that number down from 37 from the first meet as Alemany nabbed the spot with 104 points.
“It’s a little bit better, so that’s good, but I still think we can do better,” St. Francis Coach Pat Donovan said.
St. Francis had a new leader in its second meet as senior Christian Rodriguez was his team’s top placer, taking 16th in 16:34.
Rodriguez moved up one spot over the final 20 meters by splitting up the Notre Dame tandem of Ryan Armstrong (15th, 16:33) and Cristian Ruegg (17th, 16:36).
“This is my first time on this course, so I think I went out a little too fast in this race,” said Rodriguez, who didn’t place in the league’s top 30 at the first meet. “It got better toward the middle and I saved something at the end.”
Ryan Hambley, St. Francis’ top runner at the first league meet, was his team’s No. 2 performer on Tuesday and earned 23rd in 17:17. St. Francis’ Charles Mayne was his team’s only other top-25 placer, taking 25th in 17:31.
Loyola won its second meet in spectacular style with 17 points, while the Cubs’ Preston Ortiz took the individual victory in 15:34.