CROSS-COUNTRY : Belmont Girls, Boys Sweep City Section Semifinals

Alex Carmona, Belmont’s new cross-country coach, is well on his way to picking up where legendary Coach Gordon Weisenberger left off when he retired last season.

The Sentinels swept all four divisions in the City Section semifinals Thursday at Pierce College in Woodland Hills on Nov. 11 at Pierce.

The top five teams and 15 individuals in each preliminary heat advanced to the City Section championships. The top two teams and top four individuals from there will advance to the state championships Nov. 27 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Belmont’s boys’ and girls’ teams are favored to be the top qualifiers for the state finals. In the boys’ varsity meet Thursday, five Sentinels finished in the top 15 in the first heat, including second-place runner Ricardo Valenzuela (15:28), to win the team competition with 44 points. Monroe’s Jose Padilla (15:25) took first. Garfield’s Richard Martinez (15:38) came in third to help the Bulldogs advance to the finals with 90 points. Peter Gilmore of Palisades posted the fastest time, running the three-mile race in 15:14.

No team came close to Sentinel girls, who garnered 21 points. Yolanda Gomez (19:25), Raquel Ramirez (19:37) and Imelda Flores (19:39) placed in the top three spots, respectively, in the girls varsity first heat.

The boys’ junior-varsity team (27) and frosh-soph (29) also won.