HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY / CITY SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS : Padilla, Kabo Make Run for Titles at Pierce

Jose Padilla of Monroe High and Kirstin Kabo of Kennedy, two rookies in the sport of cross-country, are expected to contend for individual titles in today’s City Section championships at Pierce College.

Padilla, who ran 4 minutes 38 seconds in the 1,600 meters as a junior, had a personal best of 15:24 seconds over Pierce’s three-mile course to win the first heat of the City preliminaries Nov. 11, but he figures he can run substantially faster.

“After today, I think I can run in the low 15s,” Padilla said at the preliminaries. “I came into this race just running to qualify, but my coach told me to go out, run hard and see how it felt. And I felt strong.”

Peter Gilmore of Palisades and Humberto Sanchez of South Gate are the individual favorites after finishing first (15:14) and second (15:15) in the second heat of the City preliminaries, but an upset victory by Padilla would make him Monroe’s first City champion since Cesario Marquez in 1980.

Kabo was a member of the Golden Cougars’ tennis team a year ago, but she went out for track in the spring, finished fifth in the 3,200 meters in the City championships in May, and has the fastest girls’ time (19:06) in the section this year at Pierce.

“She works as hard as anyone we’ve ever had here,” Kennedy Coach Pete Nelson said. “She’s very tough mentally. She likes to get out in front and try to run away from people.”

Yolanda Gomez of Belmont, who won the first heat of the City preliminaries in 19:26, and Roseanna Heagerty of Birmingham, who finished second (19:21) behind Kabo (19:18) in heat two, appear to pose the biggest threats to Kabo’s chances.

Although Gomez and Heagerty have struggled this season, each has run under 19 minutes at Pierce in previous years.

A victory by Kabo would be the first City title for a Valley runner since the Golden Cougars’ Frances Silva won in 1983.

Belmont is expected to romp to its second consecutive boys’ title--and the 10th in the last 12 years--while the Sentinel girls are favored to win their fifth championship in a row.

The top two teams in each race and the top five individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the state Division I championships on Nov. 27 in Fresno.

The girls’ race will start at 11 a.m., followed by the boys’ at 11:30.