Gabriela Zarat finishes the final leg of the DMR at Roosevelt High School on Saturday, February 28th. The 4-way meet between Belmont, Bravo Medical, Roosevelt and Santee was the first event on the newly constructed track facility. The Belmont girls won the DMR and earlier in the day Gabriela set the track record in the 1,600m of 5:38.0.
Heard on the Track . . .
For the 2nd week in a row, Cleveland sophomore Will Abiragi has posted the top City time, an impressive 4:29.02 1,600m at the Tara Davis Invite.
Eagle Rock sophomore Olivia Corrigan has transferred out of LA City and will be running at D1 southern section Valencia HS this spring.
Venice sophomore Whitney Derby won the women’s 5k race at the LAUSD Health & Wellness race at Dodger Stadium on February 14th.
LACXC.com will be at the Arcadia Distance Challenge on March 7th.
Roosevelt 4-Way
Theodore Roosevelt High School
Saturday, February 28th, 2026
Brothers in Arms
All in, there’s over 80 years of LA City experience among these 4 coaches - Julian Parada (Belmont), Robert Mata (Roosevelt), Tomas Aguirre (Santee) and Francisco Quijada (Bravo Medical). With ties going back to their days running at Roosevelt and Bravo Medical, they continue to imbue their passion for the sport into the teams they coach. Thanks for the opportunity to cover the Roosevelt 4-Way!
ETHAN BAROK on the final lap of the 1,500m at the Winter Championships. He closed the race with a 1:02.29 final 400m to place 6th in 3:58.74. That’s the 2nd best time in LA City history and converts to a 4:16.34 1,600m.
W ILL ABIRAGI - Cleveland (Sophomore)
Lots of great performances at the Winter Championships and Will Abiragi’s 1:23.20 in the 600m may have been the best. The performance ranks #2 all-time in the LA City section for 600m and the best sophomore time. The time converts to a 1:54.82 for the 800m which would be a City grade-level record and the 14th best time for any grade in the last 20 years.
ANNABELLE REFNES was in 5th place headed into the final event of the Pentathlon, the 800m. She ran a 2:21.49 to smoke the competition and take the gold in the competition.
JACKSON TAYLOR finishes the 1,200m 1st leg of the distance medley relay handing off to BRENDEN HARPER for the 400m leg. Palisades placed 5th in the race and set school a school record of 10:36.78.
YESENIA VALDEZ competes in the 3,000m at the Winter Championships under the lights. She ran 10:26.53 which is the 3rd best City performance all-time and converts to a 11:12.71 3,200m. Earlier in the day she competed in the 1,500m, running a 4:54.95 (5:16.69 1.600m), the 9th best time ever In City.
Palisades Charter School Record - 4K DMR 10:36.78
(l-r) Jackson Taylor, Ernesto Jalomo, Zach Cohen, Brenden Harpe
Canoga Park senior ABRIELE ARCILLA runs in the 1st heat of the 1,500m at the Winter Championships.
‘The Drive’
Is dedicated to LA City’s high school distance running community
The goal is to evangelize exceptional teams and athletes with high quality, curated content and editorial perspectives in an online periodic publication.
Each volume will include a ‘Special’ section, as well as Athletes of the Week/Month, ‘The Week in Pictures’ including a ‘Picture of the Week’, ‘The Numbers’, and ‘Heard on the Trail’.
ENJOY!