October 22nd - 23rd, 2024

New Course Analysis (click here)

Mt. SAC Invitational

The jury is still out on whether the new improved 3.0 mile Mt SAC course is faster (we’ll have a full analysis as well as our opinion next week) but that didn’t get in the way of some fine City performances, both individually and at the team level. Thirty-one City teams competed at this year’s Mt Sac (a City record) and 488 runners completed the new course (also a record). ZOEY MORRIS and PAUL TRANQUILLA set City records on the new course: 19:00.0 and 15:46.0 respectively (no idea why they didn’t time to the 1/10th). Three girls won their races: ANGELINA LOPEZ - 19:27.0 (Sr-Canoga Park), KELIA NARANJO-CHAMPION 19:49.0 (Sr-Garfield) and BRIGETTE TRUJILLO - 20:05.0 (Sr-Miguel Contreras). Eagle Rock freshman OLIVIA CORRIGAN placed 4th in the D2 Varsity Green race in 20:01.0; the 5th fastest City time at Mt. SAC. I think CHARLES SIMON (Venice) is for real! He had a fantastic performances on the flat Woodbridge course and Saturday posted the 2nd best City time on the hilly Mt SAC course, 15:52.0; only one of two City runners to break 16 minutes. The Palisades girls have 5 girls in the City top 10 for Mt Sac; Very impressive!

Some other notable performances. Sisters LULU MAMMEN and ELEANOR MAMMEN have been a big part of Palisades success this year and they proved their worth at Mt. SAC posting the #6 and #7 top City times. Granada senior REECE TRICE had a phenomenal race, almost 2 minutes better than last year, and looks to be back where she belongs. Junior DAILA HARINCK continues to impress in her 2nd year running with a top-10 City performance and finishing as Palisades #3 on a very strong and deep team. CHRISTOPHER FRELIX finished another race as San Pedro’s #1 earning him #3 on the City Top-10 list. JOAQUIN ORTEGA-TOMASELLI is getting close to last year’s post season fitness to lead Granada Hills on Saturday; there’s more there! Freshman OLIVIA CORRIGAN ran a huge race in her 1st Mt. SAC against varsity competition. She held 2nd place after a big move on the 2nd mile and ended up 4th after a very fast finish on the track against 2 Mt Carmel runners. Olivia and BRIGETTE TRUJILLO are going to make the D2 race interesting.

On the team front Palisades dominated both the City girls and boys rankings while running well under top form. The boys finished without Zac Cohen (DNF’d) and Andrew Razo, both top 5 runners for the Dolphins, and the girls were without Maya Hively and Gabriella Gilyard, also top 5 runners for Palisades. The Granada girls showed well without Sammy Pacheco, led by nice performances from Reece Trice and Sophia Battle. Add to the mix Freshman TRINIDAD MONTENEGRO (sister of Jorge from Monroe) who looks like she’ll be an important part of Granada’s scoring and you have the makings of a team that will not be denied a State birth . The Venice girls aren’t going to beat Granada this year but they had some impressive performances by senior JADE FLORES as well as a slew of freshman led by WHITNEY DERBY that should keep the Gondoliers in the top tier for the next 3 years.
On the boys side the team battle for a State bid (3 teams this year) will be intense. Palisades locks the top berth but the 2nd and 3rd place could go to Granada, San Pedro or Venice. These teams’ #4 & 5 are all within 30 seconds of each other and these runners will determine the State bid. Granada has the edge for sure but San Pedro always shows best at City Finals and Venice ran Mt SAC without their #4 and 5 ALEXANDER DU and MILO POP IV.
In the other divisions, on the boys sides, Monroe (D2), Mendez (D3), SOCES (D4) and Sun Valley Magnet (D5) should take the top spots. Monroe consistently excels and ‘24 is no exception; they ranked as the 5th fastest City team across all divisions at Mt. SAC. Both Mendez and Sun Valley should be commended as well for delivering teams that are on par with top D1 teams.
Canoga Park girls will run away with another D2 title and Belmont looks to have a lock on D4. University has the nod in D3 ( but it’s precarious) and New West Charter (D5) should be planning another trip to Woodward Park.

The table below lists the top 10 City runners across all races on Friday and Saturday at the Mt. SAC Invitational (click on the table to see City team rankings):