Canoga Park sophomore Daniel Torres posted the top City time on Friday at Mt. SAC, placing 4th in the Varsity Blue race in 16:22.0.
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Heard on the Trail . . . .
Birmingham senior Daniel Salazar ran a competent 16:13.8 at Mt. SAC on Saturday placing 30th in the Varsity Blue race. What no one knows is that Daniel stopped at the 1.25-mile mark in the race to tie his shoe, a stop that cost him 59 seconds. Not approximately 59 seconds, EXACTLY 59 seconds; I have it on video. His adjusted time for this stoppage is 15:14.8, the 4th fastest City time on Saturday.
The Marshall boys did not run on Friday; they were scheduled for the Varsity Blue race at 11:06.
Eagle Rock ran without their top athlete FIONA WALTS.
Palisades Charter ran a single boy and 4 girls in Saturday’s races; an ominous sign for the incumbent City champions headed into post season.
Former City runner Olivia Corrigan placed 2nd in 16:39.9 in the Teams sweepstakes race, the 4th fastest girls time on Saturday. The former Eagle Rock junior now runs for Saugus.
Oct. 23rd & 24th, 2026
Mt. San Antonio College
Walnut, CA
78th Annual Mt. SAC XC Invite
In total, 32 City teams and 497 athletes competed over the 2-day competition at Mt. SAC. Friday’s races were held on the “new” hill course in perfect conditions while Saturday’s races were held on the rain course due to standing water on the course from the previous night’s rain.
ETHAN FUNK and MIGUEL MORA both ran the Individual Sweeps and proved they’re the runners to beat in City. Ethan placed 10th in 14:41.2 and Miguel 18th in 14:55.7, both were PBs. They’ll be competing for the D1 City title on Nov. 21st. Kennedy junior FELIPE PEREZ placed 6th in 15:13.3 in the Varsity Blue race and was the #3 ranked City runner. Division 2 boys showed well at Mt. SAC, placing 5 runners in the City Top-10, led by Santee senior ADRIAN AGUIRRE. Adrian had the lead going into the 3rd mile of the Varsity Green race and settled for 3rd in 15:22.6, the 4th fastest City time and the top D2 time. Bravo Medical freshman DYLAN LOMELI has improved in every race in his 1st season running and continued that progress at Mt. SAC with a 2nd place finish in the Freshman Yellow race in 16:06.3, the 9th fastest City time on Saturday.
Here are the top-10 City boys results from Saturday:
Emily Rodriguez placed 3rd in the Varsity Yellow race to score the top City time on Saturday. Granada Hills freshman ALESSANDRA DUENAS was just 4 seconds behind in the Varsity Green race, placing 5th in 18:26.8. Venice junior WHITNEY DERBY is back and looks to be in top form for post season. She posted the 3rd best City time on Saturday with a 7th place finish in the Varsity Green A in 18:42.9. Palisades Charter senior KENDAL SHAVER set a PB of 18:47.2, the 4th fastest City time.
Here are the top-10 City girls results from Saturday:
Twenty City teams and 244 City athletes competed on Friday.
Canoga Park boys posted 4 of the top City times on Friday, led by sophomore DANIEL TORRES who placed 4th in the Varsity Blue race in 16:22.0. The other Hunters, all returning next year include ALEXANDER OCANA (JR), STEVE ONTIIVERSO (JR) and KEVIN GARCIA (So). Monroe also scored well with 3 runners ranked in the City top 10: CHRISTIAN ROLDAN (Sr), ISMAEL MURALIES (Jr) and JAMES ALLTOP (Sr). Sun Valley continues to impress with another duo, junior OCTAVIO HERNANDEZ and senior NESTOR SOLORIO, the top D5 times on the day.
Here are the top 10 City performances from Friday:
D5 girls teams scored big at Mt. SAC, earning 5 of the top 10 City spots. But it was Canoga Park’s GABRIELA CASTELLANOS who won City top honors posting the only sub-20 City performance on Friday. New West Charter DENISE HUBER set the D5 standard with an impressive 4th place 20:16.7 performance in the Varsity Green race. She’s the girl to beat in City D5. Hollywood senior ANJU SEKHON transferred from the North Coast section this year and will be the girl to beat in D3. She hasn’t lost a league race this year and placed 7th in the Varsity Yellow race on Friday with the 3rd fastest City time on the day, 20:20.5. VESPER HUME was the top City freshman on Friday, posting a 20:42.5 in the Varsity Green race. She’s a big reason for Marshall’s elevation in the City rankings.
Mt. SAC - Day 2
City’s top 2 runners, MIGUEL MORA (Jr-Carson) and ETHAN FUNK (Jr-Palisades Charter) competed in the Individual Sweepstakes race at Mt. SAC. They’ll both be competing for the D1 City title on November 21st.
The Kennedy girls are helping to redefine girls running in the valley. The team is ranked #4 in D1 headed into post season led by EMILY RODRIGUEZ and GEORGIA ILLINGWORTH.
Granada Hills freshman ALESSANDRA DUENAS has risen to the top of the Highlanders varsity team and will be vying for individual D1 City honors in November.
Birmingham senior DANIEL SALAZAR will be a runner to watch in post season. He has been one of City’s top runners this season and runs deceptively well on hills. His performance at Mt. SAC was remarkable for the time and place he earned given that he stopped mid-race for almost a full minute.
Mt SAC - Day 1
Canoga Park sophomore GABRIELA CASTELLANOS heads down reservoir in the last mile of the Varsity Yellow race. Gabriela posted the top City time on the hill course Friday morning, placing 10th in 19:52.3.
Monroe senior CHRISTIAN ROLDAN crosses the airstrip half way through the Varsity Blue race. Christian finished with the 2nd fasted City mark and placed 2nd in 16:31.4.
San Fernando junior CHLOE CHAVEZ heads down the airstrip on the final half mile of the Varsity Green race. Chloe placed 10th in 20:34.7, the 4th fastest City time on the hill course.
Canoga Park junior ALEXANDER OCANA takes the turn on the Reservoir hill headed down to the airstrip and finish line. Alexander finished with the 3rd best City time on the hill course in 16:48.4.
New West Charter senior DAISY HUBER runs with the front pack on the 1st mile of the Varsity Green race on Friday. Daisy placed 4th in the race in 20:16.7, the 2nd best City time that day and the top City D5 time.
39th Annual Bell Gardens Invitational
Oct. 17th, 2026
Autry Museum of the American West
Los Angeles, CA
Four City runners placed in the top 5 in the boys Varsity race and 22 runners broke 16 minutes to kick off events at the Bell Gardens Invitational. Kennedy junior FELIPE PEREZ won the race in a photo-finish with Carson junior MIGUEL MORA. Both ran big PRs to earn the #2 and #3 rankings in City. In that same race, the Marshall boys accomplished a feat that no division 2 team has done since the inception of D2 in City (2014), beat all D1 teams in a large invitational. Sophomore ALEXANDER SWARTZ led the Barristers with a 5th place 15:08.6 finish, a 28-second PB. That time is the 6th best performance by a City sophomore EVER behind City greats such as Justin Hazell, Ben Hammer, Hector Garcia (Marshal record 15:01.0 at Bell Gardens in 2013), Brent Smith, and current Palisades phenom Ethan Funk, who holds the current City record. Marshall’s other 4 scoring runners also had PB’s including FAUSTO NOBOA (14th, 15:28.6) and ANDREW GARDNER (221st 15:36.6). Carson junior MIGUEL MORA, competing in his 1st cross country season just missed winning the race with a phenomenal 15:00.4 performance.
In the girls’ varsity race, Taft’s top two KRYSTAL TJENALOOI and UNICA GUERRERO, ran away with the race placing 1st and 2nd in 17:57.7 and 17:57.8. The team scored their 3rd invitational win this season with 4 of their top 5 setting PBs. And this is without their #3 runner JENNY NAVA who is preparing for post season. Kennedy junior EMILY RODRIGUEZ just missed a PB with a 3rd place finish in 18:18.6. Junior ELEANOR MAMMEN led the Palisades girls with a 27-seconds PB in 18:25.2 for 4th place. ALESSANDRE DUENAS was the top freshman runner at Bell Gardens', she led Granada with a 6th place finish in 18:32.8. Taft senior ELLIE KERCHER ran a 28-seconds PB to place 8th in 18:37.8, Taft’s #3 finisher. Belmont junior KAREN YES placed 15th in 19:06.6, the top D5 City finisher. Freshman VESPER HUME posted a huge 1-minute+ PB 19:08.9 to place 17th, Marshall’s top finisher at Bell Gardens. This is a runner to watch!
Here are the compiled results for City teams at Bell Garden, taking the 7 top runners from all races and scoring City teams only.
Granada Hills junior GAVIN FINEGAN was the Highlanders top finisher at Bell Gardens. He finished in a PB of 15:28.3 for 13th place.
Marshall junior ANDREW GARDNER looks to be getting back in form after an excellent track season. He finished 21st in the Varsity race with a PB of 15:36.6. Look for Andrew to surprise in November.
Granada Hills varsity poses prior to their 3rd place finish in the varsity race at Bell Gardens.
(l-r) Mia Abrego, Allesandra Duenas, Camila Duenas, Kylie Garcia, Trinidad Montenegro, Elena Medrano
Franklin junior YAEL ZAMBRANO-MEZA set a PB and school grade-level record with his 15:30.1 15th place performance in the Varsity race at Bell Gardens. He’s the top ranked D3 runner this year.
Kennedy senior MATEO CEDILLO and Cleveland junior WILL ABIRAGI close out the final 600m in the varsity race at Bell Gardens. Mateo finished 26th in a PB of 15:44.8 and Will finished 32nd in 15:49.1.
TAFT VARSITY
Front (l-r) Genesis Guerrero, Unica Guerrero, Esmeralda Vargas, Arianna Lewis, Ellie Karchmer, Krystal Tjenalooi, Isabella Sakalowski
Back (l-r) Massimo Sakalowsky, Joseph Noyola, Kian Chavarin, Youssef Ibrahim, Julilan Segal, Jonah Simkin, Mark Banuelos, James Turner
Rose City Cross Country Challenge
Oct. 10th, 2026 - Hahamongna Watershed
Pasaedana, CA
Taft continues to impress with team and individual titles in the boys and girls varsity and JV races at Rose City. Taft Junior EMERALDA VARGAS won her 1st HS XC race winning the JV 3-Mile race in 19:46.9. Senior ARIANNA LEWIS was close behind placing 2nd in 19:50.0. In the girls Varsity race, Taft’s top 6 runners placed in the top 12 to win the team race with 29 points. Sophomores KRYSTAL TJENALOOI and UNICA GUERRERO battled for the title with Krystal winning in the last 200m in 18:30.4; Unica finished 2nd in 18:32.8. Canoga Park sophomore GABRIELA CASTELLANOS ran a huge PR of 18:58.0 to place 5th in the Varsity race. A runner to watch, she could be the next in a long line of Canoga Park City D2 Champions.
Taft sophomore LIAM BARTH took top honors in the boys JV race in 16:47.5. Teammate MASSIMO SAKALOWSKY posted the 2nd fastest frosh time, 16:59.0, placing 3rd in the JV race. Taft’s scoring runners all placed within the top 10 in the JV race. In the Varsity race Santee senior ADRIAN AGUIRRE showed that his Woodbridge time of 15:08.9 was no aberration. Running on a more technical and hilly course at Rose City, Adrian still managed to run 15:25.3 to win in a very well executed race plan, his first HS XC win! Birmingham senior DANIEL SALAZAR set a PB of 15:37.3 to place 3rd in the Varsity race; a superb performance. Taft senior MARK BANUELOS nearly PR’d to place 4th. Garfield had 2 runners nearly break 16 minutes in the varsity race. Sophomore JESUS TORO placed 5th in 16:00.1, the top City sophomore, and junior ALEXIS ORTIZ placed 6th in 16:00.7; both were PBs and mid 15-minute performances on Woodbridge or Rosemead. Two runners to watch! Canoga Park sophomore DANIEL TORRES placed 19th in 16:32.9; he’s shown impressive improvements his sophomore year and will be a runner to watch in November.
Adrian Aguirre set a course record at Rose City in 15:25.3. He’s a top contender for the D2 title in November.
Krystal Tjenalooi takes the win in the varsity race to lead Taft to a team victory at Rose City.
Twins Unica and Genesis Guerrero are a big part of the Taft girls’ success this season. Unica placed 2nd in 18:32.8 and Genesis 8th 19:12.8
Daniel Salazar (2836) continues to impress in his senior year with a big 3rd place finish at Rose City in 15:37.3, the top B’ham runner.
Canoga Park has a slew of young talent and sophomore Gabriela Castellanos is one of their brightest. Here she crosses the finish line at Rose City in 5th place in a PB of 18:58.0.
Sophomore Liam Barth looks to be the future of the Taft Boy’s team. He set a school grade-level record at Woodbridge (15:58.1) and won the JV race at Rose City in 16:47.5.
Junior Esmeralda Vargas is running over 2 minutes faster than last year’s season best. She won the JV race at Rose City in 19:46.9, the 6th fastest Taft time on the day.
45th Annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic
Sept, 18-19th, 2026 - The Great Park, Irvine
Both of Taft's varsity teams took top City honors at Woodbridge. Two sophomores led the Toreadors, KRYSTAL TJENALOOI and UNICA GUERRERO. Both have set school records this season, Unica 3 weeks ago at We RUN LA and Krystal on Saturday evening in the rated race. Jenny Nava finished as Taft’s #3; running on very limited mileage she still managed to almost break 18 minutes and just missed placing top-100 in the Rated race. A very talented runner, she’ll be someone to watch in November. These 3 runners posted the top LA City times this season. Note: Hudson Song is not running XC this season. No front runners this year for the Taft boys but as a squad this team is better. In the Gold Varsity B race they just missed getting all of their top 5 runners under 16-minutes, led by senior JONAH SIMKIN who finished in 15:43.6. More impressive, the delta between their #1 and #5 was a mere 16.5 seconds. That combination earned the Toreadors a 55-point margin over 2nd ranked Marshall in hypothetical scoring and if they can continue to improve will make the Taft boys a tough team to beat in November. Note: William Hipple has transferred to Redondo Union.
Palisades Charter did not run at Woodbridge; both their girls and boys will likely challenging Taft for D1 City title.
Santee senior ADRIAN AGUIRRE took City top honors with a 25-seconds PR of 15:09.5. Adrian spent most of last year dealing with a nagging thigh injury but he appears to be in top form this year and will be a force if he can stay healthy. Kennedy’s top runner, junior FELIPE FRANSUAT PEREZ, was on a sub-15 minute tear at 2-miles but faded in the final mile to finish with City’s #2 performance 15:19.4. Marshall’s top 2, sophomore ALEXANDER SWARTZ and senior FAUSTO NOBOA, both ran PBs in Saturday morning’s Green races. Alexander is running over a minute faster than his freshman year and Fausto, the reigning D2 champion, is 20 seconds ahead of last year. Cleveland phenom WILL ABIRAGI ran the 2nd fastest City D1 time in a PR of 15:35.1 which puts him in the money for City Finals. Regardless of that outcome, his commitment this fall should pay dividends next spring.
The top 10 City girls at Woodbridge look to be the future of LA City XC. Eight of these girls will be back next year and 4 are underclassmen. All have made big improvements over last year to rise to the top. The Taft girls dominated the City leader board with the top 3 City performances at Woodbridge and 8 of the fastest 15 City performances (see below). Granada Hills freshman ALLESANDRE DUUMAS was the big surprise for the City girls. She ran well on the faster Rosemead course 2 weeks ago. But her performance at Woodbridge was another level; she PR’d by over a minute to rank #4 in City as the top freshman. This could be a franchise runner for Granada! Belmont junior KAREN YES’ hard work this summer is paying off with some very impressive early season performances. Her school record performance of 18:20.2 on Friday night is almost 2 minutes off her ‘25 PR and ranks her #5 in LA City.
Krystal Tjenalooi set a Taft school record and the City standard of 17:52.0 in the Rated race at Woodbridge.
Junior KAREN YES set a Belmont school record and a City D5 record with her 18:20.2 performance in the White Varsity A race on Friday evening. She’s ranked #5 in LA City.
Cleveland junior WILL ABIRAGI crosses the 2-mile mark in the Blue Varsity B race. He finished in 15:35.1, a 30-second PR over his time at Cool Breeze 2 weeks ago.
Last year’s D2 City runner-up FIONA WALTS led Eagle Rock with a 19:29.3 in the Gold Varsity A race.
San Pedro junior ZACHARY MCGRATH matched his ‘25 season PR with a 15:41.1 performance that ranks #7 in LA City
Granada Hills Varsity
Kylie Garcia, Mia Abrego, Trinidad Montenegro, Elena Medrano, Allesandra Duenas, Emma Contreras, Toni Cruz
Kennedy Varsity Boys
Ian Castillo, Mateo Cedillo, Charles Menjivar, Felipe Perez, Nour de Fazio, Diego Cervantes, Bryan Rodriguez
Top 15 Individual City Performances
City Team Rankings
City rankings are based on scoring of the top 5 runners for each team based on performances across all races at the 45th Annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, scored in a virtual contest with only City teams. City teams that with fewer than 5 runners are not included in the ranking.
‘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!