Lily Alder wins the 44th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic; Irvine’s Summer Wilson is fourth
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For much of Saturday night’s Bob Day Girls Sweepstakes race, Irvine High senior Summer Wilson was the pace setter. Yes, hindsight is always 20-20, but after finishing fourth in an elite field of 272 runners, she wished she had changed tactics during the 44th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic on the flat three-mile course at Great Park in Irvine.
“My coach told me I could go 15:30 and I know I’m a lot better than I was today,” said Wilson, who is committed to Duke. “I found myself leading in the first two miles, but my strength is my kick, so in retrospect it would’ve been smarter to stay back and if I did I could’ve gotten third.”
The top two returners from last year shifted to high gear in the second half of the three-mile course before Lily Alder of Timpview (Utah) passed La Jolla’s Chiara Dailey in the last 30 yards to win by 1.6 seconds in 15:40 flat after placing third in 2024 in 15:28.9, only seven-tenths of a second behind runner-up Dailey. Jaelyn Williams of Chula Vista Eastlake was third Saturday in 15:52.2 and Wilson clocked 15:54.1.
“This is my third time here,” said Wilson, who placed 39th in the sweepstakes race at Woodbridge two years ago as a 10th-grader at JSerra and was third in Division III in 17:30.8 running for Irvine at the CIF state cross country championships in Fresno in November. “It’s really exciting because this race has the fastest girls in the country — it’s like nationals.”
A look at the top performers from high school football games this week across the Southland.
Wilson’s former school (she transferred the summer before her junior year) captured the team title with 196 points Saturday, less than one hour after its ‘B’ team placed fifth in the Rated race.
Trying her best to help Corona Santiago retain its team crown was Arkansas-bound Braelyn Comb, who was seventh overall in 16:11.1. Rylee Blade, now a freshman at Florida State, set a new meet standard of 15:20.3 last fall, and eight spots behind her in 16:02.9 was Combe, who won the state 1,600-meter title by five-hundredths of a second in 4:35.64 at Buchanan High Clovis in the spring.
Great Oak (184 points) took first place out of 39 teams in the Rated Varsity girls race, composed of schools ranked in the top 10 in their state.
In the Gold Varsity A girls race, Oaks Christian senior Delaney Napierala clocked a personal-best 17:01.6 to edge Jenna Murray of Moorpark (17:03.8). Then, in the Gold Varsity B race, Westlake freshman Sabina Cruz beat Autumn Banks of Tahoe-Truckee by one second in 16:50.7 and paced the Warriors to the team title.
The former St. John Bosco High quarterback plays for Columbia and is one of many Southland players getting an elite education.
“This means so much to me. … I’m open top of the world,” said Cruz, who took the lead in the last 800 meters. “Me and my twin sister [Anais] went back and forth. Usually she’s the one beating me. This was a PR by two minutes and it was a chance to show who I am with a lot of people watching.”
Anais Cruz was the Warriors’ second finisher, coming in ninth place in a personal-best 17:43.8 and teammate Aria Cinelli (also a ninth-grader) was 10th in a personal-best 17:44.9.
The widest margin of the day was turned in by Palm Desert’s Marina Avila, who cruised to victory in the Gold Sophomore race by one minute, 33 seconds in a personal-best 17:17.9. Emily Bell from Rancho Cucamonga won the Blue Varsity B race in 17:04.2, beating Katelyn Elliott of Carlmont by five seconds. “My goal by the end of the season is to get a minute faster,” Bell said.
Herriman (Utah) senior Jackson Spencer won the Doug Speck Boys Sweepstakes in 13:42.1—well off the Woodbridge record of 13:30.3 achieved 12 months ago on the same course by Owen Powell of Mercer Island, Wash. Spencer led the Mustangs to their fourth straight team championship.
Coach Gary Parks helps restart the Verbum Dei program with opening win over Belmont
Oak Park won the Gold Varsity A boys race with a score of 203. Canyon Country Canyon senior Owen Souther was second individually in 14:41.8. Norwalk senior Leo Diaz won the Gold Varsity B race in 14:50.3 and El Toro (228 points) was second in the team standings. West Torrance edged Foothill Technology by five points in a 41-team field in the Rated Varsity boys race. Dorian Bening from Agoura was third in 14:25.2.
Joaquim Sandoval, a junior from Warren, was first in the Blue Varsity B boys race in 14:28.6.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said afterward.
Gabriel Zamora of Hesperia won the Blue Sophomore boys race in 15:12.2 while Corona Santiago took the team title with 183 points, led by 14th-place finisher Collin Brandon in a personal-best 16:16.1. San Clemente was the Blue Senior boys champion as five runners placed in the top 25.
Redondo Union won the Blue Freshman race, led by fourth-place finisher Cook Spies (16:21.7), and Isaac Ortiz of Arlington (16:31.4) held off Jason Aldridge from El Toro by six-tenths of a second to win the Gold Junior race.
On Friday, Thousand Oaks senior Oren Hill clocked 14:51.0 to win the Red Varsity A boys race, finishing eight and a half seconds ahead of runner-up Darin Spragno of Santa Margarita. Ontario junior Isabella Ruiz ran a personal-best 16:49.7 to win the Red Varsity A girls race.
