Recently in Cross country Category

It might not have been quite as good a race as they had hoped, but it was still very good.
The Rancho Cucamonga High boys cross country team finished third in Division 1 at the CIF State Championships on Saturday in Fresno, the best finish in school history.
Later on Saturday, coach Terry Tierney was informed that the Cougars got one of four bids from the state to run next week at prestigious Nike Nationals in Portland, Oregon.
"We had a better team time than the Division 2 champion," Tierney said. "After the power merge, we were behind them, but we both got to go."
The event, including travel expenses, is paid for by Nike.
It's a complicated process to earn a bid to Nationals that goes beyond team time or team score.
After all the divisions run Saturday, they take many of the top teams and "merge" the times together. Then they take the top few teams after that merge and merge them again, and find the top four teams. California gets two automatically, but there are also two at-large berths and California got those as well.
The top three teams in Division 1 got to go (Rancho Cucamonga, Mission Viejo Trabuco Hills and Arcadia) as did the top team in Division 2 (Santa Clarita Golden Valley).

The CIF State Championships for cross country take place on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. Unlike previous years, I will not be there. Ace reporter J.P. Hoornstra will be there instead.

Here is a look at the county teams/individuals that will be competing:
Division 1 boys, 12:20 p.m.
Rancho Cucamonga
The Cougars were ranked No. 1 in the state last week before finishing second at CIF-SS Finals. As well as Arcadia ran last week, it will take a vast improvement by Rancho Cucamonga and a drop off by Arcadia to win, but second place would still be impressive. This is the fourth straight year at state for the team, and for seniors Luis Gutierrez and Calvin Davis, who were on the varsity as freshmen.
Division 2 boys, 11:15 a.m.
Ayala
For the longest time, Ayala's girls had the better reputation, but this is the third time in the last five years the boys are going. The boys finished fourth last week and will have to run well to maintain that position.
Division 2 girls, 12:50 p.m.
Colony
The Colony girls have had Xochitl Navarrete and Valerie Mares go as individuals before, but never had their team go. The Titans are happy to be there after finishing seventh and grabbing the last qualifying spot, so just running a solid race is a good goal.
Melissa Fairchild, Serrano
The Sun's runner of the year last year, she isn't able to go with her team. Her team was expected to make it to state, but didn't even make it to finals. She should be near the front of the pack.
Division 3 boys, 1:25 p.m.
Ismael Griego, Granite Hills
He was the No. 1 runner on the team that went to state last year. The team around him wasn't as strong this year, so he'll have to go it alone.
Division 3 girls, 11:45 a.m.
Granite Hills
Last year, Granite Hills took both the boys and the girls. Only the girls as a team are back, and looking to improve on their ninth-place finish last year.
Division 4 boys, 9:40 a.m.
Big Bear
Big Bear was a Division 4 mainstay at state for years, even after Ryan and Chad Hall graduated. After winning back-to-back state titles in 2007-08, they finished fourth in 2009. They didn't qualify last year, so taking fourth at CIF-SS Finals is a step back in the right direction. Big Bear, led by Bryan Hayes (second at CIF-SS Finals), has a history of coming up big at the state meet.

Arrowhead Christian Academy is looking to fill varsity head-coaching jobs in boys and girls tennis, coed cross country and track and field, according to athletic director Richard Yaross. Interested parties can contact Yaross at 909-793-0601, ext. 185.

Granite Hils, the first county school to qualify its boys and girls teams for state cross country in four years, had a disappointing morning here in Fresno.
The boys started strong, tied for first after the first mile with Palos Verdes. But they faded after that and took eighth in the Division 3 race, a drop from the fourth-place finish last year.
The girls didn't start as strong and sophomore standout Chelsea Bennis was affected by her hip injury. Bennis, usually the No. 1 or 2 runner, was the 7 runner on Saturday. As a result Granite Hills was ninth.
Apple Valley senior Hannah Valenzuela finished her CIF high school cross country career with a seventh-place finish in the Div. 3 race on a chilly, cloudy morning.
--pete marshall

I'm here in Fresno for the CIF State Cross Country Championships, and it's cold. It'll be down close to freezing tonight, and the high tomorrow is only expected to get to the low 50s. At least rain isn't expected to move into the area until late afternoon, after the final race.
Check back here on this blog during the morning and early afternoon Saturday for updates on county competitors: Apple Valley's Hannah Valenzuela, Aquinas' Alyssa Windle, Ayala's girls team, Colony's Xochitl Navarrete and Nick Valenzuela, Granite Hills' boys and girls teams, Rancho Cucamonga boys team and Serrano's girls team.

The races begin at 8:30 a.m., with the Division 3 boys, which includes Granite Hills.

--Pete Marshall

For those who wonder if they run cross country in the rain, the answer is definitely yes.
The CIF-SS Finals were held as scheduled, but on the rain course at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday.

Five San Bernardino County teams qualified for state by finishing in the top seven in their race: Rancho Cucamonga boys in Division 1, Ayala and Serrano girls in Division 2, and Granite Hills boys and girls in Division 3.
In addition, Colony's Xochitl Navarrete (girls Division 2) and Nick Valenzuela (boys Division 2), Apple Valley's Hannah Valenzuela (giris Division 3), and Aquinas' Alyssa Windle (girls Division 5) all qualified for the state meet as individuals, which is next Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

If you love cross country -- and I'm sure there are many of you who do - Mt. San Antonio College is the place to be the next two Saturdays, Nov. 13 and 20.
The CIF-SS released the heat sheets for the CIF Prelims Nov. 13. In all, there will be 33 races, beginning at 7:45 a.m. and the last one beginning at 4:05 p.m. There will be a county team or individual competing in 31 of 33 races. It was also announced on Saturday that the Aquinas and Western Christian boys teams were selected as at-large teams in Division 5 based on their rankings.

Here are some races to keep an eye on:
Race 5, Boys Division 2, 8:43 a.m.
Ayala and Sultana, two schools better known for their girls teams, also have solid boys teams in search of the CIF Finals.
Race 24, Boys Division 1, 2:06 p.m.
Former Citrus Belt League rivals Rialto and Redlands East Valley will battle. Rialto won the San Andreas League this year, while REV was a close second to Yucaipa in the CBL.
Race 26, Boys Division 1, 2:33 p.m.
This one has five county teams in it. State ranked Rancho Cucamonga is there, as is CBL champion and defending state qualifier Yucaipa. Redlands, third in the CBL is there as is Chaffey, Upland and Christian Navarro of Los Osos.
Race 31, Girls Division 1, 3:38 p.m.
Two of the top teams in the county, Rancho Cucamonga and Redlands will be represented as will Los Osos and Rialto.

Victor Valley College hosted the cross country finals for both the Mojave River League and the Desert Sky League on Wednesday.
Granite Hills, as expected, dominated the DSL. The boys' 23 points, led by winner senior Cody Jordan (16:01) easily defeated runner-up Ridgecrest Burroughs (49).
In a race that had only 23 runners and three scoring teams, the Granite Hills girls (ranked No. 1 in the county) scored a perfect 15 with the first five finishers and seven of the top nine. Granite Hills sophomore Chelsea Bennis won in 19:15. Burroughs was second with 54.

As opposed to the four-team DSL, the five-team MRL had close finishes for both team titles. For the boys, Apple Valley, with five finishers in the top 12, edged out Serrano, 31-38. Serrano's Ben Minick won in 16:23, while Apple Valley's Nick Reynolds was runner-up in 16:38.

The MRL girls has two of the top teams in CIF. Sultana entered the week ranked No. 7 in CIF-SS Division 2, while Serrano is right behind them at No. 8.
And that's how it played out Wednesday. Sultana won with 29 points, to edge out Serrano, with 34. Again Serrano had the individual winner (Melissa Fairchild, 18:01), but not the team winner. Sultana's Hannah Munyan was second in 18:04.

Results were received by The Sun late on Wednesday and will not appear in Thursday's paper. Hope is they will run in Friday's paper.

The home stretch to the cross country season is approaching rapidly, with the CIF-SS prelims scheduled for November 13 and the CIF-SS and CIF-State finals scheduled for the following two weekends after that.

This weekend will be a big one in preparation for those important meets, as the Mt. SAC and Cajon Dog Days of Fall meets will be held.

The Mt. SAC race, taking place Friday and Saturday at the college, one of the premier meets in the Inland Empire and will feature an array of upper-level county teams. Granite Hills and Yucca Valley will run Friday while Apple Valley, Colony, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands and Sultana will participate Saturday. With both the CIF-SS prelims and finals to be held at Mt. SAC, this weekend's meet allows runners to get a test run on the course.

Saturday will also mark the debut of the Dogs Days of Fall event at Cajon, which will feature the Cowboys along with various other county teams. While it doesn't have the fan fare of Mt. SAC, it should be an intriguing race as well.

The largest cross country meet in the Inland Empire will take place Saturday at Glen Helen Park in Devore, as the Inland Empire Challenge Invitational will be held.

A who's who of teams and runners from both San Bernardino and Riverside counties will face off in the meet, both for county pride -- the battle of the counties is an intriguing subplot in the meet -- and in preparation for the postseason races that begin in a few weeks.

Races will begin at 7:45 a.m. with the large-school freshman boys race and will end at 11:19 with the middle-school junior varsity races. The sweepstakes races at 9:30 (boys) and 9:50 (girls) are the headliners, with 115 of the best male runners and 85 of the best female runners in the region going head to head.

Released literally moments ago by the CIF-SS offices.

DIVISION 1 BOYS
1. Arcadia
2. Trabuco Hills
3. Dana Hills
4. Marina
5. Rancho Cucamonga
6. Great Oak
7. Yucaipa
8. El Toro
9. Corona
10. California
11. Capistrano Valley
12. Redlands East Valley
12. M.L. King
13. Troy

DIVISION 2 BOYS
1. Loyola
2. Glendora
3. Claremont
4. Saugus
5. Valencia-Pl.
6. Adolfo Camarillo
7. Ventura
8. Esperanza
9. North Torrance
10. Westlake
11. Colony
12. Canyon-Ana.
13. Newbury Park

Yucaipa senior cross country runner Tyler Dutchover finished first place in the Men's 5K Cross Country Open run at the Nike Cross Nationals this past Saturday in Portland, Ore.

Dutchover, who helped the Thunderbirds reach the CIF-State Meet for the first time in nearly a decade, ran the course in 16 minutes, 16.4 seconds -- almost five seconds faster than the next closest competitor.

The granddaddy of all Inland Empire cross country meets starts Friday at Mt. San Antonio College as the Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational gets underway.

The two-day event features virtually every high school cross country team in Southern California along with several others from other parts of the state. The teams will be broken down into five divisions, with the smaller-school divisions (divisions 3, 4, and 5) running Friday and larger school divisions (divisions 1 and 2) running Saturday.

Friday's events start at 11 a.m., with the team sweepstakes events being run from 4:29-5:45 p.m. Saturday sees the meet start at 7:30 a.m. and continue until 4:19 p.m. The team sweepstakes events will be relatively early in the day, with the girls division 1 and 2 races going off at 9:35 a.m. and the boys division 1 and 2 races following at 10.

The 9th annual Inland Empire Cross Country Challenge will likely be switched from Glen Helen Park in San Bernardino to Prado Park in Chino, according to meet organizer Rich Morales.

Morales, the girls cross country coach at Alta Loma High School, indicated Wednesday afternoon that there is a "98% chance" that the meet will be moved because Glen Helen Park has been the staging point for firefighters battling the Wrightwood fires. An official decision will be made by this morning.

As for the meet itself, this year is expected to be the biggest one in the event's history, with over 70 teams and 2,800 racers expected to compete Saturday starting at 7:45 a.m.
"Every year we've run this it's gotten bigger and bigger," Morales said. "This is the biggest meet in Southern California behind Mt. SAC and the Woodbridge Invitational."

The teams -- consisting of schools from San Bernardino and Riverside Counties -- will be broken up into three classes (Large, Medium and Small), with varsity races running from 8:54 to 10:40. The sweepstakes races -- the featured events at the meet -- will run at 9:30 (boys) and 9:50 (girls).