Once again, a local coach has stepped up and offered to help give insight to what’s going on in cross country. This comes from Glendora assistant coach Bob Ramsey
Ramsey said: Local cross county teams move into the final phase of the season this week, with each of the local leagues holding their Championship Finals meets. These meets will determine league championships along with CIF qualifying spots – with the top three teams in most leagues and top four in 7-8 team leagues advancing to CIF prelims. Individuals on non-advancing teams who finish in the top six in their leagues will also qualify for CIF. To continue, click thread
In early action on Saturday, the Bishop Amat girls clinched the Del Rey League championship with a second place finish on the flat three mile course at Santa Fe Dam. Junior Illiana Velasquez led the Lancers with 20:01 sixth place finish, and was joined at the top by senior Alexis Schuitema, 10th in 20:34. The young boys team, fourth on the day and for the season, were led by soph Julian Moran, 18th in 17:18. Complete meet results are here.
We head into the week with three teams strongly favored to advance at CIF and beyond. In Monday’s CIF-SS rankings, St. Lucy’s remains fifth in Div 3, while the Bonita girls somewhat inexplicably fell to 12th in D3. The Glendora boys remained 2nd in the very tightly packed Div. 2. By virtue of their high rankings over the past several weeks, all three teams will receive at-large entries into the post-season should they somehow fail to qualify through their leagues.
Tuesday: The Mission Valley League, the only local league still competing in dual meets, lines up everyone on the 3 mile Hill Course Bonelli Park. Rosemead are the favorites among the girls, while Arroyo and South El Monte should battle for the boys title. The Sierra League runs at Mt. Sac with the Glendora boys the clear favorites to repeat last year’s title, with Diamond Bar looking to snag the league’s third CIF spot for the first time in a number of years. The girls championships will be a close battle between St. Lucy’s and Ayala.
Wednesday: The San Antonio League returns to the 3 mile Valley Course at Bonelli park, the site of their cluster meets, with the West Covina girls and South Hills boys as the clear favorites for the titles.
Thursday: The Miramonte League will move over to Mt.Sac for their finals, with the ranked Bonita girls as favorites and Los Altos looking to pass them if they’re sick or falter. The Los Altos boys are heavy favorites. The Montview League returns to the big hills at Schabarum Park for their finals. The Sierra Vista girls have led all year, while the Azusa boys will looking to challenge season leaders La Puente for the title. The Valle Vista league will finish up on the 3 mile Valley Course at Bonelli Park. The Covina girls have been the class of the league all year, while Covina and Northview, winners of the first two cluster meets, will fight it out for the boys title.
