For the first time in more than a decade, both the Crescenta Valley boys’ and girls’ cross-country teams are heading to the CIF State Championship.
The Falcons qualified for the state meet after finishing in the top seven teams at the CIF Southern Section Cross Country Championship at Mt. San Antonio College on Nov. 18.
“We were so good,” Crescenta Valley coach Mark Evans said. “These girls have worked so hard and they’ve done such a great job and the guys did a great job. We had some guys dinged up and haven’t been at full strength for a couple of weeks and they still managed to pull it out. We’re just really excited that we’re going to state again.”
Crescenta Valley boys’ cross-country grabbed the final qualification spot in the Division I race, scoring 190 points to place seventh overall. The Falcons girls’ team placed sixth overall in Division I with 174 points.
The state meet takes place at Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 28. The Falcons had a preview of the course during the Clovis Invitational in early October where junior Emilia Greenway won the individual race and the boys’ team placed 10th overall in their respective races.
The boys team will be taking part in their fifth consecutive state meet and finished seventh overall last season. The girls qualified for their first state meet in nearly a decade, Evans said.
Both the Crescenta Valley boys and girls entered the CIF-SS finals as Pacific League champions. The boys secured their sixth straight league title, while the girls won their fourth consecutive crown.
“It’s great,” said Falcons senior Eddie Sion of qualifying for state. “I always looked up to all the top CV runners and it’s so much fun to finally bring up our team together. I’m excited. I think we’ll definitely go into it with a lot of confidence because, for a lot of these guys, Clovis is one of their best courses.
Meet officials changed up the course to accommodate forecasted rain and as a safety precaution. Despite the switch, Sion was the top finisher for Crescenta Valley, coming in eighth at 14 minutes, 20.8 seconds.
“I just got up there and hoped for the best,” said Sion, the Pacific League champion. “My approach was just to get up with those guys that should be a lot faster than me and try to run with them.”
Meanwhile, Greenway placed 17th in 17:17.9 in the girls’ Division I race.
“I’ve gotten so used to it and I can push those hills and pass people,” said Greenway of the course change. “But this race, I didn’t really know going into it – how the team was going to perform and how the other teams were going to do.”
Greenway said the team mainly works out on a track, but better prepared themselves for the new course by working on strides with curves.
“It feels really cool,” said Greenway of state. “Last year, we kind of wanted to go as a team, but this year all of our girls wanted to go. It was a whole team effort that went into this race.”
Crescenta Valley junior Ayaan Hasan followed Sion in the boys’ race, finishing 33rd with a time of 14:52.3. Falcons senior Arlo Gagnon (47th; 14:59.2), senior Ryan Becker (56th; 15:07.5) and junior Liam Zadoorian (66th; 15:13.2) rounded out the scoring runners.
For the girls, Falcons junior Kaitlin Kenney finished 29th in 17:47.9, and senior Ava Martin (45th; 18:19.8), senior Elizabeth Corrigan (48th; 18:21.4) and sophomore Brooklyn Oka (61st; 18.34.6) followed.
San Clemente defended its Division I boys’ crown, and the individual winner was Millikan senior Jason Parra, who clocked in 13:57.4. Santiago Corona won the girls’ Division I title, paced by junior Rylee Blade in 15:32.8.
First published in the November 25 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
