The Evans brothers have the golden touch at Golden Valley

One of the best stories of the high school cross country season added another chapter Thursday as Golden Valley finished third in the boys' varsity race at the Foothill League championship meet at Castaic Lake, securing second place overall and a berth in the Southern Section Div. III prelims Nov. 15 at Mt. SAC.

After helping build one of the area's strongest programs with their father, Mark, at Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta, brothers Rob and Chris Evans have taken Golden Valley from the bottom half of the league to the top half of the Div. III rankings in less than two years, with their eyes on qualifying for the state meet Nov. 29 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

The second-place finish is the best for any Golden Valley athletic team in school history.

"It was a phenomenal day for our program," Chris said. "(Thursday) showed the strength of our team and our commitment to running as a pack. It was an incredible performance by these guys."

Golden Valley had taken third by a one-point margin behind Valencia in each of the first two league meets. But despite Hart's second-place finish, Golden Valley's 74 points were enough to distance the Grizzlies -- who received strong efforts from Luc Schutz and Elie Boutros -- from Canyon (87) and Valencia (92). As a result, Golden Valley finished with 12 points in the team competition, trailing Saugus (20), but finishing ahead of Hart (10) and Valencia (10).

"This is the completion of the journey that started for us in Mammoth," Rob Evans said. "Outside of the nine of us (runners and coaches), at that point, nobody else believed we could be here right now."

Although there was plenty of elation and celebration in the Golden Valley camp Thursday, the joy was tempered by a couple of close calls. Seth Totten's narrow defeat to Brandon Jauregui by 34-hundredths of a second, combined with Danny Carillo being disqualified for apparently cutting off Valencia's Falco DiGiallonardo as they raced shoulder to shoulder toward the finish had the Evans brothers and the Grizzlies runners frustrated at first, but at the end of the day it only added more motivation for Golden Valley as it prepares for the division prelims in nine days.

"Our new mantra is unfinished business," Chris said.