THE COVID ISSUE
As promised and just in time for the post-season we present the definitive report of COVID’s impact on southern California runners. . .
With a special emphasis on LA CITY athletes!
COVID - THE DATA
The 5 Woodbridge Invitationals from 2016 - 2021 were used to collect data to compare 2021 performances to both the 2019 results and the averaged results from 2016-2019.
The graph above plots the complete dataset we used in our analysis - ALL 53,779 performances from the 5 Woodbridge Invitational from 2016 - 2021.
LA CITY RANKINGS
Ranking of TOP-15 BOYS LA City teams participating in League Finals. * Times from finals held at Elysian Park and Peck Park have been converted to Pierce Equivalents. CLICK ON THE TABLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL TOP-10 RANKINGS BY DIVISION.
Ranking of TOP-15 GIRLS LA City teams participating in League Finals. * Times from finals held at Elysian Park and Peck Park have been converted to Pierce Equivalents. CLICK ON THE TABLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL TOP-10 RANKINGS BY DIVISION.
LEAGUE FINALS
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Runners from three of the top teams in the West Valley League sprint to the finish!
Isaac Torres (right) won this battle as part of the larger war for League Team Champion.
West Valley League Finals - Pierce College - Nov 4th, 2021 (l-r) James Lopez (Cleveland), Pablo Abrego (Granada Hills), Isaac Torres (El Camino Real)
BOYS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at PIERCE. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
GIRLS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at PIERCE. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
* Pierce Conversion 1:18.0 for boys. BOYS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at Elysian Park. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
* Pierce Conversion 2:01.0 for girls. GIRLS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at Elysian Park. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
BOYS Western League Champ MAX FIELDS (Palisades - 15:43.8)
GIRLS Western League Champ MOLLIE WITTENBERG (Palisades - 19:29.1)
Jose Sevilla (2nd-16:06.7) and Alec Schmitt (3rd-16:10.6)
BOYS West Valley League Champs - EL CAMINO REAL (l-r) Isaac Torres, Matteo, Glass, Kevin Alvarez, Max Liberman, Justin Canas, Austin Ledgerwood, Evan Sinnot
GIRLS West Valley League Champs - GRANADA HILLS (l-r) Naima Salazar, Jocelyn Pacheco, Isabel Castagnola, Meztli Velazquez, Reece Trice
BOYS West Valley League Champ: AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD (ECR 16:13.5)
GIRLS West Valley League Champ: ISABEL CASTAGNOLA (Granada Hills 19:07.8)
GIRLS Valley Mission League Champ FRIEDA CEDILLO (Kennedy - 19:15.3)
BOYS Valley Mission League Champ JUDE SANDRIDGE (Reseda - 16:16.1)
DULCE GONZALES - Canoga Park - 2nd place Valley Mission (19:34.6).
YANILETTE MONTANO - Reseda - 3rd place Valley Mission (20:17.0).
BOYS Northern League Champ FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin - 16:28.0)
GIRLS Northern League Champ KEELY MIYAMOTO (Eagle Rock - 19:37.5)
BOYS Northern League Team Champions MARSHALL (l-r) Finlay Robinson (213), Anton Hense (211), Panos Papadeos (212)
BOYS East Valley League Champ WILLIAM ROJAS (Monroe - 16:35.3)
BOYS East Valley League Team Champs MONROE (l-r) Brandon Valadez, Rigoberto Castellanos, Netzer Escobar, William Rojas, Jefler Alonzo, Daniel Rivera, Nicolas Del Angel
GIRLS East Valley League Champ LEYLA HUERTA (Monroe - 21:25.0)
GIRLS East Valley League Team Champs MONROE l(r) Front: Mirabel Parra, Suleymi Navarro, Leyla Huerta Back: Noelia Ortega, Yasmin Liera, Emili Alacantara, Isabella Miguel, Daniela Dorantes, Stephanie Jeronimo
Garfield's Varsity Team (l-r) Alyson Perez, Mia Reyes, Jacqueline Ramirez, Halle Perez, Sophia Naranjo-Champion, Kelia Naranjo-Champion
Halle Perez (Garfield-20:21.5) 4th place Eastern League Finals - Elysian Park, Thurs Nov 4th.
HANNAH CARLSON (Northridge-22:37.3) Valley City Champ
TESSO SOLLANO (Lakeview Terrace-22:03.0-) North Valley City Champ
ISIDRO VALDEZ (Sun Valley Magnate-18:18.7) Central Valley Champ
ALEXIS RAMIREZ (East Valley-18:44.9) Valley League Champ and ALAN HERNANDEZ (SOCES-18:53.8) runner-up Valley League finals
EAST VALLEY VARSITY - Valley League Champs (l-r) Cristian Cortez (1326), Alexis Ramirez (1330, Samuel Membreno (1329), Gabriel Herrera (1328), Ernesto Hernandez (1327)
COMMUNITY CHARTER VARSITY-North Valley League Champs (l-r) Josue Gonzalez (1315), Eric Cortez (1311), Daniel Martinez (1313), Emanuel Cobos (1308), Emanuel Moreno (1314), William Salcedo (1312), Yamil Ballcels (1310)
FULTON PREP VARSITY - Valley League Runner-Up (l-r) Ronald Portillo (1349), Joshua Bahingire (1345), Aaron Wegulo (1351) Joshua Driottez (1346), Anthony Sanchez (1350), Yael Marrufo (1347), Hector Miranda (1348)
AROUND THE LEAGUES
MT SAC
Isabel Castagnola climbs 'Poop-Out' hill in the Varsity D1 Blue Race. She took 2nd in the race in 18:46 and had the top City girls time at Mt. Sac.
Max Fields starts the climb up 'Poop-Out' hill on his way to a 2nd place finish in the D1 Varsity Yellow race. Max's performance was tops in City and helped the Dolphins to a 2nd place finish.
The winning Granada team, (l-r) Naima Salazar (4318), Zaida Velazquez (4322), Jocelyn Pacheco (4314), Isabel Castagnola (4301), Meztli Velazquez (4321), Lilianna Moreira (4312), Reece Trice (4320)
ECR's Austen Ledgerwood (like the new jerseys!) led the Royals (new name too) with a 4th place in the D1 Varsity Green race and a huge PR on the Mt. Sac course (15:48.0), almost matching his Woodbridge PR.
Jude Sandberg finished an impressive week of racing that included a win at Pierce (16:33) on Wednesday and the top division 3 performance at Mt. Sac (16:28) on Saturday in the D1 Varsity Green race.
Palisades top girl Mollie Wittenberg continues to impress in her 1st year of running with a 9th place finish that helped the Dolphins team to 3rd place in the D1 Varsity Red race. Mollie's time of 19:39.1 was the 3rd fastest City time at Mt. Sac.
Mt SAC RESULTS - LA CITY TEAM
The tables below are a compilation of all LA City finishers in all Mt. SAC races on Friday Oct. 22nd and Saturday Oct. 23rd..
The Palisades boys were once again the dominant City team and Max Fields the top City runner (15:40.8). The Palisades team took 4 of the top 6 places in the City ranking with Jose Sevilla continuing to run well and Alec Schmitt returning to form. ECR’s Austin Ledgerwood had an outstanding day crashing through 16 minutes to post a huge PR of 15:48.0. James Jimenez (Venice) posted the best division 2 time but don’t count out William Rojas of Monroe who was close behind, and just 3 days after racing Pierce. Reseda’s Jude Sandridge, the top division 3 finisher, had a strong performance as well and also had run Pierce earlier in the week.
Granada Hills won the Girls D1 Varsity Blue race and ranked as the top City team. Isabel Castagnola had another huge day as the only City girl to break 19 minutes. The Palisades team ran impressively scoring just 13 points behind Granada in a hypothetical City race. Their top 3 girls - Mollie Wittenberg, Kyra Morris, and Ava Baak - placed 3rd-5th in the City rankings. Eagle Rock’s Keely Miyamoto also had a big race posting the 2nd fastest City time on the day. Yanilette Montano of Reseda broke 20 minutes for the 1st time and posted the fastest division 3 time.
Marshall's Finlay Robertson in the lead pack on the 1st pass on the Valley Loop at Mt. Sac.
Meztli Velazquez posted the top City freshman time at Mt. Sac and broke 20 minutes (19:59.7).
Pablo Abrego coming off Reservoir Hill with about 500 meters to the finish. Pablo took 8th pace in the D1 Varsity Yellow race in 16:37 to lead the Highlanders to a 5th place finish.
Alec Schmitt finishes hard with 400 meters to go. Alec finished in 11th place (16:24) D1 Varsity Yellow race.
Luis Sandoval (San Pedro - 16:35) and Jude Sandridge (Reseda - 16:27) ascend 'Poop-Out' hill in the D1 Varsity Green race. Jude is the top division 3 runner this year and Luis is a top returning runner from '19.
Max Liberman (ECR - 16:37) is crashing the downhill off 'Reservoir Hill'. ECR's 2nd finisher, he helped the Royals to a 4th place finish in the D1 Varsity Green race.
Marshall's Pana Papadeas (17:03) closes in on 400 meters to go on his way to a 17th place finish in the D1 Varsity yellow race.
Kyra Morris of Palisades finishes the climb up 'Reservoir Hill'. Kyra finished in 10th placev(19:44) in the D1 Varsity red race.
Hamilton's Dario Cruz-Santiago (18:05) crosses the 1-mile mark at the base of the 'Switchbacks'.
Naima Salazar (4318 - 20:40)) and Zaida Velazquez (4322 - 20:21) pass the 1-mile mark on their way to 20th and 17th place in the D1 Varsity Blue race.
Hamilton's Elizabeth Servin (4534 - 22:35) and Luciana Valencia (4537 - 21:45) head towards the 'Switchbacks' in the D1 Varsity Blue race.
Isaac Torres (17:29) of El Camino Real starts the descent down 'Reservoir Hill' towards the finish.
Hamilton's Maria Cruz Santiago crosses the 1-mile mark in the D1 Varsity Blue race.
San Pedro's Kaylee Vargas (8914 - 21:47) was the top Pirate finisher in the D1 Varsity Blue race placing 28th.
CITY UPDATES
Team captains, and Olympians, join Sofia Abrego for a photo op at the 2019 Footlocker Nationals in San Diego, Ca.
Jenny Simpson, Brenda Martinez, Sofia Abrego and Abbey Cooper
Congratulations to Sofia Abrego of Granada Hills who has verbally committed to Ivy League Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. In addition to having a rich tradition in running including Olympic qualifier Abbey Cooper the school is also one of the premier educational institutions in the US.
TOP ATHLETES OF SEPTEMBER
Plenty of great performances in September as the ‘Invitational Season’ kicked off in full force. Cool Breeze and Woodbridge produced some stellar times as usual and Bell-Jeff gave us a peak at what the post-season will look like. It wasn’t easy to pick our favorites but these are the athletes that stood out in September.
Isabel Castagnola
Granada Hills
It was a busy September for Isabel Castagnola. In 4 meets starting with Cool Breeze on 9/3 and culminating with the Central Park Invite on 10/2 she’s continued to improve her time and lead the best team in City. Isabel’s 18:27.8 at Woodbridge ranked her 2nd in City at the time behind her teammate Sofia Abrego.
Fransisco Rodriguez &
David Martinez
Franklin
The dynamic duo from division 3 Franklin showed that their ‘21 track season wasn’t a fluke with two outstanding performances in September. David (478), a senior, ran a 15:38.6 at Woodbridge to post the fastest 3-mile performance in City at the time. And one week later Francisco (480), a junior, hammered the Bell-Jeff Varsity-Red race winning in 15:46.7 on the 2.91-mile course.
Other top performances in September included Palisade’s stand-out sophomore Max Fields’ 2nd place at Woodbridge (15:27.7 - LA City top time); Canoga Park’s Dulce Gonzales’ strong runs at Bell-Jeff (19:41.23) and Santa Clarita (19:16.5), and at Pierce where she recorded the 2nd best time this year (20:15.0); Cleveland’s James Lopez who has led the West Valley League in most races; Keely Miyamoto of Eagle Rock who has been the front-runner for the #1 ranked Eagles; and Reseda's sophomore Jude Sandridge who currently has the top time on Pierce (16:28.0) in his first season running.
RISING STARS
Joseph Vargas
Cleveland - 10th Grade
In his first year of XC Joseph Vargas has risen from the ranks of noteworthy to exceptional. The season started with two respectable performances at Pierce and quickly ramped up, culminating in a top-in-City grade performance at Woodbridge (16:23.1) as well as the 4th fastest underclassman time at the Bell-Jeff invite (16:44.8).
Brynn Bogue
Bravo Medical - 9th grade
After 2 races at Elysian Park the Bravo Medical Magnate freshman has emerged as the 2nd fastest girl in City this year with a seriously legitimate time of 18:25.3 - at Elysian Park! This past week-end at the Bell-Garden Invite she confirmed her rank as one of the top freshman in City with a 2nd place finish in the Freshman race.
THE WEEK IN PICTURES
Top of Pierce - Reseda’s Jude Sandridge and William Rojas of Monroe crest Chalk Hill on the Pierce College course in a league meet on Oct. 20th. A sophomore transfer from North Carolina, Jude has posted the top 2 times at Pierce this year with a best of 16:26 while William ran 16:52 in this race to claim the 3rd best time at Pierce so far.
Dulce Gonzalez (Canoga Park) and Yanilette Montano (Reseda) make the 1st pass up Chalk Hill in a Valley Mission league contest at Pierce College on October 20th. Dulce won the race and broke 20 minutes in the process (19:59) to post the 3rd best time at Pierce this year. Yanilette has made huge improvements since her freshman year in 2019 to emerge as one of the top City runners this year. She was the 2nd finisher in this race in 20:21 and has a Pierce best of 20:08.
Four of the top runners in City compete in league competition at Pierce College on Oct. 21st. (l-r) Dulce Gonzalez (Canoga Park), Montano Yanilette (Reseda), Angelina Valladares (Canoga Park) and Leyla Huerta (Monroe)
Angelica Milar (102) and Brynn Bogue (87) of Bravo Medical had superb performances at the Bell Garden invite. Both finished under 20 minutes with Angelica placing 3rd in the Senior race and Bryn 2nd in the Freshman race.
The Granada Varsity team poses after their fine performance at Clovis. Running without their top 2 runners the team still earned a 10th place finish in the highly competitive X-Large Varsity race. (l-r) Naima Salazar, Reece Trice, Lilianna Moreira, Jocelyn Pacheco, Meztli Velazquez, Zaida Velazquez, Sofia Abrego
David Martinez of Franklin continues to excel placing 15th at Bell Gardens in 16:01.4.
A Champion! Freshman Kelia Naranjo-Champion placed 4th in the Freshman race at Bell Gardens Invite in her 1st race of the the year. Her sister Sophia placed 5th in the Sophomore race.
Mollie Wittenberg (315) and Ava Baak (294) placed 1st and 2nd for the Palisades girls in the Junior race at the Bell Gardens Invite helping them win the team race by 2 points over Arroyo. (l-r) Caily Galvez, Mollie Wittenberg, Layla Adeli, Julia Musumeci, Ava Baak
Max Fields (748) and Jose Sevilla (763) lead the Palisades boys team to a 2nd place finish in the Senior race at the Bell Gardens Invitational. (l-r) Front: Max Fields, Stewart Tierney, Sean Maldonado. Back: Alec Schmitt, David Tobin, Josh Kovacs, Noah Wexler, Jeremy Santiago, Tyson Brazil, Jose Sevilla
Two of the top finishers in the Senior race at Bell Gardens Marshall's Finlay Robertson (210) and David Tobin (765). Both broke 16 minutes and placed 13th and 14th respectively.
Bravo Medical prepares for the start of the Junior race at the Bell Gardens Invite.
The Venice girls team relaxes between races at the Bell Gardens invitational.
Garfield's Mia Ryes just after the 1-mile mark at the Bell Gardens Invitational on Oct. 16th.
Granada's boys team celebrating some outstanding performances at the the Central Park Invite in Huntington Beach on Oct 2nd. (l-r) Sean Taylor, Alec Flores, Michael Ward, Alexander Mendoza, Reece Robles (back), Ryan Dudley (front), Juan Alcala, Finley Hanson, Pablo Abrego
Bravo's freshman team warms-up at the Bell Gardens Invite. Ramirez took 4th place in the race and is the top ranked freshman in LA City. (l-r) Alan Gonzalez (512), Christopher Ramirez (524), Robert Zarate (533), Christian Tecum (529). Ramirez took
Garfield junior Mia Reyes and coach Anthony Moran at the starting line of the Bell Gardens invite. Mia placed 19th in the Junior race in 22.12.6.
Taft's varsity team packs it in at the final West Valley Cluster meet on Oct. 14th. (l-r) Ryan Tjenalooi, Jaume Folz, Diego terrier, Adrian Garcia-Aguilar, Dael Farkash, Emmanuel Palacios. Photo credit: Phil Missig
Taft's varsity team closes in on the finish at the West Valley Cluster Meet on Oct. 14th at Pierce College. (l-r) Ashley Williams (5204), Taaly Shreier, Kayla Tjenalooi (5203), and Lia Medovoi (5201). Photo Credit: Phil Missig
Hamilton freshman Jasmine Campos (182) and Maria Cruz Santiago (184) prepare to compete in the Freshman race at the Bell Gardens invitational.
ECR's Isaac Enriquez (531), Isaiah Stone (542), Esvin Barrientos (525), and Giancarlo Diaz (back) warm-up for the large school JV race at the Santa Clarita Invitational.
The Hamilton girl's team at the starting line of the Santa Clarita Invitational. Luciana Valencia (back left), Elizabeth Servin (751) and Maria Cruz Santiago (739) were the top scorers for the Yankees.
ECR's Mateo Glass, one of the top sophomores in LA City, comes out of the hills on the 1st loop on the Central Park course at the Santa Clarita Invitational.
Freshman Noah Gullo-Ingram of Taft on the last stretch before the finish chute at the Santa Clarita Invitational on Oct. 9th.
Eagle Rock's top runner Keely Miyamoto didn't let an ankle injury stop her. The #1 ranked runner in City division 2 finished 9th at Bell-Jeff.
Canoga teammates Angelina Lopez (220), Dulce Gonzalez (219) and Angelina Valladares (226) pose after their team's 7th place team finish.
Marshall's Finlay Robertson and Panos Papadeas relax after medaling in the Bell-Jeff Invitational.
With about 700 meters to go El Camino Real's Austen Ledgerwood leads the varsity race at the West Valley Cluster meet on Sept. 2nd.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
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Renewal
Jeff Atkinson takes the reigns of a San Pedro XC program that looks to be rebuilding after their ‘19 City championship. Coach Atkinson has a prodigious running career that includes competing in the ‘88 S. Korean Olympics and coaching several powerhouse southern section distance programs.
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Resurgence
The Taft XC team sits for a team photo in front of their new tent at Pierce College after the West Valley Cluster meet. Taft comes into the ‘21 season with high expectations. New Head Coach Mario Castillo and his runners are up to the challenge and showing a new attitude.
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Resolve
Coaches Colson Phillip and Camille King jumped through hoops to provide a ‘20 XC season for the ECR team. The Royals ran 5 dual meets against Agoura, Calabasas, Granada Hills, Birmingham and Chatsworth; something few City schools accomplished.
(l-r) Max Liberman, Dylan McDermott, Aidan Emery, Leta Squier, Mateo Glass, Coach Colson and Camille.
‘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!
