Huntington Beach girls’ cross-country team advances to state for first time
Where the Huntington Beach High School girls’ cross-country program is concerned, there could be no finer day than Saturday.
Huntington Beach finished fifth in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 final in the return of the section championships to Mt. San Antonio College, sending the Oilers to the state meet for the first time as a team.
Makenzie McRae (ninth, 17:59.7), Claire Lewis (18th, 18:32.9), Quinn Roldan (29th, 18:57.2), Andrea Linggi-Perez (51st, 19:23.6) and Luna Centeno (83rd, 19:59.8) formed the scoring five for the Oilers. Belle Baker (93rd, 20:18.9) and Lily Fosmire (106th, 21:01.6) also ran for Huntington Beach.
“On our own, individually we’re all different,” Lewis said. “But once you put us all together, we’re like this big, amazing victorious cake.”
It has been a whirlwind of a season for the Oilers, who continue to rack up the accomplishments. In claiming the Wave League championship earlier this season, Huntington Beach won its first league title since 1988.
Lewis added that making it to the state meet was a “big, scary, crazy dream” that was voiced by the team last year, when the cross-country postseason had been wiped out due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There are nervous moments associated with attempting to qualify for the state meet, especially for those who have not been there before. As the Oilers waited to have their scoring five cross the finish line, there was a quiet confidence that the right message had been relayed.
“We said, ‘Hey, it’s different than an invitational,’ Huntington Beach coach Kareen Shackelford said. “‘You might be in the back, but still, those two-point turnarounds are going to be huge, and that’s what’s going to make the difference.’
“We had prepared them, mainly, to say that you might be in the back half of the race, but realistically, that that doesn’t mean you’re out of it. That doesn’t mean our team is out of it.”
The CIF State cross-country championships will be held at Woodward Park in Fresno next Saturday.
Following renovations at Hilmer Lodge Stadium, the CIF finals transitioned back from the Riverside City Cross-Country Course to Mt. SAC, challenging the state meet hopefuls with its three daunting hills — “Switchbacks,” “Poop Out,” and “Reservoir.”
For the third time this season, Corona del Mar sophomore Melisse Djomby-Enyawe took on the hills, each time adjusting her race strategy. She placed sixth with a time of 18:07.6 in the Division 3 race, advancing to state as an individual.
“I try to go out slower on the first mile, but in the end, I just go off how I feel,” Djomby-Enyawe said. “So this race, since the weather was cooler, I felt better and ended up going faster than my set time that I wanted to go. Then I ended up finishing in a good spot, and I was comfortable throughout the race and then pushed at the end.”
The top seven teams in each divisional final qualified for the state meet. The Sea Kings finished ninth.
Sage Hill’s boys’ cross-country team rounded out the local state qualifiers, finishing seventh with 206 team points. The Lightning beat out Santa Monica Crossroads, which was eighth with 219 points.
Jack Johnston (29th, 17:06.7), Jason Li (43rd, 17:34.0), Max Perin (51st, 17:46.8), William Alexander (55th, 17:52.6) and Daniel Joshi (63rd, 18:04.8) factored into the scoring for the Lightning.
“We’re super proud of the boys, especially our three seniors that really carried the team today,” Sage Hill coach Nate Miller said. “We knew that it would be really, really tough and we would have to have kind of a perfect day, and we just kind of executed super well.”
The highlight of the meet came from the Newbury Park boys, as the Panthers posted the perfect score of 15 team points in winning the Division 1 championship. Colin Sahlman (14:52.6), Lex Young (14:52.7), Aaron Sahlman (14:52.8), Leo Young (14:52.9), Daniel Appleford (14:59.2) and Dev Doshi (15:00.1) claimed the top six spots in the race for the Panthers.
“They’re an amazing team,” Miller said of Newbury Park’s performance. “Really kind of special to be able to watch that.”
Laguna Beach finished ninth in the Division 4 girls’ final. Breakers senior Melanie Falkowski (16th, 18:48.1) was edged out by Ridgecrest Burroughs’ Leah Tomlinson (15th, 18:46.6) for the last spot available to individual qualifiers.
Senior Daisy Carrillo (69th, 20:44.4) was the top performer for the Costa Mesa girls in the Division 4 race.
Led by Ryann Langdale, Sage Hill finished ninth in the Division 5 girls’ race.
Costa Mesa senior Edward Rodriguez placed 17th in 16:04.9 in the Division 4 boys’ race. Five individuals that finish inside the top 20 of a CIF finals race can advance to state, but that number had already been reached before Rodriguez crossed the finish line.
Mael Metis (26th, 16:16.6) and Chris Drews (16:17.5) were the top runners for the Laguna Beach boys, who placed 12th as a team in Division 4.
Newport Harbor’s Kenny Wanlass placed 38th in the Division 2 boys’ race with a time of 15:53.9.
BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
CIF Southern Section finals
At Mt. San Antonio College
3-mile course
Division 1
Team Results
1. Newbury Park 15; 2. Great Oak 96; 3. Loyola 102; 4. Crescenta Valley 171; 5. San Clemente 184; 6. Vista Murrieta 194; 7. Redondo Union 214; 8. Santiago/C 215; 9. Long Beach Poly 245; 10. Aliso Niguel 247
Individuals
1. C. Sahlman (Newbury Park) 14:52.6; 2. Lex Young (Newbury Park) 14:52.7; 3. A. Sahlman (Newbury Park) 14:52.8; 4. Leo Young (Newbury Park) 14:52.9; 5. Appleford (Newbury Park) 14:59.2; 6. Doshi (Newbury Park) 15:00.1; 7. Moreno (Loyola) 15:03.3; 8. Parra (Millikan) 15:05.6; 9. Fitzgerald (Crescenta Valley) 15:07.1; 10. Donis (Highland) 15:07.6
Division 2
Team Results
1. Mira Costa 92; 2. Ayala 108; 3. Ventura 120; 4. Claremont 120; 5. Hart 152; 6. Dana Hills 167; 7. Foothill 185; 8. Thousand Oaks 203; 9. Glendora 241; 10. Royal 242
Individuals
1. Dawson (Dana Hills) 14:55.2; 2. Ma (Ayala) 15:00.0; 3. Coles (Claremont) 15:03.5; 4. Sesteaga (Glendora) 15:07.3; 5. Hall (Thousand Oaks) 15:17.7; 6. Bazerkanian (Royal) 15:20.9; 7. Martin (Mira Costa) 15:22.4; 8. Sweningson (Foothill) 15:23.8; 9. O’Meara (Mira Costa) 15:26.4; 10. Hartline (El Toro) 15:26.8
Division 3
Team Results
1. West Torrance 87; 2. Santa Margarita 147; 3. Capistrano Valley 149; 4. St. John Bosco 149; 5. Brea Olinda 162; 6. Agoura 179; 7. Dos Pueblos 192; 8. Palos Verdes 197; 9. Torrance 198; 10. Pasadena 236
Individuals
1. Givens (Pasadena) 14:48.2; 2. Steins (Servite) 14:56.4; 3. Kirk (Palos Verdes) 15:00.6; 4. Gibson (West Torrance) 15:04.6; 5. Chavez (St. John Bosco) 15:14.3; 6. Godsey (Agoura) 15:14.9; 7. M. Galindo (Savanna) 15:18.3; 8. Stefanou (Palos Verdes) 15:21.9; 9. M. Galindo (Savanna) 15:26.2; 10. Vielma (Sonora) 15:29.2
Division 4
Team Results
1. Laguna Hills 114; 2. Cathedral 127; 3. Harvard-Westlake 149; 4. Big Bear 159; 5. St. Francis 175; 6. Wilson/HH 201; 7. South Pasadena 203; 8. Burroughs/R 206; 9. Foothill Technology 213; 10. Orange Lutheran 220; 12. Laguna Beach 231
Individuals
1. Sannes (Big Bear) 15:11.4; 2. Sardar (Burroughs/R) 15:23.5; 3. Sheehy (Harvard-Westlake) 15:26.2; 4. Perez (Cathedral) 15:27.0; 5. Alvarez (La Salle) 15:27.8; 6. Camilo-Torres (Fillmore) 15:34.3; 7. Hernandez (Cathedral) 15:41.7; 8. Gudiel (Wilson/HH) 15:42.5; 9. Nakamura (South Pasadena) 15:44.2; 10. Metcalf (St. Francis) 15:52.4
Division 5
Team Results
1. Providence Burbank 64; 2. Windward 117; 3. Viewpoint 124; 4. St. Margaret’s 143; 5. Chadwick 163; 6. Woodcrest Christian 177; 7. Sage Hill 206; 8. Crossroads 219; 9. Hawthorne Math and Science 221; 10. Linfield Christian 230
Individuals
1. Barnes (Midland) 15:15.0; 2. Turk (Woodcrest Christian) 15:16.6; 3. Penaflor (Providence Burbank) 15:33.2; 4. Everett (St. Margaret’s) 15:38.7; 5. Thomas (Chadwick) 15:44.1; 6. Didden (Viewpoint) 15:48.1; 7. Weitz (Windward) 15:57.4; 8. Flynn (Providence Burbank) 16:22.6; 9. Zanuck (Windward) 16:24.1; 10. Roetcisoender (Desert Christian) 16:25.2
GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
CIF Southern Section finals
At Mt. San Antonio College
3-mile course
Division 1
Team Results
1. Newbury Park 43; 2. Great Oak 110; 3. Vista Murrieta 163; 4. Redondo Union 167; 5. Huntington Beach 177; 6. Chino Hills 186; 7. Santiago/C 202; 8. Etiwanda 242; 9. Saugus 250; 10. Yucaipa 252
Individuals
1. McDonnell (Newbury Park) 16:50.5; 2. Duarte (Saugus) 17:17.3; 3. Gaffney (Great Oak) 17:27.7; 4. Smith (Vista Murrieta) 17:31.1; 5. Hawkins (Newbury Park) 17:35.7; 6. Smith (Quartz Hill) 17:39.3; 7. Fedio (Redondo Union) 17:43.2; 8. Sax (Newbury Park) 17:51.4; 9. McRae (Huntington Beach) 17:59.7; 10. Lindsay (Long Beach Poly) 18:11.4
Division 2
Team Results
1. Mira Costa 73; 2. Canyon 82; 3. Claremont 98; 4. Dana Hills 119; 5. Westlake 182; 6. Ventura 233; 7. El Toro 236; 8. Citrus Valley 244; 9. Ayala 248; 10. Murrieta Valley 259
Individuals
1. Frias (Mira Costa) 16:48.6; 2. Callanan (Peninsula) 17:06.7; 3. Engelhardt (Ventura) 17:21.1; 4. Parsley (Mira Costa) 17:26.8; 5. Markow (Dana Hills) 17:38.2; 6. Chen (Claremont) 17:38.5; 7. Zdanavage (Portola) 17:53.8; 8. Coles (Claremont) 17:55.6; 9. Chittenden (Mira Costa) 17:56.0; 10. Hutchings (Norco) 17:57.3
Division 3
Team Results
1. Palos Verdes 85; 2. Brea Olinda 127; 3. South Torrance 130; 4. Oak Park 166; 5. Dos Pueblos 183; 6. Torrance 188; 7. Santa Margarita 203; 8. West Torrance 207; 9. Corona del Mar 220; 10. Sonora 220
Individuals
1. Chavez (Chino) 17:36.1; 2. McCorkle (Agoura) 17:42.4; 3. Rome (Yorba Linda) 17:47.7; 4. Polay (Santa Margarita) 17:54.9; 5. Parrone (Oak Park) 18:01.7; 6. Djomby-Enyawe (Corona del Mar) 18:07.6; 7. Wang (Palos Verdes) 18:11.7; 8. DeBarros (Brea Olinda) 18:16.6; 9. Reeves (Esperanza) 18:19.3; 10. Toledo (North Torrance) 18:20.6
Division 4
Team Results
1. JSerra 77; 2. La Canada 94; 3. Laguna Hills 136; 4. Harvard-Westlake 147; 5. South Pasadena 165; 6. Oaks Christian 165; 7. Bishop Amat 168; 8. El Segundo 172; 9. Laguna Beach 200; 10. Orange Lutheran 227
Individuals
1. Godsey (Oaks Christian) 17:21.9; 2. McKenzie (La Canada) 17:28.8; 3. Barker (Laguna Hills) 17:54.9; 4. Geyer (Oaks Christian) 18:10.4; 5. Garcia (JSerra) 18:10.6; 6. Matarese (La Canada) 18:16.9; 7. Hollander (Beverly Hills) 18:19.4; 8. Morrow (South Pasadena) 18:22.9; 9. Vasquez (Barstow) 18:26.2; 10. Godfrey (Marymount) 18:27.7
Division 5
Team Results
1. Linfield Christian 66; 2. St. Margaret’s 80; 3. Viewpoint 89; 4. Xavier Prep 127; 5. La Reina 151; 6. Cate 152; 7. Chadwick 190; 8. Flintridge Prep 206; 9. Sage Hill 252; 10. Sierra Canyon 274
Individuals
1. Mackey (Viewpoint) 17:55.7; 2. Burns (Linfield Christian) 18:38.6; 3. Gerolmo (Crossroads) 18:40.2; 4. Murphree (Malibu) 18:47.6; 5. Babbitt (Mary Star of the Sea) 18:54.2; 6. Blau (St. Margaret’s) 18:57.4; 7. Eaton (Providence Burbank) 19:02.4; 8. Lakatos (Linfield Christian) 19:03.0; 9. Carillo (Xavier Prep) 19:04.5; 10. Welsome (Linfield Christian) 19:12.3
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