Championships, state advancement on check list for local cross-country trio

While scattered across three different divisions, the goals and challenges aren’t too dissimilar for the Flintridge Prep, Crescenta Valley High and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy cross-country programs.

The trio of schools qualified teams or individuals to the CIF Southern Section boys and girls cross-country championships at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Flintridge Prep girls have the distinction of leading the local pack as the Rebels get going in the Division V championship at 9:25 a.m.

Flintridge Prep enters with plenty of momentum as the squad is top-ranked in the division and is coming off a 30-92 pounding of seventh-ranked Thacher at last weekend’s divisional preliminaries at Mt. SAC.

“The girls are in better spirits now than they’ve been all season, both mentally and physically,” said Rebels co-Coach Jill Riehl, who shares the coaching duties with Mike Roffina. “They were mentioning that the postseason has blown by, which I think at this point is interesting.

“We’ve done all the hard work and now we’re in a maintenance period heading into Saturday.”

The Rebels’ biggest competition figures to come from Prep League rival Mayfield Senior School, ranked second in the division. The Cubs gave the Rebels a fight at the league finals before Flintridge Prep held on for a 30-36 victory.

“I know that Ashley [Lara] and Natalie [O’Brien] would love to have all-time personal records and get below 19 minutes at Mt. SAC,” Riehl said. “We’re looking to do real well at [the CIF State Meet] and to do that we want to have some momentum from the [Southern Section] finals.”

Last season, both the Flintridge Prep girls and boys claimed championships at the Southern Section finals.

The boys will get their opportunity to also earn a crown again at the Division V championships at 10:25 a.m.

Like the girls, the boys are top-ranked in Division V and also knocked off a seventh-ranked team in Woodcrest Christian, 38-64, at last Saturday’s prelims.

In that event, the Rebels flexed their muscles by crossing their top four through the first 10 positions, led by Evan Pattinelli, who was fourth in 16 minutes 42 seconds.

“We’re excited for Saturday to come,” Rebels Coach Ingrid Herskind said. “I think it should be an intense race and it should very tight. It’s a great opportunity for us.”

Flintridge Prep’s biggest challenge will almost certainly come from No. 2-ranked Xavier Prep.

The two teams did not meet last month at the Mt. SAC Invitational and Xavier Prep did not run its No. 5 runner last week.

“They’re definitely going to be very tough,” Herskind said. “But Desert Christian was very good as well. It should be close all around.”

Winners and the next top six teams in each division will earn a spot at the following week’s season-ending CIF State Meet at Fresno’s Woodward Park.

Like Flintridge Prep, Crescenta Valley also qualified both its boys’ and girls’ teams to Saturday’s competition.

The Crescenta Valley boys commence their Division I championship race at 9:45 a.m. in arguably the nation’s toughest division.

The No. 11-ranked Falcons will compete alongside some familiar foes in Pacific League rivals Arcadia and Burroughs.

Even with the challenges, Crescenta Valley Coach Mark Evans is optimistic.

“We’re going in there knowing that it’s going to be a tough race and we’re young a team,” Evans said. “We don’t have that big scorer up front, so we’re really going to have to rely on running in a tight pack and running our race. There’s a chance that this race could go out pretty fast, so we’re going to have to do our best to adjust.”

Crescenta Valley placed third in its heat last week with 86 points in trailing both Burroughs (34) and Arcadia (83). Manav Vats was his team’s top finisher and figures again to take the lead after finishing 13th in 15:47 last weekend.

As for the 12th-ranked girls, the Falcons have perhaps already exceeded expectations in reaching Saturday’s finals by taking the 16th and last spot in Division I at the prelims.

The Crescenta Valley girls will compete exactly an hour after the boys in the Division I championships at 10:45.

“We’re coming off a really good race,” Evans said. “We’re not really ranked high, but I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

Senior Haley Witzeman continued her late-season resurgence by taking sixth in her Division I heat at last weekend’s prelims in 18:20.

Advancing to state as an individual is slightly trickier and Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy senior Kayla Grahn, an individual qualifier to the finals, will need to finish among the top five runners not on a qualifying team.

Grahn, the Mission League champion, enters Saturday’s Division IV race at 10:05 a.m. after taking fourth in her heat last week in 18:36.

“Obviously, the goal is to get to state,” Tologs Coach Kirk Nishiyama said. “She’s worked to get there since freshman year.”

In Grahn’s freshman year the Tologs did reach state and finished seventh, but Grahn was unable to compete with the team due to a family commitment.

“I think she took for granted that we’d get back to state,” Nishiyama said. “It’s hard to get there, but she’s only one step away.”