GIRLS - Division 2
With the additions of Canoga Park and Marshall to D2 this is by far the most competitive division in City cross country this year, boys or girls. A very talented and experienced Canoga Park team takes the top spot but Bravo Medical will not look favorably on this particularly after last year’s upset loss to Eagle Rock in the City Finals. And, Venice and Eagle Rock are both within striking distance. This will be the race to watch on November 19th.
2. BRAVO MEDICAL
Bravo has a well-balanced varsity team led by sophomore BRYNN BOGUE. Also returning from their runner-up ‘21 City Final varsity team is sophomore SOFIA NAJARRO and senior FRIDA CONEJO who both had solid track seasons and have performed well in summer time-trials. ALONDRA NAVA and JASMINE HERNANDEZ are showing big improvements in time trials this summer as well and should be scoring runners for the Knights. Newcomer KARINA ALANIZ, a sophomore, will be a nice addition to a team that will be looking to shore up the possible loss of SEUNG LEE, one of Bravos top runners from ‘21 that hasn’t run a race since last year. The Knights are a huge team, typically the largest XC team in City, which speaks volumes about their coach Rob Russel’s recruiting efforts. And it may be team size that provides the edge at City Finals in terms of a deeper bench and some surprise freshman.
3. VENICE
Venice have 6 of their varsity runners returning from their 2021 4th-place City Final team including front runner dynamos LIDIA PROKOPOVYCH-SHCHEPETKIN and ELIN NOWAK who took 1st and 3rd in that race. But they’ll need some big improvements from sophomore ELLA SENELICK and senior AMELIA DRUMMOND to make a run at Bravo Medical. Sophomore KAITLIN SANDOVAL should help the cause as she has shown steady improvement in her freshman year.
Eagle Rock lost four of their varsity runners from last year’s championship team, including City standouts KEELY MIYAMOTO and CELESTE CORRIGAN. But they have 3 outstanding runners from that team returning this fall in senior MARIELLE WILLIAMSON and juniors TORY YETTER and ELIZABETH CORRIGAN. They’ll need to find 2 additional runners that can perform in the 22-minute range on Pierce to complete with Venice and that could be sophomore FAYE WALRATH and senior IXTALLI CHAVEZ. If the Eagles can recruit CATALIINA ALVIDREZ (a top-ranked City 800m runner) to the XC team that might be a real coup. This is a large, well-coached team will a tradition of excellence and it’s the reason they’re ranked 3rd.
4. EAGLE ROCK
5. MONROE
This will be a rebuilding year for the Monroe girls team that only has 3 girls returning from their ‘21 team. STEPHANIE JERONMO shows a lot of promise and should be the Vikings top runner but she has been inconsistent. Sophomore NOELIA ORTEGA is the top returning runner and has a chance to break 20 minutes this year. The good news is that their summer time trials show big improvement over last year’s times, AND a month and a half earlier. Senior TIFFANY FLORES, sophomore ALISON OSORIO and juniors LESLEY SAUCEDO and VALARIA ALFARO all have a shot at top- scoring positions for Monroe.
The Hunters lost their star runner DULCE GONZALEZ from last year’s championship squad but the rest of the varsity team remains intact. The ‘21 team was young and relatively inexperienced with the exception of Dulce. The ‘22 team has the advantage of another year under their belts and some big improvements in their top runners. On the whole this is a better team than their ‘21 team. Junior ANGELINA VALLADARES and sophomore ANGELINA LOPEZ will be Canoga’s top runners and both have a legitimate shot at the individual championship. These girls both had superlative XC and track seasons this past year. Junior KARINA PEREZ is Canoga’s 3rd-ranked runner from last year but she’s had a good summer and could compete for their #2 spot. ASHLEY PINEDA and SARAH GODINEZ should fill out the score card for the Hunters and the City title will be determined here. This is a well-coached team that knows how to win the big races.