City Section

Saturday, Nov. 22

CITY SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Pierce College

Emmaline Hartel and Mehdi Taieb-Brahim of Birmingham High were the two best runners and San Pedro once again had the two best teams at the Los Angeles City Section cross country finals Saturday morning at Pierce College.

Hartel led the girls’ varsity race from start to finish, running the 2.9-mile course in 18:03, 40 seconds faster than her previous best time, which she ran at last week’s preliminary meet.

“I was expecting our team to win and I thought I could finish in the top three,” said Hartel, a sophomore who was the City 3200-meter champion as a freshman. “It was cool, which was good, but it was also windy. It tried to stay far enough ahead so no one could ride my wind stream.”

Sisters Megan and Kirsten Adams finished second and third to lead San Pedro to its third consecutive team title and fourth in the last five years. San Pedro (34 points) and second-place Birmingham (43) will advance to Saturday’s state meet at Woodward Park in Fresno along with individual qualifiers Miriam Mendoza and Laura Estevez of Venice, Stephanie Garcia of Verdugo Hills, Sarah Roth of El Camino Real and Sandy Marmelejo of Los Angeles.

Taieb-Brahim won the boys’ varsity race in 15:24 and was 32 seconds ahead of second-place finisher David Soto of San Pedro. The Patriots’ senior won every City race he ran this year.

“It was really windy, especially on the downhills it was blowing right into my face,” said Taieb-Brahim, who finished third in the cross country finals and in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races last year. “This is two seconds faster than I ran at prelims, so I’m pretty happy.”

Taieb-Brahim qualified individually for the state meet along with South Gate’s Frank Ruiz, Monroe’s Gabriel Guzman, Franklin’s Sergio Lares, and Belmont’s Welby Flores. San Pedro outscored Garfield 46-56 to win its second staight team title but both teams advance to the state meet.
--Steve Galluzzo

Boys

TEAM--1. *San Pedro, 46 (81:03); 2. *Garfield, 56 (81:07); 3. Birmingham, 96 (82:08); 4. Belmont, 104 (82:52); 5. Monroe, 109 (82:51); 6. South Gate, 181 (86:12); 7. Los Angeles, 183 (85:31); 8. Venice, 204 (86:40); 9. Narbonne, 212 (87:00); 10. Sun Valley Poly, 231 (87:41).

IND.--1. *Taieb, Birmingham, 15:24; 2. Soto, SP, 15:56; 3. Hernandez, G, 15:56; 4. *Ruiz, SG, 15:56; 5. *Guzman, M, 15:57; 6. Jimenez, G,15:59; 7. Pinedo, SP, 16:00; 8. *Lares, Franklin, 16:02; 9. Sakamoto, SP, 16:09; 10. Oropeza, G, 16:11; 11. *Flores, Belmont, 16:11; 12. Cardial, Belmont, 16:15; 13. Galindo, Belmont, 16:20; 14. Lehman, V, 16:21; 15. Hernandez, Reseda, 16:22; 16. Nava, SP, 16;27; 17. Ugalde, SP, 16:29; 18. Aguiar, Birmingham, 16:31; 19. Alcala, Birmingham, 16:30; 20. Hernandez, N, 16:31; 21. Cerritos, L.A., 16:31; 22. Magana, SG, 16:35; 23. Glnzalez, Belmont, 16:36; 24. Garcia, Belmont, 16:38; 25. Swartz, SP, 16:38; 26. Benmohamed, M, 16:38; 27. Samano, M, 16:43; 28. Fonseca, M, 16:44; 29. Oliver, G, 16:44; 30. Torres, Birmingham, 16:46.

Girls

TEAM--1. San Pedro, 34 (95:39); 2. Birmingham, 43 (96:30); 3. Los Angeles, 91 (101:43); 4. Garfield, 130 (103:46); 5. Venice, 130 (103:06); 6. South Gate, 148 (105:45); 7. Roosevelt, 182 (107:34); 8. Belmont, 197 (107:33); 9. Van Nuys, 202 (108:19); 10. Monroe, 203 (108:19).

IND.--1. Hartel, Birmingham, 18:03; 2. M. Adams, SP, 18:25; 3. K. Adams, SP, 18:33; 4. Hernandez, Birmingham, 18:52; 5. *Mendoza, V, 19:01; 6. Oviedo, Birmingham, 19:07; 7. *Garcia, Verdugo Hills, 19:12; 8. *Estevez, V, 19:20; 9. Rubi, SP, 19:27; 10. *Roth, El Camino Real, 19:28; 11. Maes, SP, 19:30; 12. *Marmolejo, LA, 19:40; 13. Garcia, LA, 19:40; 14. Tortoledo, SP, 19:42; 15. Castro, G, 19:43; 16. Cardenas, SP, 19:43; 17. Dove, Birmingham, 20:06; 18. Tecaxco, Belmont, 20:09; 19. Santana, Birmingham, 20:20; 20. Cespedes, R, 20:23; 21. Hernandez, LA, 20:31; 22. Parra, G, 20:32; 23. Escobar, Granada Hills Kennedy, 20:37; 24. Banda, LA, 20:39; 25. Ponce, G, 20:43; 26. Torres, SG, 20:53; 27. Morales, M, 20:58; 28. Padilla, SG, 20:58; 29. Roman, SG, 20:59; 30. Macatangay, VN, 21:01.

*--Teams and individuals who advanced to the state championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 29.