Cross-Country Teams Won’t Make the Trip

Highly regarded cross-country teams from Palos Verdes Peninsula, Yucaipa and Anaheim Esperanza highs have pulled out of an invitational meet in Rock Hill, S.C., on Saturday in the wake of last week’s terrorist attacks.

All three teams were entered in the girls’ race of champions in the Great American Cross-Country Festival at Winthrop Farm Meadows outside of Charlotte, N.C., but they’ve withdrawn because of safety concerns about flying.

The Yucaipa-Calimesa Unified School District pulled Yucaipa out of the meet late last week while Esperanza informed Great American meet director Rick Hill of its decision Monday.

McFarland, the defending state Division IV boys’ champion, has also pulled out of the third-year meet that has grown into the highest-quality regular-season invitational in the nation.

“It’s interesting to see what has happened,” Hill said. “Because [teams from Madera and Santa Rosa Maria Carrillo] finalized their plans to enter the meet since [the attacks].”

Several Southern Section teams are still planning to run in Rock Hill, including boys’ squads from Long Beach Poly, Canyon Country Canyon, Rosemead Bosco Tech and Thousand Oaks and girls’ teams from Fountain Valley and Thousand Oaks.