Nine of the 12 girls in the 1,600m race set PR’s or SR’s to kick-off the distance events at the Los Angeles City Section Finals at Birmingham High School on Thursday, May 19th. This splash page celebrates the City seniors in that race who have provided incredible performances over the last 4 years.

2022 LA City Track & Field Final

‘22 CITY TRACK

 

CIF STATE MEET

Click here for the CIF State T&F Championship Program

REDMOND REIGNS SUPREME!

Carson’s REIGN REDMOND won the State 100m in 11:56. It’s been 37 years since a City girl has won a 100m State championship. Locke’s Tesha Giddens was the last girl to win back in 1985. Not only did Reign win the state title she also set a City record in yesterday’s qualifying race with a time of 11:45. She had the best 200m qualifying time yesterday in the 200m as well but did not run in the Finals race Saturday night due due to leg tightness she felt after her 100m run . This picture is Reign running the final leg of the 4 x 100m at the City Prelims.


DIJON STANLEY (Granada Hills) took 3rd place in the State 400m final in a time of 47.51 in a photo finish that had the top 3 runners within .02 seconds of each other. Much like his race at Arcadia Dijon charged down the last 100 meters to move from 4th place and 5 meters back to almost winning the race. If the race had been a meter longer he’d have won. Dijon also qualified for the State Finals in the 200m where he took 8th place in 21.56. Congratulations.

MYKALE MUNDY (Dorsey) qualified as the 5th fastest seed in yesterday’s 200m State Prelim and took 7th place in the State Finals today in 21:54. This picture is Mykale running the final leg of the 4 x 100m at the City Prelims.


MAX FIELDS’ performance in the 3,200m at the State Finals ranks as the 6th fastest 3,200m by a City Sophomore, joining some of the legends of City distance running.

Twelve City distance athletes competed in the 800m and 1,600m qualifying events at the 102nd CIF State Track & Field Championships on Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium - Buchanan High School in Clovis.

Below is a list of the City distance performers at the State Meet and their results:

SOFIA ABREGO (Granada Hills) continued her season resurgence with a pair of SR’s in the 800m and 1,600m qualifying races at the State meet on Friday night. Sofia posted a 5:05.69 in the 1,600m (almost 4 seconds better than her time at City Finals) and 2:17.92 in the 800m, both are top times in CIty this year.

The City boys 1,600m qualifiers aligned to their potential in the State qualifier race after a very tactical City Final race. Congratulations to JAMES JIMENEZ (Venice), DAVID RUIZ (San Pedro) and ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDOZA (San Pedro) who all posted big PR’s, nearly breaking the noteworthy 4:20 barrier.

ISAAC TORRES (El Camino Real) capped of an amazing year posting another PR of 1:55.83.

Six additional City distance runners will be competing this evening in the girls and boys 3,200m finals.

To watch this evening’s State final click on the link below (subscription required). City distance athletes will be running at 9:10 pm Saturday evening.

CIF STATE TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP STREAMING

Juniors ISAAC TORRES, DANIEL RUIZ and ADRIAN SVERLOW are approaching times that we haven’t seen in the City Section in many years. Along with sophomore 3,200m runner MAX FIELDS (running this evening) and freshman stand-out PAUL TRANQUILLA (Venice) City athletes have the potential to accomplish some big things in the next couple of years.


LA CITY FINALS

THE HIGHLIGHTS

MAX FIELDS (Palisades Charter) has accomplished what no other boy athlete has done in the history of the CIF City Section, win both the City 3,200 track final AND the individual City XC title, as a sophomore.

SOFIA ABREGO (Granada Hills) came close to accomplishing another City first, winning the City triple crown twice. Sofia won the triple as a freshman in 2019 and nearly missed this year, winning both the 1,600m and 800m and taking 2nd in the 3,200m.

San Pedro had a big day at the City Finals. Juniors ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDOZA and DANIEL RUIZ took 1st and 2nd in the 1,600m Championship race and LUIS SANDOVAL placed 2nd in a very close 3,200m race.

KEELY MIYAMOTO (Eagle Rock) claimed redemption in the varsity 3,200m race. After a disappointing City division 2 XC finals last fall Keely left nothing to chance last Thursday with a commanding performance to win the race in a PB of 11:25.14.

PAUL TRANQUILLA (Venice) is City’s newest rising star. The freshman placed 5th in the 800m (1:59.27) and 4th in the 1,600m (4:32.30) setting PB’s in both races and just missing out on state qualification. Paul didn’t spend much time on the 3,200m but our guess is that he’s going to be a prohibitive favorite next season in XC. Stay tuned for our ‘22 City XC Preview coming soon!


GIRLS 1,600M VARSITY RACE

Start of Girls 1,600m Varsity Race at City Finals
(l-r) Samantha Medrano (Verdugo Hills), Luciana Valencia (Hamilton), Frieda Cedillo (Kennedy), Elin Nowak (Venice), Kyra Morris (Palisades), Ameli Missig (Taft), Angelina Valladares (Canoga Park), Isabel Castagnola (Granada Hills), Jocelyn Pacheco (Granada Hills), Gabriela Nascimento (New West), Dulce Gonzales (Canoga Park), Sofia Abrego (Granad Hills)

SOFIA ABGREGO (Granada Hills) takes the lead on the 1st lap of the City 1,600m finals race and never gave it back. She ran a season best of 5:09.55 to win the race by almost 9 seconds.

GABRIELA NASCIEMENTO (New West) posted an impressive 6.46 second improvement on her previous PB to to place 2nd in 5:18.20. Gabriela was the division 5 City XC champion last year. DULCE GONZALES (Canoga Park) finished in 3rd in 5:19.90, just off her PB of 5:17.25


BOYS 1,600M VARSITY RACE

Start of Boys 1,600m Race at City Finals
(l-r) Juan Alcala (Granada Hills), Jeremiah Galloway (Verdugo Hills), Antonio Sanchez (South Gate), Alec Schmidt (Palisades), Paul Tranquilla Venice), Panagiotis Papadeas (Marshall), Reece Robles (Granada Hills), Adrian Sverlow-Mendoza (San Pedro), James Jimenez (San Pedro), Daniel Ruiz (San Pedro), Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin), Austin Ledgerwood (El Camino Real)

San Pedro’s ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDOZA and DANIEL RUIZ finish 1st and 2nd in the boys 1.600 finals with a scorching 61 second final 400m in a race that was anybody’s to win at 1,200 meters.

Verdugo Hills’ JEREMIAH GALLOWAY led the 1,600m race for most of the first 3 laps.

With 400 meters to go the 1,600m race was wide open.
(l-r) JAMES JIMENEZ (Venice), FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin), ADRIAN SVERLO-MENDOZA (San Pedro), DANIEL RUIZ (San Pedro), JEREMIAH GALLOWAY (Verdugo Hills)


GIRLS 800 VARSITY RACE

Start of the Girls 800m Race at City Finals
(l-r) Reece Trice (Granada Hills), Kyra Morris (Palisades), Nadia Campos (Bell), Zaida Velazquez (Granada Hills), Gabriela Nascimento (New West), Larissa Caver (Birmingham), Kelia Naranjo-Champion (Garfield), Eva Walker (Carson), Ava Baak (Palisades), Dulce Gonzales (Canoga Park), Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills)

SOFIA ABREGO (Granada Hills) led the 800m from start to finish to post a season’s best 2:18.64 and capture her 2nd City title. DULCE GONZALES (Canoga Park) placed 2nd and AVA BAAK (Palisades ) 3rd in a race in which the top 5 runners all posted personal or season best times.

The lead pack in the girls 800m race includes (l-r) SOFIA ABREGO (Granada Hills), DULCE GONZALES (Canoga Park), LARISSA CAVER (Birmingham), EVA WALKER (Carson), Ava BAAK (Palisades).


BOYS 800M VARSITY RACE

Start of the Boys 800m Race at City Finals
(l-r) Jesse Ramirez (Monroe), Alec Flores (Granada Hills), Luke Chibueze (Rancho Dominguez), Daylen Dacay (Palisades), Bodhi Sahakian (Palisades), Pablo Abrego (Granada Hills), Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin), Noah Wexler (Palisades), Paul Tranquilla (Venice), Isaac Torres (El Camino Real), Finley Robertson (Marshall)

ISAAC TORRES (ECR) continues his domination of the boys 800m race with a win at Finals in 1:56.50. FINLAY ROBERTSON (Marshall) had a huge race, taking over 3.5 seconds off his previous PB to post an impressive 1:57.40. FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin) performed a similar feat to post a 1:58.2 for 3rd place. Two other runners broke 2 minutes in the race, NOAH WEXLER (Palisades - 1:59.04) and freshman PAUL TRANQILLA (Venice-1:59.27).

Top finishers in the City 800m Finals
(l-r) Noah Wexler (4th-Palisades), Francisco Rodriguez (3rd-Franklin), Isaac Torres (1st-El Camino Real), Finlay Robertson (2nd-Marshall), Paul Tranquilla (5th-Venice)


GIRLS 3,200 VARSITY RACE

KEELY MIYAMOTO (Eagle Rock) wins the 3,200m City Championship in a PB of 11:25.12.

Twenty-seven girls start the varsity 3,200m at the City Finals at Birmingham High School

Granada Hill’s Sofia Abrego and freshman Meztli Velazquez compete in the varsity 3,200m at the City Finals. Sofia placed 2nd in 11:41.90 and Meztli 3rd in 11:46.45.

Sophomore GABRIELA NASCIMENTO (New West) and freshman BRYNN BOGUE (Bravo Medical) placed 8th and 10th in the City Final 3,200m

Freshman ANGELINA LOPEZ (Canoga Park) had the 2nd fastest freshman time in the City 3,200m final in 12:13.07, a 23 second improvement over her previous PR.


BOYS 3,200 VARSITY RACE

(l-r) Luis Sandoval (San Pedro), Max Fields (Palisades), Jose Sevilla (Palisades), James Jimenez (Venice)

Four of the City’s best compete in the City 3,200m championship race on the penultimate lap. The lead changed several times before MAX FIELDS surged to the front in the last 100 meters to win the race in 9:39.66. LUIS SANDOVAL (San Pedro) placed 2nd and JOSE SEVILLA (Palisades) 3rd.


The 3,200m is shaping up to be an impressive show of City’s distant running talent.

In the girls race, freshman Meztli Velazquez (Granada Hills), the 2nd ranked City 3,200m runner, will be running the 3,200m fresh having decided to forego the 1,600m where she is currently ranked 5th. She’ll be going up against top ranked Keely Miyamoto (Eagle Rock) as well as Jocelyn Pacheco (Granada Hills), Frieda Cedilla (Kennedy), Sophia Abrego (Granada Hills), Dulce Gonzales (Canoga Park), and Ava Baak (Palisades), all who are schedule to run the 1,600m earlier in the day. All six girls have posted times under 12-minutes and there is only a 20-second spread across the runners. This race is wide open.

To see what it might take to win this year’s 3.200m City Final we’ve graphed the winning girl’s times in the City Final for the years 1980 - 2021 below. The trend line over the 41 City Finals is downward indicating faster times more recently; the only trend line for any of the distance events, boys or girls, to show recent improvements. Based on this analysis we’re forecasting a time under 11:20.0 to win the grils 3,200m race this year. Click on the graphs to learn more about City’s great distance athletes.

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The boys race could be even wilder. Max Fields (Palisades), David Martinez (Franklin) and Jose Sevilla (Palisades) all have times under 9:44 and will be running fresh. Venice’s James Jimenez has the top City time of 9:32.75 and close behind are Luis Sandoval (San Pedro), Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) and Daniel Ruiz (San Pedro). They’ll all be running their second race after competing in the 1,600m. A very talented sophomore class that includes (in addition to Max Fields ) Joseph Vargas (Cleveland), Alexander Mendoza (Granada Hills) and Axel Mammen (Palisades) will be looking to break 10 minutes. And if freshman Paul Tranquilla (Venice) is feeling his oats he may decide to try the 3,200m for only the 2nd time after competing in the 800m and 1,600m Finals.

Below is a similar graph of the boys City Final Champions in the 3,200m from 1980-2021. Unlike the girls, the trend line for the boys has drifted upwards indicating generally slower times in recent years. We’re predicting the talented ‘22 boys will beat the trend significantly with a winning time under 9:25.0.


LA City Prelims
May 12th - Birmingham HS


Girls Qualifier - 1,600m - Heat 1

Keely Miyamoto, Meztli Velazquez and Jocelyn Pacheco had the top times coming into Prelims. Meztli dropped the 1,600m so this looked to be a match-up between Keely and Jocelyn which is exactly how the race played out. Keely ran a phenomenal racing, biding her time to try on the 1st lap and then surging to the front on the 2nd lap and never relinquishing the lead to win the heat and post the 3rd best qualifying time in a PB of 5:21.20. Jocelyn took her cue from Keely, tucking in behind her on the 2nd lap and then holding her position to the finish with the 4th best qualifying time of 5:28.22. Teammate Isabel Castagnola, who struggled in the West League Finals and entered this race as an alternate, managed to qualify in 5:30.05, well off her PB of 5:18.13 back in March. Amelie Missig (Sr-Taft) had an impressive showing on her comeback from injury to place 4th in the heat and qualify for finals in 5:36.75. Bravo Medical freshman Brynn Bogue, running for the first time this track season outside of her Northern League, posted the top 9th-grade time of 5:44.47 to place 8th in the heat.

Notes: Meztli Velazquez (Granada Hills), Sophia Naranjo-Champion (Garfield), and Noelia Ortega (Monroe) were seeded in heat 1 but did not start. Isabel Castagnola (Granada Hills) was listed as an alternate and competed in heat 1.

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Girls 1,600m City Prelims - Hear 1
(l-r) Samantha Medrano (Sr-Verdugo Hills), Brynn Bogue (Fr-Bravo Medical), Elin Nowak (Jr-Venice), Kyra Morris (So-Palisades), Amelie Missig (Sr-Taft), Jocelyn Pacheco (Jr-Granada Hills), Isabel Castagnola (Sr-Granada Hills), Keely Miyamoto (Sr-Eagle Rock)

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Keely Miyamoto (Eagle Rock) makes her move 800 meters into heat 1 of the 1,600m. Keely quickly surged to a 5-second lead at 1,200m and a 7-second lead at the finish to post the 2nd fastest qualifying time, 5:21.20, a 4.44 second improvement over her previous PB.

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Kyra Morris (So-Palisades Charter) leads heat 1 of the 1,600m after the 1st lap. To her left is Jocelyn Pacheco (Jr-Granada Hills) and on her right Keely Miyamoto (Sr-Eagle Rocks). Keely and Jocelyn soon took the lead and continued a pace that strung out the pack.

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Amelie Missig (Sr-Taft) finishes 4th ahead of Kya Morris (Palisades) and Elin Nowak (Jr-Venice). Amelie continues to improve each race after a late start to her track season and then injury. Her time of 5:36.57, though not a PB, qualifies her for City Finals.

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Bravo Medical freshman Brynn Bogue had the top 9th-grade time in the 1,600 meters at City Prelims and earned herself a PB but her time of 5:44.47 placed her 15th, just outside of qualifying. She still has the 3,200m next week, her better race. Watch out for her in the ‘22 cross-country season!


Girls Qualifier - 1,600m - Heat 2

Another ‘David vs. Goliath’ battle pitting Granada Hills’ best against Canoga Parks’ best. Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills) and Dulce Gonzales (Canoga Park) are both front runners who push the pace hard so this was never going to be a tactical race. And it wasn’t! Sofia took the 1st lap out in 1:13.99 and crossed the 800m mark at 2:31.03 - 14 seconds faster than any other City runner has run this year. But Dulce was hanging on, trailing by less than 2 seconds, and at the finish she only lost another 2 seconds. Both girls posted season bests, Sofia 5:13.77 and Dulce 5:17.25. Dulce’s time is also a PB by 14.65 seconds. In the same race, Division 5 runner Gabriela Nascimento (So-New West Charter) beat her previous PB by over 17 seconds to post the 4th fastest qualifying time, 5:24.88, in what looks to be only her 3rd high school 1,600m race ever!

Note: Zaida Velazquez (Granada Hills), Michelle Gutierrez Lopez (ECR), and Yanilette Montano (Reseda) were seeded in heat 2 but did not compete. Luciana Valencia (Hamilton) was an alternate and competed in heat 2.

Girls 1,600m City Prelims - Hear 2
(l-r) Vivian Meraz (Sr-Kennedy), Crystal Hernandez (Sr-Garfield), Zuleyka Ortiz (So-Bell), Celeste Corrigan (Sr-Eagle Rock), Zuleyka Ortiz (Bell), Alexandria Nobregas (Fr-San Pedro), Marina Navarro (Sr-RFK), Frieda Cedillo (Sr-Kennedy), Gabriela Nascimento (So-New West), Luciana Valencia (Sr-Hamilton, , Naima Salazar (Jr-Granada Hills), Dulce Gonzales (Sr-Canoga Park), Angelina Valladares (So-Canoga Park), Sofia Abrego (Sr-Granada Hills)

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Sofia Abrego (Sr-Granada Hills) crosses the finish line in heat 2 of the 1,600m with the top qualifying time and a season best, 5:13.77.

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Dulce Gonzales (Sr-Canoga Park) shaved almost 15 seconds off her previous best to post the 2nd best qualifying time, 5:17.25.

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Two of City’s finest distance runners, Luciana Valencia (Sr-Hamilton) and Freida Cedillo (Sr-Kennedy), placed 5th and 6th in heat 2 of the 1,600m.

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San Pedro freshman Alexandria Nobregas finishes in 11th in heat 2, just breaking 6 minutes in 5:57.24 and posting the 2nd best 9th grade time.


Boys Qualifer - 1,600m - Heat 1

This race looked to be the pentultimate show-down between 3 of the City’s best, Venice’s James Jimenez and Palisades stand-out sophomore Max Fields and Jose Sevilla (who had an epic League final 1 week ago). But Max dropped from the 1,600m and Jose had a rare off-day. So to keep things honest the San Pedro boys stepped up.

Jimenez took the pack out in 1:05.5 for the 1st 400, building a 3-second lead that increased to a 5-seond lead at 800m. Then San Pedro’s Luis Sandoval took up the chase and in the next 800 meters not only made up the difference but won the race by over 2 seconds in 4:31.32. Luis ran the last 400 in 1:04.5, the 3rd fastest close of the day behind ECR’s Austin Ledgerwood and Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez in heat 2. His teammate Adrian Sverlow-Mendoza was close behind placing 3rd in the heat with a qualifying time of 4:33.89.

Note: Max Fields (Palisades) and Alexander Mendoza (Granada Hills) were seeded in heat 1 but did not compete. Lewis Adams (Eagle Rock), Sean Taylor (Granada Hills) and Romero Fabrizzio (Bravo Medical) were originally seeded in heat 1 but moved to heat 2.

Boys 1,600m City Prelims - Heat 1
(l-r) James Jimenez (Venice), Jose Sevilla (Palisades), Adrian Sverlow-Mendoza (San Pedro), Luis Sandoval (San Pedro), Panagiotis Papadeas (Marshall), Reece Robles (Granada Hills), Juan Alcala (Granada Hills), Juan Zamora (Marshall), Rigoberto Castellanos (Monroe), Antonio Sanchez (South Gate), Dael Farkash (Taft), Evan Ellersieck (Verdugo Hills), Sebastian Castenada (Lincoln)

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Luis Sandoval (Sr-San Pedro) wins heat 1 of the boy’s 1,600m qualifying race in 4:31.32. Luis ran the final 800 meters in an impressive 2:11.9 to come from 30 meters back and take the lead and then win his heat with the 3rd best qualifying time.

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James Jimenez (Sr-Venice) takes a commanding lead in the 1st lap of heat 1 of the 1,600m qualifying race. James’ 1st lap split of 1:05.49 was almost 3 seconds faster than the next fastest split across both heats and helped him earn the 6th fastest qualifying time.

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The City’s best runners watch Venice’s James Jimenez pull away in heat 1 of the 1,600m City qualifying race.
(l-r) Adrian Sverlow-Mendoza (San Pedro), Luis Sandoval (San Pedro), Jose Sevilla (Palisades Charter), Juan Alcala (Granada Hills)

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Adrian Sverlow-Mendoza (San Pedro) and Reece Robles (Granada Hills) battle for the 3rd and final place to guarantee qualification in the City Finals. Adrian got the nod by less than 1/2 a second finishing in 4:33.89 but Reece also qualified on time posting a PB of 4:34.18. In the background are Marshall’s Panagiotis Papadeas (4:34.45), Palisades’ Jose Sevilla (4:38.12) and Granada’s Juan Alcala (4:39.84).


Boys City Qualifying - 1,600m - Heat 2

Heat 2 was a rematch between ECR’s Austin Ledgerwood and Granada Hill’s Pablo Abrego. In the West League Final these 2 both broke 4:30 for the 1st time in a race that came down to the last 100 meters. Both had excellent Prelim races Thursday with Austin getting close to his PB winning the heat in 4:29.04 and Pablo finishing 3rd in 4:31.21.

Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez kept things interesting. Last week he posted a 4:30.10 at the Northern League Finals, a PB for sure but only .25 seconds faster than the 4:30.35 he ran at last year’s City Final as a sophomore! Francisco pushed the pace on all 4 laps Thursday and chased Austin to a blistering 1:01.73 final lap.

San Pedro’s Daniel Ruiz has been on a tear this season. He’s run low 4:30’s 3 times prior to Thursday and added a 4th with his time of 4:33.03 at Prelims. Watch out for him at Finals where San Pedro always seems to find their A-game.

Three underclassman were scheduled to run Thursday. Venice freshman Paul Tranquille had a best time of 4:38.68 prior to Prelims. He placed 4th in his heat in 4:35.73 (a Venice grade-level record) to qualify for Finals. Granada Hill’s Alex Flores, a sophomore, finished in 4:40.42, off his PB of 4:38.36 and 2 seconds over qualifying. The third underclassman, Palisades sophomore Axel Mammen, didn’t run and is focusing on the 3,200m.

Note: David Martinez (Franklin), Axel Mammen (Palisades), Finlay Robertson (Marshall) and Alexis Hernandez (Lincoln) were seeded in heat 2 but did not start. Isaac Enriquez (ECR) and Jude Sandridge (Reseda) were listed as alternates and competed in heat 2. Dael Farkash (Taft) and Sebastian Castenada (Lincoln) were originally seeded in heat 2 but moved to heat 1.

Boys 1,600m City Prelims - Hear 2
(l-r) Austin Ledgerwood (ECR), Pablo Abrego (Granada Hills), Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin), Daniel Ruiz (San Pedro), Jude Sandridge (Reseda), Alec Flores (Granada Hills), Paul Tranquilla (Venice), Emmanuel Palacios (Taft), Jeremiah Galloway (Verdugo Hills), Adam Lewis (Eagle Rock), Alec Schmitt (Palisades), Max Liberman (ECR), Sean Taylor (Granada Hills), Alexis Hernandez (Lincoln), Fabrizzio Romero (Bravo Medical), Isaac Enriquez (ECR).

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AUstin Ledgerwood (Sr-El Camino Real) crosses the finish line in heat 2 of the 1,600m City qualifying race. This heat had the 3 best City times on the day. Austin won the race and posted the top City time at Prelims, 4:29.04. Francisco Rodriguez (Jr-Franklin) pushed Austin the whole race and finished a close 2nd in the heat (he’s partially hidden behind Austin) as well as posting the 2nd best City time, 4:29.61. And Pablo Abrego (Sr-Granada Hills), who is having an impressive post season, took 3rd in 4:31.21 in the heat and overall; the 2nd time he’s run sub 4:32.

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Jude Sandridge (So-Reseda) leads heat 2 of the 1,600m City qualifying race. (l-r) Daniel Ruiz (San Pedro), Jeremiah Galloway (Verdugo Hills), Emmanuel Palacios (Taft), Jude Sandridge (Reseda), Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin), Austin Ledgerwood (El Camino Real).

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Pablo Abrego (Granada Hills) leads the surge at 800m that would include Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez (hidden…again!) and Austin Ledgerwood. All 3 finished the last 800 meters under 2:11. San Pedro’s David Ruiz and Taft’s Emmanuel Palacios are close behind.

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Alec Schmitt (Sr-Palisades) crosses the finish line in heat 2 as the 12th and final qualifer for the CIty 1,600m in a time of 4:38.21. Do not count Alec out in the City Finals; he always deliver in the big races. Just behind Alec, Max Liberman (Sr-El Camino Real) had an impressive finish running the 4th fastest final 400 meters to just miss out on City qualification in a time of 4:39.13.


Girls City Qualifying - 800m - Heat 1

This was the 1st chance to see our top pick for the 800m City title in person, Carson’s Eva Walker who posted a 2:25.52 at Mt. Carmel. She’d be up against 2 formidable foes, Luciana Valencia (S-Hamilton) who ran a 2:25.44 at Arcadia and Kelia Naranjo-Champion (Fr-Garfield) who ran a 2:27.94 back in March. Both Eva and Kelia delivered, Eva winning in 2:25.72 and and Kelia placing 2nd in PB of 2:26.46. Luciana, who had the 4th best City time coming into the Prelims, was off form running a 2:34.09 and placing outside of qualifying in 18th place. Nadia Campos (Jr-Bell) had a big PR to place 3rd in the heat and qualify for Finals in 2:31.58.

Start of Heat 1 800m CIty Qualifying
(l-r) Kaylee Galacia (JFK), Kylie Cantey (Chatsworth), Elin Nowak (Venice), Sophia Richardson (Cleveland), Kaylee Vargas (San Pedro), Keely Miyamoto (Eagle Rock), Nadia Campos (Bell), Kelia Naranjo-Champion (Garfield), Eva Walker (Carson)

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Kelia Naranjo-Champion (Fr-Garfield) and Eva Walker (So-Carson) share the lead at the 400m mark in heat 1 of the 800m City qualifying race. The two runners battled it out the whole race with Eva winning in the last 100 meters.

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Nadia Campos (Sr-Bell) placed 3rd in heat 1 of the 800m City Prelims to qualify for the City Finals in a PB of 2:31.58. Behind her are Keely Miyamoto (Sr-Eagle Rock) and Luciana Valencia (Sr-Hamilton).


Girls City Qualifying - 800m - Heat 2

Start of Heat 1 800m CIty Qualifying
(l-r) Dulce Gonzales (Canoga Park), Ava Baak (Palisades Charter), Angelina Valladares (Canoga Park), Cataline Alvidrez (Eagle Rock), Naima Salazar (Canoga Park), Kyra Morris (Palisades Charter), Avery Searle (Palisades Charter), Amanda Martinez (San Pedro), Leyla Huerta (Monroe), Molly Sandridge (Reseda), Sadie Sabine (Palisades Charter).

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Dulce Gonzales (Sr-Canoga Park) takes heat 2 of the 800m City qualifying race out hard, posting the fastest 1st-lap split of the day. She maintained the pace and lead to post the 2nd fastest qualifying time of the day and a PB of 2:23.91 Behind her is teammate Angelina Valladares and Palisades’ Ava Baak (hidden) and to the left is Kyra Morris (Palisades).

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Catalina Alvidrez (So-Eagle Rock) posted a 2:29.38, the 6th fastest qualifying time (almost 3 second improvement over her previous PB) to place 3rd in her heat.


Girls City Qualifying - 800m - Heat 3

Sofia Abrego (Sr-Granada Hills) took a commanding lead after the 1st lap and continued to the finish winning heat 3 and posting the top time in the City Prelims 800m, 2:22.93.

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Larissa Caver (Jr-Birmingham broke 2:30.00 for the 1st time to place 2nd in heat 3 and qualify for City Finals in 2:29.78. New West’s Gabriela Nascimento continued an outstanding Prelim improving on her previous PB by almost 3 seconds to place 3rd in heat 3 and 8th overall in 2:30.04. Behind Gabriela is Zaida Velazquez (Jr-Granada Hills) who also qualified for finals in 2:30.93.


Boys City Qualifying - 800m - Heat 1

The Lead pack in heat 1 of the City 800m qualifying race at the 400m mark. Finley Robertson (Marshall) took charge on the 2nd 400 with a blistering 59.40 split, more than a second faster than the next fastest runner, to win the heat and post the top City time of 2:00.98. David Tobin (6-Palisades) placed 2nd in the heat in a PB of 2:01.59 and Noah Wexler (2-Palisades) placed 3rd in 2:01.91.
(l-r) David Ruiz (San Pedro), Finlay Robertson (Marshall), David Tobin (Palisades Charter), Noah Wexler (Palisades Charter).

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Luke Chibueze (Sr-Rancho Dominguez) placed 4th in heat 1 of the City 800m Prelims in a PB of 2:04.34 to qualify for City Finals.


Boys City Qualifying - 800m - Heat 2

Francisco Rodriguez ((Jr-Franklin) leads heat 2 of the 800m City qualifier ahead of Jesse Ramirez (Sr-Monroe), Fabrizio Valdivia (Sr-Verdugo Hills) and Bodhi Sahakian (So-Palisades) who is hidden behind Francisco. Francisco was hoping to crack 2-minutes in the race but without Granada stand-out Finley Hanson, who DNS’d due to a hamstring injury, he was left to his own devises and settled for a 2:02.03 and the win. Bodhi placed 2nd in the heat in 2:03.26 and Jesse placed 3rd in 2:05.78.

————— + —————

Fabrizio Valdivia (Sr-Verdugo Hills), Yasir White (Jr-El Camino Real) and Jesse Ramirez (Sr-Monroe) battle it out for the final qualifying spot in heat 2 of the 800m Prelims. Ramirez placed 3rd in the heat in a time of 2:05.78 to earn the 12th and final qualifying spot.


Boys City Qualifying - 800m - Heat 3

Pablo Abrego (Granada Hills) leads heat 3 of the 800m qualifying race through the 400 mark in the fastest time of the day. Isaac Torres (ECR) moved in front on the 2nd lap and won the heat in a comfortable 2:01.32. Freshman phenom Paul Tranquilla (Venice) placed 2nd in the heat and 4th overall in 2:01.56 after having run 4:35.73 earlier in the day in the 1,600m qualifier. Tranquilla has qualified for both the 1,600m and 800m City Finals. Pablo Abrego placed 3rd in the heat and qualified for City with a tie of 2:03.00.

————— + —————

Granada Hills sophomore Alec Flores placed 5th in heat 3 in PB of 2:04.47 and was the final runner in this heat to qualify for City Finals.


‘I FEEL THE NEED, THE NEED FOR SPEED’

Several runners helped their teams qualify in the final races at the City Prelim, the 4 x 400m relays. Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills), James Jimenez (Venice), Finlay Robertson (Marshall), Luciana Valencia (Hamilton) , Kelia Naranjo-Champion (Garfield), and of course Isaac Torres (ECR) all played vital roles in their team’s relay performances. These runners defied the “distance runners'“ traditional role in the relays as mere placeholders to fundamentally influence their team results for the better. Look for these runners to be an important contributor in the City Finals.

Jose Torres (ECR) takes the final hand-off in heat 1 of the boys 4X400 qualifer. ECR posted the 3rd fastest time.

James Jimenez (Venice) chases Granada Hills on the 3rd leg in heat 2. James helped Venice to the 7th best time and qualification to the City Finals.

Finlay Robertson (Marshall) ran an impressive 3rd leg in heat 4 to move ahead of Garfield on the backstretch and then pull away. His last 100 meters was a statement! Marshall won the heat and posted the 4th best time.


West Valley League Finals

May 6th - Birmingham Charter High School

Some incredible races on Friday afternoon with the standout performances by El Camino Real’s Isaac Torres stealing the show. Torres started his day with an awe-inspiring 800m win and finished the day running the final leg in the 4x400m to help ECR win the league title.

Torres’ 800m run was a powerful performance. The ECR junior led the race from start-to-finish seemingly pulling the other runners in his wake. Torres crossed the line in 1:56.21, almost a full second better than his previous PB. Finley Hanson (Jr-Granada Hills) placed 2nd in 1:57.69 beating his previous PB by more than 2 seconds.

HASTA LA VISTA, BABY!

Issac Torres (Jr-ECR) and Finley Hanson (Jr-Granada Hills) began to pull away at 400 meters into the West Valley League Final varsity 800m race at Birmringham Charter High School.

Torres capped off the day with an incredible 49.82 final leg in the varsity 4 x 400m race to come from 5 meters back, take the lead, and win the race in the final 50 meters.

Incredible range! Isaac Torres ran the 20th fastest time in the City Final 3-mile last fall at Pierce and throws down a sub-50 400 meter leg in the West Valley League Finals!


The Granada Hills girls combined for an impressive showing at the West Valley League Finals winning all the individual distance titles. Moreover, the Granada girls took the top 3 places in all distance races except the 800m where Birmingham’s junior Larissa Caver placed 3rd in 2:32.75. Sofia Abrego won the 1,600m (5:19.07) and 800m (2:24.23) league titles and placed 3rd in the 3,200m (12:08.62). She also ran the final leg of the winning 4 X 400m relay team. Freshman teammate Meztli Velazquez won the 3,200m in 12:02.26 and placed 2nd in the 1,600m in 5:28.21 while Granada’s other stand-out freshman, Reece Trice, placed 2nd in the 800m (2:30.81). Jocelyn Pacheco placed 2nd in the 3,200m and 3rd in the 1,600m. Noticeably missing from the top finishers was Isabel Castagnola who placed 4th in the 1,600m and DNS in the 3,200m.

Sofia Abrego (Sr-Granada Hills) has comfortable lead on the 2nd lap of the 1,600m. Sofia won the 1,600m West Valley league title in 5:19.07. Teammates Meztli Velazquez (5:28.21) and Jocelyn Pacheco (5:31.43) placed 2nd and 3rd in the race.

Granada Hills Freshman Meztli Velazquez leads the 3,200m varsity race at the West Valley League Final followed by her teammates Jocelyn Pacheco and Sofia Abrego as well as Taft’s Lizeth Sanchez. Meztli won the race in 12:02.26, 30 seconds off her PR. Jocelyn placed 2nd in the race and Sofia 3rd.

Freshman Reece Trice finishes the girls varsity 800m in 2nd place (2:30.81).


The El Camino Real boys had a big day at the West Valley League Finals, winning all 3 individual distance league titles. In addition to Isaac Torres’ win in the 800m, Austin Ledgerwood won both the 1,600m (4:29.64) and 3,200m (10:10.90) races. Teammate Max Liberman had a big finish in the 3,200m to move up from 5th to 2nd place in the last 600 meters in a PB of 10:12.90.

The Granada Hills boys showed their depth though, taking 2nd and 3rd in the 800m and 1,600m races and 3rd in the 3,200m. Pablo Abrego scored a big PB (4:29.85) in the 1,600m to place 2nd and sophomore teammate Alec Flores also posted a PB of 4:38.29 to place 3rd. Pablo also earned a 3rd place in the 800m (2:03.77). Junior Reece Roble finished strong in the 3,200m to hold on to 3rd place in 10:13.67.

Austin Ledgerwood (Sr-ECR) leads the boys varsity race on the 1st lap of the 1,600m. Austin and Pablo Abrego (right- Granada Hills) broke away after 800m and raced to a thrilling finish that had both boys setting PB’s. Sophomore Alexander Mendoza (Left-Granada hills) placed 7th in 4:41.68.

Valley Mission &
East Valley League Finals

May 5th - Birmingham Charter High School

On a very hot day where temperature reached the high 80’s athletes also had to contend with a 42-minute delay midway through the meet as a sudden wind gust toppled the timing tent and crashed through the timing equipment. This happened just as the varsity teams were preparing to line up for the 800 meters. To make-up time the varsity 3,200m was run as a combined girls and boys event, with both leagues, and the 4X400 had both the Valley Mission and East Valley leagues teams competing at the same time in shared lanes.

Valley Mission and East Valley runners, boys and girls, line up for the start of the Varsity 3,200m League Final race.

Valley Mission League Finals

Canoga Park’s girls and Reseda’s Jude Sandridge dominated distance events in the Valley Mission League.

Sophomore Jude Sandridge scored victories in the 1,600m, 800m and 3,200m and also ran a leg in Reseda’s Varsity 4x400 team that placed 4th.

Angelina Valladares earned league titles in the 1,600m (5:29.07) and 3,200m (12:14.36) and took 2nd in the 800m (2:31.78) behind her teammate Dulce Gonzales. Angelina’s times in the 1,600m and 800m rank her 6th and 8th in LA City.

Dulce Gonzales (Canoga Park) continues to excel posting a 2:25.1 to win the 800m title. Dulce also placed 2nd in the 1,600m (5:29.50) and in the 3,200m (12:33.98).

Freshman Angelina Lopez (Canoga Park) won Frosh/Soph titles in the 1,600m (5:55.01) and 800m (2:40.18). Her 1,600m time ranks as the 3rd best freshman performance in City.

 

Jude Sandridge (So-Reseda) wins the Valley Mission Varsity 800M race.

Canoga Park’s Dulce Gonzales wins the 800M Valley Mission title.

Freshman Angelica Lopez (Canoga Park) won both the 800m and 1,600m frosh/soph Valley Mission league titles.

 

Canoga Park teammates Angelina Valladares (left) and Dulce Gonzales (right) took 1st and 2nd in the Valley Mission Varsity 3,200m race.

The aftermath. A huge gust of wind raced across the track at about 4:45 pm, lifting the timing tent across the track and into the stadium seating and toppling the timing equipment and cameras. Forty-two minutes later the League Finals resumed with the start of the boys Frosh/Soph East Valley 800m race.


East Valley League Finals

Monroe runners won 4 of the 6 individual Varsity distance titles in the East Valley League Finals while division 3 Verdugo showed well winning the other 2 distance events.

Samantha Medrano got things rolling for Verdugo Hills with a convincing win in the 1,600m.

Her teammate, Jeremiah Galloway, followed-up with a 4:41.93 to win the boys East Valley title in the 1,600m.

To counter, Monroe swept the 800m races with Leyla Huerta and Jesse Ramirez winning league titles. This was capped off in a very crowded 3,200m where Monroe’s Yasmin Liera (14:11.18) and Rigoberto Castallanos (11:04.38) crossed the finish lines almost unnoticed due to the number of runners on the track. Rogioberto also placed 2nd in the Varsity 1,600m.

Note: Monroe’s top boys runner William Rojas did not compete in the East Valley League Finals due to injury.

 

Samantha Medrano (Verdugo Hills) leads the East Valley Varsity 1,600m. She went on to win the race in 5:56.81.

Jesse Ramirez (Sr-Monroe) wins a close 800m race against Fabrizio Valdivia (Sr-Verdugo Hills)

Rigoberto Castallanos (Monroe) and Jude Sandridge (Reseda) lead their respective Varsity 3,200m league races. Rigoberto won the East Valley race in 11:04.38 while Jude won the Valley Mission race in 10:48.16.

 

Verdugo Hills’ Jeramiah Galloway finishes the East Valley varsity 1.600m with a big final 400m to hold off a fast charging Rigoberto Castallanos.

Leyla Huerta (Monroe) had a convincing win in the East Valley Varsity 800m posting a time of 2:42.35 to win by over 3 seconds.




Western League Finals

May 4th - University High School

Palisades dominated the Western League Finals, winning all 4 team championships. In the distance events Palisades Charter, Venice and Hamilton all showed well. Palisades won 5 of the 6 Varsity distance events but both Venice or Hamilton placed in the top 3 in all 6 events.

Palisades’ Jose Sevilla had an epic day winning the 1,600m and 3,200m races that both came down to photo-finishes.

Palisades’ Ava Baak also had an impressive day, completing a difficult double by winning a very competitive 800m (2:29.30) and then minutes later the 3.200m (13:03.39).

Noah Wexler (Palisades) won the boys Varsity 800m in 2:01.79 leading from start-to-finish.

Sophomore Axel Hammen (Palisades) ran an impressive double in the boys Varsity 1,600m (4:40.01) and 3,200m (10:27.20).

Note: Venice’s top runner Lidia Prokopovych-Schepetkin did not compete in the League Finals.

MORE PICTURES COMING SHORTLY!

 

Venice’s James Jimenez and Palisade’s Jose Sevilla cross the line in a photo-finish in the boys Varsity 1,600m at the Western League Finals at University High School on May 4th, 2022. Both recorded a time of 4:29.13 to share league championship honors. Max Fields (Palisades) finished in 3rd in a time of 4:30.33

Kyra Morris (Palisades Charter) and Elin Nowak (Venice) finished 1st and 2nd in the girls Varsity 1.600m race at the Western League Finals. Both runners also compete in the 800m finishing 3rd (2:35.14) and 5th (2:38.36)

 

Palisades’ teammates Jose Seville (left) and Max Fields sprint to another photo finish to finish 1-2 in the boys 3,200m at the Western League Finals. Jose edged out Max by .02 seconds to win in 9:55.71.

Luciana Valencia (Hamilton), Ava Baak (Palisades) and Kyra Morris (Palisades) lead the girls Varsity 800m with 300 meters to go. Ava Baak won the race in 2:29.30.

Noah Wexler (Sr-Palisades Charter) leads the boys varsity 800m Western League final with 600 meters to go. Noah claimed the league title in 2:01.79, leading the race from start-to-finish.


Arcadia Invitational

April 8th

Granada’s girls DMR team (Meztli Velazquez, Isabella Vally, Jocelyn Pocheco, Sofia Abrego) placed 14th in the Open DMR in 12:48.10; 9.87 seconds off their 2020 school record time and 21.40 seconds off of San Pedro’s 2012 City record of 12:26.70.

The ECR’s boys DMR team (Max Liberman, Jacob Daum, Isaac Torres, Austin Ledgerwood) posted a time of 10:51.30 placing 16th in the Open race; 7 seconds off their best time from the Arcadia Distance Carnival and 19.90 seconds off San Pedro’s 2010 City record of 10:31.40.

Hamilton’s Luciana Valencia was the lone single City runner, posting a PB of 2:25.44 in the 800 Open race.

62nd Mt. Sac Relays

April 16th

Two of LA City’s finest ran at Mt. Sac and both ran the Open 800m race.

Isaac Torres (ECR) just missed his PB running a 1:57.51, the 2nd best City time this year (behind his City best of 1:57.19), to place 6th in the Seeded race.

Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills) placed 14th in 2:22.18 in the Seeded race to post the top 800m City time so far this year.

SOUTH BAY CHAMPIONSHIPS (click)

April 16th

What had the potential to be a ‘sneak-peak’ match-up between some of the City’s best runners fizzled out due to difficult wind conditions and the timing of the meet.

Conditions at West Torrance HS are rarely ideal and April 16th was no exception. Winds ranged between 10-15 mph, hitting runners front-on as they turned into the the back straight-away.

And the week prior, many of the City’s top boys and girls had run PB’s at the Tiger and Irvine Invitationals. So understandably, running back-to-back PB’s was unlikely.

But there were some exceptions. Jose Seville (Palisades) posted a big PB of 9:35.10, the 3rd fastest time in City. And San Pedro’s Daniel Ruiz and Adrian Sverlow-Mendoza also bettered their PB’s running 4:29.88 and 4:30.38 respectively. They’re currently ranked 4th and 5th in City.

On the girls side, Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin ran a 12:26.39 in the 3,200m to rank 9th in City in only her 2nd 3,200m ever.

TIGER INVITATIONAL (click)

April 8th

Seven City schools and 97 City runners participated in distance events on a day where mid-day temperatures reached 95 degrees.

In the boys races Palisades, Franklin, and Marshall showcased some of the City’s top City runners. Max Fields (Palisades) stole the day with a triple-event performance that included 4:28.24 in the 1,600m (ranked 2nd in City), 2:06.06 in the 800m, and 9:35.05 in the 3,200m (3rd best at the time).

The 800 meters had 3 City runners earning personal bests. Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin 2:00.02) and Noah Wexler (Palisades 2:00:55) both nearly broke 2-minutes and Finlay Robertson (Marshall) took over 6 seconds off his time to post a 2:01.98 to win his heat..

David Martinez (Franklin) set a PB of 9:43.75 in the 3,200m, the 5th best City time, and looks poised for a big race next month.

Redondo Nike Track Festival (click)

March 11th & 12th

Definitely a smaller City presence this year versus others but still some noteworthy performances.

Max Fields (Palisades) led things off with a PB of 9:33.17 on Friday afternoon; the top City time in March and currently the second best City time in ‘22. In the same race, teammate Jose Sevilla ran a 9:49.50 PB earning the 3rd best City performance at the time.

The next morning Austen Ledgerwood (ECR) posted a 4:34.52 in the 1,600m; almost a second off his PR but still the 3rd best performance in City.

Isaac Torres (ECR) ran way off his PB of 1:57.19 in the 800m, recording a 2:02.41.

In the girls races, Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills) ran the 800m for the 1st time in almost a year and posted the top City time of 2:23.73.

In the 3,200m, Keely Miyamoto (Eagle Rock) took over 16 seconds off her PB to post a 11:36.67 and put her atop the City leaderboard. And, n her 1st 3,200m ever, Ava Baak (Palisades) broke 12-minutes finishing in 11:59.03 to rank 2nd in City at the time.

The Contenders

Here’s our analysis of the front runners for the the City Championships in the 800m, 1,600, and 3,200m races.

BOYS 800 Meters

Isaac Torres (Jr) - El Camino Real

Isaac Torres may have the best odds for winning a City Champions of all our picks. He’s posted 3 of the top 4 times in LA City this year with a PB of 1:57.13, a time that ranks him ahead of his brother Jose who won the City Championship in 2018. And like his brother he combines phenomenal distance capability (16:11.0 on Pierce as a sophomore) with the strength and speed of a 400m runner.

ISAAC TORRES - Junior El Camino Real

Several runners have a chance to upset Torres including James Jimenez (Venice), Finley Hanson (Granada Hills) and Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin). Jiminez will probably focus on the 1,600m and/or 3,200m. Both Hanson and Rodriguez have focused on the 800 and should be primed for post-season. Finlay Robertson (Marshall) continues to take huge chunks of time off his season best, posting a 6 second improvement at the Tiger Invitational to win his heat in 2:01.98. And, watch out for Noah Wexler of Palisades. He’s another runner with fantastic distance credentials (4:37.5 1,600m as a freshman; 16:06.8 at Pierce as a Sophomore) who should break 2 minutes in May.

GIRLS 800M

Eva Walker (So) - Carson

The big question for the girls is who will run the 800m. The top ranked 800m runners are all bonafide 1,600m and 3,200m runners as well. If Sofia Abrego elects to run the 800m the race is hers to lose. The only complication is if she runs the 1,600m, which goes first. Dulce Gonzales (Canoga Park) has top-10 City rankings in the 800m, 1,600m and 3,200m and should be considered a contender in any of these races. Freshman Meztli Velazquez (Granada Hills) has had a phenomenal track season and is ranked 5th in the 800m; our guess is that she’ll focus on the 3,200 where she’s currently ranked 2nd. Hamilton’s Luciana Valencia has top-10 LA City times in the 800m and 1,600m and will probably run both at the Finals.

That leaves the girls that may focus on the 800m exclusively. Carson’s Eva Walker, a sophomore, has the 5th ranked time (2:25.52) so far this year and depending on other teams strategies may be the favorite in the 800m. Also, look out for Freshman, Kelia Naranjo-Champion from Garfield. She had a fabulous freshman cross-country season last fall and and has all the attributes of a great 800m runner. She posted an early-season time of 2:27 that still has her ranked 7th.

 

KELIA NARANJO-CHAMPION - Freshman Garfield

 

LUCIANA VALENCIA - Junior Hamilton


BOYS 1,600M

James Jimenez (Sr) - Venice

We first took notice of James Jimenez at the ‘21 City XC Prelims at Pierce when he posted the 2nd fastest time of the day to win the combined division 1 & 2 race. He followed that up the next week winning the Division 2 individual championship and running his first sub-16 minute at Pierce. He’s continued that success this track season earning the top ranked LA City times in both the 1,600m (4:24.86) and 3,200m (9:32.75) and the 2nd best LA City time in the 800m (1:58.20). Come May 19th we assume he’s not going to triple but rather focus on the 1,600m and 3,200m.

JAMES JIMENEZ - Senior Venice

Jimenez is our favorite but close behind is Max Fields (Palisades) and David Martinez (Franklin). On the right day any one of the three can win this race. Fields and Martinez may decide to focus on the 3,200m. The dark horses are Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin). Austin’s been quiet for most of April but if the ‘21 XC season taught us anything this is merely the calm before the storm. Francisco has focused on the 800m much of this year but his sweet spot is definitely the 1,600m. Both of these boys are tremendous BIG race performers. Also, watch for San Pedro’s Daniel Ruiz and Adrian Sverlow-Mendoza. At a time in the season when many kids struggle to PR they both continue to improve. And wow do they finish well. Their final 400 meters at the South Bay Championships was impressive and earned them 1st and 2nd place in the heat.

DANIEL RUIZ - Junior San Pedro
ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDOZA - Junior San Pedro

GIRLS 1,600M

Sofia Abrego (Sr) - Granada Hills

In her final West Valley League meet last week (an inconsequential dual against Chatsworth) Sofia Abrego has began to show signs of the runner we saw back in 2019. Sofia won this race going away in 5:13.43, taking nearly 9 seconds off her season PB. She still has a ways to go to beat her 1,600m PR (4:51.80) but looks to be in fine form to win the 1,600m City Championship in 2022. And if for some reason that doesn’t happen, her teammate Isabel Castagnola can certainly fill the void. Isabel has risen from mere mortal just a year ago to the stand-out girls distance runner in LA CIty. She dominated the City ‘21 XC season and holds the City’s 2nd-best time in the 1,600m this season. Granada also has Jocelyn Pacheco and Zaida Velzquez who along with Sofia and Isabel hold 4 of the top 5 LA City times so far this year. Keely Miyamota (Eagle Rock) and Dulce Gonzeles (Canoga Park) may be the only 2 runners that can break-up a Granada Hills Sweep.

SOFIA ABREGO - Senior Granada Hills

Sofia Abrego was well on her way to becoming LA City’s greatest girls distance athlete back in 2019 before COVID and injuries interrupted. She’s currently ranked 3rd all-time in LA CIty and has the top freshman time in LA City history. It’s unlikely she’ll beat her PB of 4:51.80 in her final season but it will be fun watching her finish out a spectacular high school running career.

SOFIA ABREGO is currently ranked 3rd all time in the the 1.,600m and is the top ranked freshman all time.

Boys 3,200m

Max Fields-Palisades

Our bet is Max Fields will run the 3,200 Final fresh and on a good day he’s capable of breaking 9:20.0 and winning the City title . . . IF the race isn’t tactical. That’s not how Max typically runs but anything less and he’ll face stiff competition from James Jimenez (Venice), his teammate Jose Sevilla, and San Pedro’s Luis Sandoval. All 3 have posted exceptional times this year and have the ability to win this race. Franklin’s David Martinez has the potential to run sub-9:35.0 and if he does he’ll be a contender for the City title and on is way to setting the Franklin school record as well. Austin Ledgerwood (El Camino Real) is recovering from illness but if he can get back to form he is formidable and a big-race competitor.

MAX FIELDS - Sophomore Palisades Charter

 

AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD - Senior El Camino Real

 

JOSE SEVILLA - Senior Palisades Charter

Max Fields currently ranks among the City’s legends of high school distance running. His PB of 9:33.17 on March 12th is the 7th fastest 3,200m time by a sophomore in LA City history.

But this is a cautionary tail. Even though Martin Morales, Hector Garcia and Ryan Alexander were top City sophomore runners they never won a City 3,200m championships. As a sophomore Morales lost to Granada Hills formidable senior Craig Lawson in the ‘89 City Championship and never again broke 9:20. Marshall’s Hector Garcia had the misfortune of competing against Venice’s Paul Luevano and ECR’s Justin Hazell; two of City’s greatest runners. And, Ryan Alexander never ran under 9:40 in the 3,200m after his sophomore year.

Girls 3.200m

Keely Miyamoto (Sr) - Eagle Rock

Keely Miyamoto is in impressive form and will be tough to beat. She ran an 11:29.34 at the Tiger Invitational to post the top LA City time. Granada’s Meztli Velazquez and Jocelyn Pacheco are in striking distance and will be looking to help Granada claim the final jewel in the the City crown - individual Granada titles in the 800m, 1,600m and 3,200m.

KEELY MIYAMOTO - Senior Eagle Rock

The Record Book

2022 marks an inflection point for City distance running. In the modern era since 1980 when the CIF transitioned to metric distances Birmingham has dominated boys and girls running.

In those 43 years Birmingham has won 24 individual City championships in the 800m, 1,600, and 3,200m events - 11 boys titles and 13 girls titles- the most of any City school.

But in the last decade both San Pedro and Palisades have made inroads and in 2022 both schools have a chance to usurp Birmingham.

Here is a list of all City champions since 1980 in the 800m, 1,600, and 3,200m

Note: In the 1980 City Finals all the individual City champions earned City records since that was the 1st year that metric distances were run at the Finals.


LA CITY’S GREATEST

It’s been almost 20 years since the last boys record was broken in 2003 when Monroe’s Manuel Ruiz ran 9:05.09 to break Roman Gomez’s (Belmont) record that had stood for 19 years. Roman still holds the 1,600m record, 4:09.09, a record that has stood for 38 years.

Roman Gomez

Belmont 1985

ROMAN GOMEZ won the State double - 1,600m & 3,200m - 2 years in a row, 1984 & 1985; the 1st and only runner to accomplish this feat. Roman also won the City Triple - 800m, 1600, 3200m in 1985 - one of only two City runners to do this (Marshall’s Andre Young was the other). And Roman still holds the City 1,600m record of 4:09.09; the longest standing City distance record, boy or girl.

Marissa Williams

Palisades Charter - 2015

MARISSA WILLIAMS won 9 individual City Track Championships - more than any City runner, boy or girl. She’s one of 2 City girls to win the City Triple - 800m, 1600m, 3200m - Granada Hill’s Sofia Abrego is the other. And she is the only City runner to win the 1,600m and 3,200m individual City Championships all 4 years. Marissa currently holds both the 1,600m (4:47.88) and 3,200m (10:28.30) City records.

CITY XC 2021

Girls from 3 divisions achieved ‘All City’ honors showing the overall strength of girls City running programs. Brynn Bogue is the youngest athlete, boy or girl, to make the ‘All City’ team.


Division 1 athletes dominated the boys ‘All City’ team including Palisades Charter which earned 3 of the 7 spots. Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin) was the only non-D1 runner to make the 1st team.

 RUNNING RESUMES . . . FINALLY

WEST VALLEY PREVIEW
August 19th, 2021 - Pierce College

After 18 months the 1st official LAC Section XC meet was held at Pierce College. A ‘rust-buster’ for sure but Granada showed their wares winning both the girls and boys team competitions as well as the girls individual honors with Jocelyn Pacheco leading the race from start to finish. Cleveland’s James Lopez won the boys race and ECR’s Austin Ledgerwood and Max Liberman finished 2nd and 3rd getting the Royals within 1 point of a team victory.

WOODBRIDGE INVITATIONAL
September 18th, 2021

An early-season bellwether, the Woodbridge Invitational is a showcase for LA City’s top athletes. Max Fields (Palisades) and Sofia Abrego (Granada Hills) were top individual performers and the Granada girls and Palisades boys had the top City team times. Overall, though, the performances were slower revealing the toll COVID had taken.

BELL-JEFF INVITATIONAL
September 25th, 2021

A favorite of LA City teams, 16 schools and 322 athletes competed on the hilly Griffith Park course at the Bell-Jeff Invitational. Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez scored big placing 1st & 2nd and Francisco’s time of 15:46.7 was the fastest City time on the day. Granada’s Isabel Castagnola had the top girls time.

SANTA CLARITA INVITIONAL
October 9th, 2021

Santa Clarita is typically a medal grab versus a venue for top performances and that was the case this year on a new 2.85 mile course at Central Park. Granada’s top runners were up at Clovis but their girls still posted the top City team time. Fiona Le led the Highlanders in the Large School race while Canoga Park’s Dulce Gonzalez had the top girls City time of 19:16.4 in the Small School race. In the boys races Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) posted the top City time and Ferbin Orellana (Helen Bernstein) the top City time in the Small School race.

MT. SAC INVITATIONAL
October 20th-21st

The top City performances at Mt. Sac often presage the City championships and ‘21 was no exception. On an unusually cool day in Walnut, Max Fields (15:40.2) and Austin Ledgerwood (15:45.2) had the top boys times while Isabel Castagnola (18:46.2) continued to impress with the girls top time. The Palisades boys had 4 of the top 6 City performances and the Granada girls top 5 scorers ranked within the top 15 City time. Keely Miyamoto (Eagle Rock) posted the 2nd fastest girls City time on Friday afternoon.

LEAGUE FINALS
Mission Valley/Northern League Finals

November 3rd, 2021 - Pierce College

The East Valley, Mission Valley and Northern leagues ran combined races for their league finals bringing together some of the City’s finest athletes at Pierce for the first and last time this season. Canoga Park, Franklin, Marshall, Monroe & Reseda showed well in the boys races and Canoga Park, Eagle Rock, Marshall, and Reseda the girls. Jude Sandridge (Reseda) won the overall boys race and Frieda Cedillo (Kennedy) the girls. Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez placed 1-2 in the Northern League final while Finlay Robertson and Panos Papadeas led Marshall to the Northern league team title. In the girls race Keely Miymota and Celeste Corrigan placed 1st and 2nd to lead Eagle Rock to a narrow Northern league team victory over Marshall. Dulce Gonzalez placed 2nd in the Mission Valley league final to help Canoga Park win over Reseda and Carlos Argueta led the boys team to a league title as well. In the East Valley league finals, Monroe dominated both the girls and boys races led by William Rojas and Leyla Huerta who both won their respective league final races.

Western League Finals

November 1st, 2021 - Pierce College

Palisades boys and girls dominated both the team and individual races in the Western league finals though Venice was able to break-up a sweep. Max Fields set the Pierce course standard for the season winning in 15:43.8 and Mollie Wittenberg did the same in the girls race winning in 19:29.1. Venice’s James Jimenez placed 4th in a time that makes him a favorite for the division 2 City title and his teamates Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin and Elin Nowak placed 4th and 5th, also with division 2 top times on Pierce.

West Valley League Finals

November 4th, 2021 - Pierce College

Granada’s girls went 1-5 to post a perfect score in the West Valley league finals. Three girls broke 20 minutes: Isabel Castagnola, Jocelyn Pacheco, and freshman Meztli Velazquez. In the boys race Austin Ledgerwood and Max Liberman led El Camino Real to a 7-point margin over 2nd place Granada Hills. Granada was lead by Juan Alcala and Reese Robles


Eastern League Finals

November 3rd, 2021 - Elysian Park

The Garfield girls had 6 athletes finish in the top 10 to take a convincing win at the Eastern League finals led by Sonia and Kelia Naranjo-Champion. The Garfield boys also won big with Carmelo Rodriguez placing 3rd to lead the Bulldogs. Antonio Sanchez of Southgate won the boys race.

LA CITY PRELIMS

November 13th, 2021 - Pierce College

The LAC Section Prelims arrived and with it the prospect of a ‘21 City Championship at Pierce. The Prelims are the first opportunity for most to see smaller schools compete but this year was different. While division 5 did participate, divisions 3 and 4 opted out due to low school participation, and so division 3 & 4 teams wishing to participate automatically qualified for the City Finals.

The Prelims saw the return of some of City’s top runners. Taft’s Amelie Missig ran in her first race at Prelims since an early-season injury kept her out of competition. Kennedy’s Vivian Meraz, a top-5 returner from 2019 who had not run a race since September, also reappeared. And James Lopez, an early-season City favorite injured after Bell-Jeff, continued his come-back at Prelims while admittedly not at 100%.

The biggest news of the day though was that City Champion Sofia Abrego would not be running Prelims. Still recovering from an ankle injury that she incurred during the abbreviated track season in Spring, Sofia decided to forego Prelims and focus on the City Championship.

City Championships

WOW!

What a City Finals!

A perfect morning for racing welcomed our LA City finalists and they delivered with some remarkable performances!

Here is a rundown of the LA City Championships.

Continue to check-in, we’ll be updating the site through-out the week!

Start of the Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College - Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021

BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS

PALISADES BOYS TURN IN A HISTORIC PERFOMANCE

You have to go back 24 years to witness a better City Championship performance than the Palisades Boys teams delivered at the City Finals on Saturday. Not since the great Belmont teams of 1997-1998 has an LA City team run so fast! MAX FIELDS led the Dolphins in their historic performance and clinched the individual City title in the process - the 1st time a Sophomore has won the Division 1 LA City title since 1997 when Belmont’s Humberto Vargas accomplished the same feat. Max’s time ranks as the 4th fastest performance EVER by a Sophomore at the City Finals.

PALISADES CHARTER Boys Varsity

LA CITY DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS
Front (l-r): Max Fields (1485), Jose Sevilla (1489), Back (l-r): Joshua Kovaks (1486), Jeremy Santiago (1487), David Tobin (1490), Noah Wexler (1491), Alec Schmitt (1488)

Max Fields’ win at City was an inspired performance. It wasn’t until the last 200 meters that he surged ahead of Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) to take the lead for good and capture the City title. David Tobin, his teammate and the 2nd Palisades runner to cross the finish line, had the race of his life posting an incredible 15:37.7 to place 3rd and take almost a minute off his best time at Pierce. Jose Sevilla (15:40.8) and Alec Schmitt (15:51.2) ran well to both post times under 16 minutes. Palisades top 5 scoring runners all placed within the top 14 in the Division 1 championship race.

Max Fields leads the Division 1 Championship race on the 1st pass through ‘The Steps’ on his way to winning the individual City title at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021.

In September we predicted a Palisades City Title - both individually and for the team. We also thought they could deliver 5 runners under 16 minutes - a feat only accomplished by Belmont. They were close; 4 Palisades boys ran under 16 on Saturday and their 5th was only off by 10 seconds. On the whole not a bad day of running!

Well done and congratulations to the Division 1 Champions - Max Fields (1st - 16:24.1), David Novak (3rd-15:37.7), Jose Seville (4th-15:40.8), Alec Schmidt (7th-15:51.2), Noah Wexler (14th-16:10.2), Joshua Kovacs (28th-16:55.4) and Jeremy Santiago (17:32.7). And Coach Rob Hockley!

EL CAMINO REAL - Division 1 Boys 2nd Place

If not for the impressive Palisades performance, El Camino Real would have been the story of the day. Just 2 weeks ago, at the West Valley League Finals, this team was struggling to get 5 runners under 17 minutes and only had one runner showing any promise of a sub-16 performance.

El Camino Real Varsity Boys
(l-r) Evan Sinnott (1201), Isaac Torres (1202), Max Liberman (1200), Justin Canas (1197), Austin Ledgerwood (1199), Mateo Glass (1198), Kevin Alvarez (1196)

What a difference 2 weeks makes! To a person this team delivered at City Finals. Austin Ledgerwood smashed his Pierce PR by 48 seconds to post an incredible 15:25.7 - breaking 15:30.0 on Pierce is where legends are made! Max Liberman took over 30 seconds off his Pierce PR to go under 16-minutes in 15:52.8. Mateo Glass, a sophomore, was just one second off of a sub-16 minute performance; his 16:01.0 is 24 seconds faster than his previous Pierce PR. Isaac Torres, who finally showed hints of what he is capable of in Prelims, took 16 seconds off of that time to post a 16:11.0 at Finals. And finally, their 5th boy, Evan Sinnott, a runner who came into this season as one of the top returning athletes from 2019 but has been sidelined with injuries, put together an inspired performance finishing in 16:48.0 - almost a minute off of his best time at Pierce this year. Amazing performances - congratulations to the team and to Coach Colson.

El Camino Real’s Austin Ledgerwood crosses the finish line in 2nd place in the Division 1 Championship race with a massive course PR of 15:25.7. He led an ECR team that peaked to perfection to take 2nd place in Division 1.

BREAKING 16 MINUTES

Last week we predicted that 5 runners in Division 1 would break 16 minutes; an off year by any standard but understandable in light of COVID. Nine boys broke 16 minutes on Saturday in Division 1 with some brilliant and unexpected break-throughs. We assumed Max Fields, Austin Ledgerwood, Jose Seville, Alec Schmitt and Max Liberman would break 16 - that was our 5. The surprises were David Tobin who absolutely knocked it out of the park on Saturday with a 3rd place finish and 15:37.7 clocking. San Pedro’s Luis Sandoval (15:44.7) and Daniel Ruiz (15:47.6), who both posted huge course PR’s (Bruce Thomson would have been very proud of these boys!). Sophomore Joseph Vargas, Cleveland’s break-out star, took over 2 minutes off his Pierce course time back in September to break 16 minutes in the Finals - 15:590 - phenomenal!

San Pedro’s LUIS SANDOVAL (1576) and DANIEL RUIZ had big races at the City Finals, posting the 5th (15:44.7) and 6th (15:47.6) best times on the day. San Pedro had a 3rd runner that nearly broke 16-minutes as well, junior ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDOZA (16:03.6 - not pictured). JAMES LOPEZ (Cleveland-1124) was a certain pick for a sub-16 City Final performance as well as ‘All-City Team’ recognition but was hampered by a late-season injury.

ALL-CITY TEAM

Below we’ve compiled the top times from Saturday’s City Finals across all divisions to recognize the best-of-the-best. The top 14 athletes, boys and girls, that comprise our ALL-CITY TEAMS.

The Boys All-City Teams are directly below. The girls table is in the next section.


BOYS ALL-CITY TEAMS

All-City Notes - Boys

Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin) is the only non-Division 1 runner to make the All-City 1st team. He’s also the Division 3 Individual City Champion and the Northern league champion. Jude Sandridge, Reseda’s stand-out sophomore and a member of the elite sub-16, shaved 20 seconds off his Pierce Course PR to take 3rd in the Division 3 race. He is the Valley Mission league champ. James Jimenez, Division 2 champion and another elite sub-16er, continues the Venice tradition of delivering top-tier performances at the City Finals in his final race at Pierce. James posted the 2nd fastest time in Prelims to win the combined Division 1&2 Heat 1 race. And finally, Finlay Robertson, in his best performance this year and his final race at Pierce, ran a course PR of 16:00.8 to take 10th place in the division 1 race; less than a second off a sub-16 performance!

FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin) crosses the finish line to win the Division 3 City Championship at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021. His time of 15:48.1 smashed the previous Division 3 City record and helped the Panthers to a historic 2nd place team finish in the City title race.

DIVISION 2 CITY CHAMPS - MONROE: (l-r) Nicolas del Angel, Brendon Valadez (1423), Rigoberto Castellanos, William Rojas (1422), Daniel Rivera. Missing - Netzer Escobr, Jefler Alonzo

Four of LA City’s best individuals from four of the City’s best XC teams stretch for the finish at the City Championships. MATEO GLASS (ecr-1198), FINLAY ROBERTSON (Marshall), REESE ROBLES (Granada Hills) and ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDEZ (San Pedro) all had huge PR’s on the Pierce course and just missed breaking 16- minutes by seconds.

A final note on the Boys All-City team: In 2021 13 athletes broke 16 minutes; the same number of runners in 2019. So in a very difficult year LA City cross-country continues to excel and inspire!

GIRLS CHAMPSIONSHIPS

Start of Girls Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021

GRANADA HILLS - DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS: Coach Johnny Wiley, Isabel Castagnola, Sofia Abrego, Meztli Velazquez, Jocelyn Pacheco, Zaida Velazquez, Naima Salazar, Fiona Le, Coach Bernardo Abrego

GRANADA GIRLS SOAR AT CITY FINALS

Granada placed 5 girls in the top 12 in the Division 1 City Final race to continue a City Final winning streak that goes back to 2017. They didn’t quite match the time of their legendary 2018 team but still managed to get 5 girls under 19 minutes! Isabel Castagnola, 2021’s LA City Champion, once again set a course PR taking almost 20 seconds of her Prelim time. Jocelyn Pacheco finished her City season strong (and without glasses!) with a 2nd place finish in 19:13.0. Naima Salazar (19:23.6) had a brilliant race to take 4th place, dropping almost a minute off her Prelim time and returning to her ‘19 form. And Sofia Abrego returned for her final Pierce race to place 10th in 19:50.9 after a difficult season waylaid with injuries.

Isabel Castagnola holds a commanding lead at the half-way point in the Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021. Isabel won the race in a course PR of 18:18.9.

At Mile 1 in the girls Division 1 Championship race Naima Salazar (Granada Hills-1247) runs with Frieda Cedilla (Kennedy-1247) in 11th place. Naima ran a very strong 2nd half of the race to chase down 7 girls and finish in 4th place in 19:23.6. Frieda placed 8th in 19:44.0. Palisades’ Layla Adeli (17th-20:31.0) and Taft’s Amelie Missig (15th-20:16.9) are close behind.

DIVISION 2 GIRLS - EAGLE ROCK WINS BIG OVER BRAVO

EAGLE ROCK DIVISION 2 CITY CHAMPS (l-r) KIANA ADRADA (1163), Celeste Corrigan (1165), Elizabeth Corrigan (1166), Ixtlalli Chavez (1164), Marielle Williamson (1168), Keely Miyamoto (1167), Tory Yetter (1169)

Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin crosses the finish line to take the Division 2 individual title in 19:07.0. The Venice junior, in only her 3rd LA City race, posted the 3rd best time of the year at Pierce.

CELESTE CORRIGAN (Eagle Rock) takes 3rd place in the Division 2 Championship race with a PR of 19:17.7. Celeste had a phenomenal post-season, taking 2nd place in the Northern League final, then dropping her Pierce PR by over a minute at City Prelims to win her heat, and finally this performance at Finals.

DIVISION 3 GIRLS - CANOGA PARK WINS A THRILLER OVER RESEDA

Dulce Gonzlez has the Division 3 race well in hand at about .75 miles into the Championship race. She was 1 of 2 girls to break 19 minutes on Saturday and her 18:52.0 is the 2nd fastest time at Pierce this year.

CANOGA PARK - DIVISION 3 CITY CHAMPIONS: (L-R) ANGIE PINEDA, KARINA PEREZ (1095), DULCE GONZALEZ (1093), SARAH GODINEZ (1092), ASHLEY PINEDA (1097), ANGLEINA LOPEZ, ANGELINE VALLADARES (1098)

Reseda’s YANILETTE MONTANA emerges out of the fog at the top of ‘Horseshoe’ in 4th place. Yanilette finished impressively to move up two places and finish in 2nd place in the Division 3 Championship race with a PR of 19:41.2.

GIRLS ALL-CITY TEAMS

Sophomore Gabriela Nascimento put New West and Division 5 on the map with her 19:37.6 performance at City Finals. In only her 2nd high school race she won the Division 5 City title and ranks 13th in City overall. Gabriela is a ‘Rising Star’!

Kaylee Vargas (San Pedro) and Fiona Le (Granada Hills) both came through BIG at the end of this season. Kaylee took almost a minute off her Prelim time to break 20 minutes (19:58.7) and place 11th in the Division 1 Championship Race. She also qualified for State as an individual. Fiona scratched her way up from JV with a big performance at League finals and continued to improve through City Finals where she broke 20 minutes (19:59.1) - and placed 12th as Granada’s 5th scoring runner.

Dulce Gonzalez’s final appearance at Pierce was an appropriate finish to a superlative season. Dulce won the Division 3 race, smashing her course PR by over 40 seconds in a time of 18:52.0 and posting the 2nd fastest time at the City Championships. In her 1st race this year at the Western League finals, unknown Venice junior Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin placed 4th with an impressive 19:47.80 at Pierce. And in only 3 races, EVER, she’s claimed the Division 2 City title and risen to #3 overall in LA City with a time this past Saturday of 19:07.3. Lidia is someone to watch in 2022! Freshman Brynn Bogue (Bravo Medical) was our ‘Rising Star’ selection back in September and she definitely delivered in the championships with an impressive 2nd place finish in Division 2 and a sub-19 performance, 19:14.4. Celeste Corrigan (Eagle Rock) had been running well all year but took it to another level in post season. In the Northern league finals at Pierce she took 2nd in 20:42.0. The following week at Prelims she dropped her Pierce PR to 19:31.1 and then in the Finals to 19:17.7 to take 3rd in the Division 2 race and rank 6th overall in LA City. When you look at Ava Baak’s Woodbridge and Mt. Sac times the expectation is that she’ll run mid-19’s at City Finals. But expectations and reality are different things and Ava was able to deliver on those expectations. Her 19:20.0 at City Finals is a modest Pierce PR for her but a a very strong performance that ranks as the 7th best time at the Championships and led Palisades to a 2nd-place team finish.

Well done to all these runners. The best-of-the best!

Garfield’s talented sisters, sophomore Sophia & freshman Kelia Naranjo-Champion, placed 5th and 7th in the Division 1 Championship race. Their times of 19:32.7 and 19:38 were the 10th and 12th fastest on the day.

The Sophomore Class

In case your counting, that’s 3 sophomores that broke 16 minutes at City Finals - Max Fields-Palisades-15:22.5, Jude Sandridge-Reseda-15:56.0, and Joseph Vargas-Cleveland-15:59.0. And that doesn’t include Mateo Glass who missed the mark by only one second. That’s the 1st time in the history of LA City XC that 3 sophomores have broken 16 minutes on the Pierce course in the City Finals.

Max Fields’ 15:22.5 on Saturday ranks as the 4th best sophomore time ever at City Finals behind City greats Roman Gomez (1982-Belmont-14:53.0), Martin Morales (Wilson-1988-15:04.7), and Humberto Vargas (Belmont-1997-15:21.9).

Sophomore Joseph Vargas sprints down the gauntlet to finish in 15:59.0. The final sub-16 runner in the Division 1 race, Joseph was also the 3rd sophomore to break 16 minutes on Saturday; an LA City record. That’s sophomore Mateo Glass (ECR-1198) behind him; Mateo finished in 16:01.0.

Jude Sandridge posted the 1st sub-16 sophomore time on Saturday in the Division 3 race. He took 3rd place in 15:56.0.

FRANKLIN

Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez capped an incredible cross-country season for Franklin placing 1st and 2nd in the Division 3 Final race. They both clipped more than 4o seconds off of their Northern League final performances to reclaim the Division 3 City title from Reseda’s very talented Jude Sandridge. All 3 ran under 16 minutes in a 1st for Division 3. A really amazing race.

Franklin’s David Martinez (1205) and Francisco Rodriguez (1209) lead the boys Varsity race at the 1-Mile mark. Reseda’s Jude Sandridge is close behind.

The Finals were bitter-sweet for Franklin though. They were attempting to win the 1st City title in any sport for Franklin High. They lost out to Verdugo Hills by 5 point in a battle that was won in the last mile. Franklin had a faster team-time but Verdugo had stronger 3-5 runners and that was he difference

In addition to Francisco and David, Franklin Gonzalez will be headed to the State meet as an individual qualifier.

Stay tuned - we’ll be updating through-out the day!

THE FINAL ANALYSIS

City Performances Down 5.5% - The Impact of COVID

The ‘21 City Championships provided a final opportunity to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the ‘21 City XC season. Comparing performances from the ‘21 Championships to the ‘19 Championships we determined City performances were down 5.4-5.7% in ‘21 compared to ‘19. The results from this final analysis are a significant improvement from the results we published at the beginning of the season based on Woodbridge performances. In September we showed performances were down by 8.7% (boys) and 13.9% (girls) in ‘21 versus ‘19. So, City athletes did make up ground over the course of the ‘21 season but on average did not fully take back the performance loss due to COVID-19.

The tables below provide a summary of the tabulated data from ‘19 and ‘21 City Championships and Woodbridge.

Click here to see our original COVID Report

CITY FINALS 2009 - 2021

The tables below are a compilation of results from the Division 1 Boys races at the City Finals from 2009 through 2021. Sorry, no girls or divisions 2-5. The categories in the left column are key metrics to evaluate yearly performances. Each category has rankings for each of the 12 years, 2009-2021, which ranks a specific year’s performance against other years in that category.

Three things stand-out!

FIRST, how exceptional the 2009 division 1 boys runners were. They ranked 1st or 2nd in every performance category in ALL 12 years.

SECOND, what a phenomenal performance the Palisades boys team delivered this season. In a year in which COVID-19 obviously factored into City performances, Palisades transcended City norms with a truly outlier performance.

THIRD, City Final performances were very consistent with early season results from Woodbridge. In both cases there were exceptional performances by specific individuals and teams but on overall the times were well off City averages.

LA CITY’S RISING STARS

The tables below list the TOP 10 State performances by City 9th and 10th graders.

BOYS

Palisade’s MAX FIELDS led the State rankings, both for the underclassmen and overall. Venice’s PAUL TRANQUILLA was the only freshman to make the list. JOSEPH VARGAS (Cleveland) started off fast in his Division 1 race, clearing the first mile in 5:03.3, and then settled in to a more conservative pace that earned him a City rank of 19 overall in 17:12.8 and 3rd in our ‘Rising Star’ ranking. Verdugo’s future looks to be promising with 2 runners on our ‘Rising Star’ ranking - sophomores DUSTIN HARZMAN and EVAN ELLERSIECK. Final note: Seven of the Top-10 ranked underclassmen run for Divisions 2-5.

 

 

MAX FIELDS (1258-Palisades) was the top City runner in the State meet finishing in 16:10.3.

GIRLS

 

GABRIELA NASCIMENTO (New West-1116) crests a hill prior to mile-1 in her Division 5 race. Gabriela posted the top City underclassman time at State, 19:50.3.

GABRIELA NASCIMENTO (New West) continued her post-season excellence with a sub-20 performance at State (19:50.3) that ranks her as the top City underclassmen. Canoga Park’s ANGELINA VALLADARES may have had the most impressive State performance, leading her team with the top time and one of only 5 City girls to break 20 minutes. Garfield’s sisters KELIA & SOPHIA NARANJO-CHAMPION have exchanged places all year and at State Kelia took the sibling honors with a time of 20:14.3. Both made our Top-10 ranking and look to be top Division 1 competitors in the coming years. MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ (Granada Hills) was the top City freshman for most of ‘21 and she continued the streak posting a time of 20:13.5 at State. Final note: CANOGA PARK has 3 girls on the ‘Rising Stars’ list; in addition to Angelina Valladares, ANGELINA LOPEZ and KARINA PEREZ also made the list - watch out for this team in the next 2 years!

 
 

CITY TOP-10 STATE PERFORMANCES 

The tables below rank the Top-10 LA City BOYS and GIRLS performances, across all divisions. Scroll through the tables to see rankings by 1st, 2nd and 3rd-mile splits.

Thirty-three City schools and 125 City athletes competed in this year’s State meet. And while overall performances where a bit lackluster (it’ been 16 years since an LA section boy has not broken 16 minutes and 14 years since a girl hasn’t broken 19 minutes) there were some noteworthy City performances nonetheless.

 LA CITY FINALS

CITY PRELIMS ‘21

The City Prelims tend to be a mixed bag that has the top teams holding back and the challengers running for PR’s. The 2021 City Prelims, for the most part, held true to form. Take a look at our analysis below for specifics on team and individual performances at the City Prelims and projections for the City Final.

In this year of COVID we’d be remis if we didn’t highlight a few of the impacts to City’s XC programs in post season as a result of the pandemic:

  • Belmont, the most successful cross-country program in the modern history of LA City distance running, by any measure, did not have 5 runners at their League Finals. As a result, they did not participate in the City Prelims and will not be in the Finals.

  • Elizabeth Learning Center girl’s team, which were the City division 5 runner-up team at the 2019 City Finals did not field a team in 2021.

  • North Hollywood, home of one of the top City runners in the last 30 years, Natalie Stein, did not have a qualifying team, boys or girls, at Prelims.

  • Manual Arts, Polytechnic, and Dorsey are just a few more of the 20 City schools that did not field a qualifying team for league finals or Prelims.

As part of this issue on the ‘Post Season’ we’re including team and individual rankings, by division, based on Prelim and League Final results. Read on for the details.

LA CITY RANKINGS

Preparing cross-country rankings is far from a perfect science and using the City Prelims as the primary data set doesn’t help the cause, mostly for the reasons mentioned above. In 2021 there was an additional wrinkle in that divisions 3-4 did not run Prelims at Pierce. For these divisions we used the teams’ performances from their League Finals. This introduced further complexities in that many of these teams ran their League Finals at Elysian Park or Peck Park, NOT Pierce. For the division 3 and 4 teams that ran their league finals at Elysian or Peck Park we’ve converted the individual and team times to Pierce-equivalents. Very scientific :)

So……here are our rankings and analysis. We’ll continue to update throughout the week to cover all of the divisions.

TEAM RANKINGS

The tables below rank all teams that participated in the LA City Prelims at Pierce College (divisions 1,2&5) and League Finals at Elysian Park, Peck Park and Pierce (divisions 3&4). Overall team rankings are based on each team’s top 5 runner’s times at the Prelims or League Finals.

Click on the tables below to see TEAM RANKINGS BY DIVISION

 

BOYS TEAM RANKINGS - ALL DIVISIONS

 

DIVISION 1 Boys Analysis

DIVISION 2-5

Boys Analysis

 

GIRLS - ALL DIVISIONS

Division 1 Girls Analysis

 

DIVISIONS

2-5 Girls Analysis

INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS - BOYS TOP 25

Click on the tables below to see INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS BY DIVISION

INDIVIUDAL RANKINGS - GIRLS TOP 25

 

CITY PRELIMS WINNERS CIRCLE

 

BOYS Division 1 - Heat 2

MAX FIELDS - Palisades Charter - 15:50.1

GIRLS Division 1 - Heat 2

ISABEL CASTAGNOLA - Granada Hills - 18:37.9

BOYS Division 2 - Heat 1

JAMES JIMINEZ - Venice - 16:08.7

GIRLS Division 2 - Heat 1

ANGELICA MILAR - Bravo Medical - 19:11.9

BOYS Division 1 - Heat 1

AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD - El Camino Real - 16:16.0

GIRLS Division 1 - Heat 1

MOLLIE WINTTENBERG - Palisades Charter - 19:23.5

BOYS Division 2 - Heat 2

WILLIAM ROJAS - Monroe - 16:30.1

GIRLS Division 2 - Heat 2

CELEST CORRIGAN - Eagle Rock - 19:31.1

BOYS Division 5 - Heat 2

BRANDON ADREANI - New West - 17:13.1

BOYS Division 5 - Heat 1

ISIDRO VALDEZ - Sun Valley Magnet - 18:07.1

 OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

JOCELYN PACHECO - Granada Hills - 19:12.5 and FRIEDA CEDILLA - Kennedy - 19:47.5

MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ - Granada Hills - 19:16.3

BRYNN BOGUE - Bravo Medical - 19:42.9

KELIA & SOPHIA NARANJO-CHAMPION - Garfield - 19:30.7 & 20:17.0

JOSE SEVILLA - Palisades Charter - 16:14.7

KEELY MYAMOTO - Eagle Rock - 20:15.7

LUIS SANDOVAL - San Pedro - 16:20.8

AMELIE MISSIG - Taft - 20:45.7

ECR’s ISAAC TORRES - 16:26.6, MAX LIBERMAN - 16:26.0 and MATEO GLASS - 16:24.5

KAYLEE VARGAS - San Pedro - 20:54.9

ANDREW REYES-GOMEZ - Miguel Contreras - 16:33.4

THEA AMON-FRANCESCHI - Marshall - 21:05.0

RIGOBERTO CASTELLANOS - Monroe - 16:52.4

DANIEL RIVERA - Monroe - 17:05.9

WILLIAM BUJAKE - New West - 17:47.0

LEAGUE FINALS

Three venues across greater Los Angeles hosted the 2021 LA City League Finals - Elysian Park, Peck Park and Pierce College. In all, 955 boys and girls competed, representing 5 divisions, 12 leagues and 35 schools.


What makes LA City’s League Finals unique is that it is often the first and last time some of the top LA City teams run against each other. In some of the best racing all year, the East Valley, Northern, and Valley Mission leagues met in a combined League Final race that was awe inspiring. The girls varsity race was absolutely packed with talent that included Freida Cedillo (race winner, Valley Mission champ), Dulce Gonzalez, Keely Miyamoto (Northern League Champ), Yanilette Montano, Celeste Corrigan, Thea Amon-Franceschi, Gabrielle Cannesson, Leyla Huerta (East Valley Champ), and Angelina Valladares to name just a few.

Yanilette Montano (283) and Frieda Cedillo (138) chase the leaders up Chalk Hill just prior to the 1st mile. That’s Marshall’s fantastic freshman Gabrielle Cannesson (188) hanging tough just steps behind!

The boys race was equally exciting with Reseda stand-out Jude Sandridge, Franklin’s dynamic duo Francisco Gonzalez and David Martinez, and Monroe’s William Rojos all toeing the line against the venerable Marshall team that has Finlay Robertson, Panos Papadaes, and Anton Hense.

Jude Sandridge (Reseda), Francisco Rodriguez (109), and David Martinez (105) lead through the 1st pass up ‘The Switchbacks’ at Pierce College at the combined East Valley/Northern/Valley Mission League Finals race on Wed Nov 4th, 2021

The next day, Thur Nov 4th, West Valley’s finest met at Pierce College for the final day of LA City league finals. The Granada Hill’s girls came in as the prohibitive favorites and did not disappoint. Running without 2 of their top runners the Highlanders still placed all of their runners in front of the competition to tally a perfect team score of 15. Granada’s top 3 ISABEL CASTAGNOLA, JOCELYN PACHECO and MEZTLE VELAZQUEZ joined 8 other City girls who broke 20 minutes on the Pierce course in league finals this week.

The boys varsity West Valley league finals proved to be much more competitive with El Camino Real and Granada Hills competing for valley honors. Granada led the race at 1-mile but ECR turned the tides in mile-2 with a team-wide surge that culminated in AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD and MAX LIBERMAN moving into 1st and 2nd and their 5th runner ISAAC TORRES making a big move in the last mile.

Cleveland ran well enough to take 3rd despite JAMES LOPEZ still working to get back to top form. HARRISON NYUGEN looks to be back after missing most of October and JOSEPH VARGAS continues to impress.

Fourth place went to Taft who continues to improve. EMMANUEL PALACIOS went out hard with the lead pack and was able to hold on to take 12th place and the top place for the Toreadors.

Granada’s Juan Alcala (1215) and Pablo Abrego lead the varsity West Valley race on the 1st pass up Chalk Hill. Taft’s Emannuel Palacios (1260), Cleveland’s Joseph Vargas (1130), and several of the ECR team are close behind.

 

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)

 AROUND THE LEAGUES

 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.

 
 

‘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!