Burbank High boys’ cross-country stands alone at CIF
Just as in football, the city of Burbank is down to one surviving team in cross-country and that’s Burbank High.
While the Burbank boys’ and girls’ teams, as well as the Burroughs boys and Providence girls took their shot at Saturday’s CIF Southern Section divisional preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College, only the Bulldogs boys survived and advanced to the following week’s divisional finals.
The CIF Southern Section Division I fifth-ranked Bulldogs continued their postseason surge by finishing second to Warren, 31-59, in the third heat of the boys’ Division I prelims.
Lacking a true frontrunner, the Bulldogs instead showed off their pack running as seniors Arsen Mkrtchyan and Elliot Choe finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in 15 minutes, 31 seconds and 15:35.
The tail end of Burbank’s scoring came a few seconds afterward as teammates Ethan Moskowitz (15:48), Brennan Doyle (15:49) and Enrique Vizcaino (15:49) finished 14th through 16th to cap the Bulldogs’ points.
With its second-place finish, Burbank advanced to the divisional finals for the second time in the last three years.
Unfortunately for Burbank’s girls, their season came to an end in the first race of the morning, the Division I first heat.
The Bulldogs needed to finish in the top four and instead placed eighth with 238 points in a competition dominated by Great Oak (27 points).
Sophomore Candela Fernandez concluded a season of strong progress by finishing 14th in 18:29. Fernandez’ next closest teammate was senior Arlette Movsesyan (47th, 19:38).
No area team had a tougher finish to their season than did the Burroughs boys.
The Pacific League fourth-place Indians were nipped for fourth place and the Division I fourth heat’s final CIF-SS finals bid, 119-120, by California High.
Burroughs boasted two top-20 placers in Shane Thompson, who was 12th in 15:37, and Elias Hoxie (15th, 15:42).
Indians senior Ricky Mendez was 23rd (15:59), while junior Garrett Boulais was 24th (16:02).
Even though Burrough’s fifth scorer, Justin Villagran, took 47th (16:28), two spots ahead of California’s No. 5 Noel Echeverria (16:30), the Condors were the beneficiary of two top-10 placers, which proved just enough.
While the Providence boys didn’t qualify to the Division V prelims as a team, the Pioneers still received solid representation from Lalo Fisher.
The junior, who competed as an individual, capped his season by finishing 24th in the Division V first heat in 17:44.
The Providence girls also concluded their season Saturday, as the Pioneers finished 13th in the first heat of Division V competition with 372 points in a race clinched by nearby Flintridge Prep (41 points).
As she has all season, junior Katia Dabbaghian was the Pioneers’ top runner, placing 51st with a mark of 22:44.
Fellow junior Rose Avakian wasn’t too far off her pace, finishing 59th in 23:21.