California State Meet - November 28, 2024
Woodward Park - Fresno, CA
Ten races start on Saturday morning at 8:30 at Woodward Park. To add to the excitement, schools and athletes from the five boys and girls races are also vying for two automatic team spots at NXN (held the following Saturday in Portland) and five individual spots.
8:30 D1 Girls - This might be the most loaded race of the meet. It is possible that if Buchanan, Trabuco Hills and Santiago are close, they may all go to NXN (one would get an at-large bid). Buchanan runs this course over and over and put six runners in the top eight at CIF Central Section last Thursday. Trabuco HIlls won easily over Santiago on Saturday. Jaelyn Williams has run NXN twice and finished seventh last year at NXN. She also won the 3200 last spring at the State Meet. She has been recovering from an injury and having her wisdom teeth removed. She has only raced at dual meets and qualifying races to get to State.
Individuals - Rylee Blade (Santiago), Braelyn Combe (Santiago), Holly Barker (Trabuco Hills), Millie Bayles (Trabuco Hills), Isabella Ramirez (Bullard), Jaelyn Williams (Eastlake), Megan Crum (Temescal Canyon), Sophie Guilfoile (Trabuco Hills), Carol Dye (San Juan) Katja Dunayevich (Canyon Crest Academy), Eliza Hong (Del Norte)
9:00 D2 Girls - Ventura won this division last year. El Toro finished first over Ventura on Saturday at CIF SS. St Francis won Mt SAC Sweepstakes in October.
Individuals: Sadie Engelhardt (Ventura), Grace Smith (Claremont), Mackenzie Forrest (Tesoro), Keaton Robar (Newport Harbor), Gweneth Williams (El Toro) - Engelhardt has won this event twice. She also set the course record back in October at the Clovis Invitational. Engelhardt ran Footlocker her first two years and NXN last year
9:30 D1 Boys - Beckman has come on strong in the second half of the season and could be in the top two in the power merge. Great Oak looked impressive at CIF Finals and Westin Brown returned to action. They finished third in the merge of all five races.
Individuals - Maximo Zaleta (MLK), Conor Lott (Clovis), Luke Sanders (Buchanan), Mason Nguyen (Beckman), Dylan Jubak (Trabuco Hills), Isaiah McCorvey (Lancaster)
10:00 D2 Boys Jesuit is nationally ranked and looking for a historic tenth state championship. Many of the top California individuals are in this race.
Individuals: Griffin Kushen (Tesoro), Aydon Stefanopoulos (Los Gatos), JR Lester (Hueneme), Trey Caldwell (De La Salle), Hunter Hannah (Matilda Torres), Dylan Flores (Glendora), Tyler Daillak (Paso Robles)
10:30 D3 Girls South Pasadena won D3 CIF SS and was fourth in the CIF SS merge.
Individuals - Hanne Thomsen (Montgomery), Abby Errington (South Pasadena), Summer Wilson (Irvine), Annie Ivarsson (Dana Hills), Harper Diaz (Santana), Gabriella Peters (Sage Creek) - If Thomsen wins D3 for a fourth time, she will join Sara Bei (Montgomery), Jordan Hasay (Mission Prep) and Sarah Baxter (Simi Valley). Errington and Wilson will be strong challengers and are new to division 3.
11:00 D4 boys - JSerra, Foothill Technology, St Mary’s College, Archie Williams, Oaks Christian - JSerra girls make the news in cross country lately and the boys might make some noise. Oaks Christian is ranked sixth in the state, but was second in the merge of all five races at CIC SS Finals.
Individuals - Eli Fitchen-Young (Santa Cruz) set the Crystal Springs record, Broen Holman (Sonora) has run NXN and Footlocker, Zion Ortiz (Burroughs), Bradley Array (JSerra), Cooper McNee and Christian Yoder (Oaks Christian), Auge Martin (St Francis - La Canada)
11:30 D5 girls -Immanuel has been working for this title for a few years not. Two years ago Crystal Springs won both D5 boys and girls.
Individuals: Amelia Sarkisian (Brentwood), Caroline Chang and Ella Mogannam (Lick-Wilmerding), Ayanna Hickey (The Bishop’s School), Clara Riddle (Immanuel)
12:00 D3 Boys - Graduation makes this meet a new team race with Hart, Oak Park, St Bosco and South Pasadena from the southern section looking to make the podium.
Individuals - Evan Noonan (Dana Hills), Max Douglass (Corona Del Mar), Miles Cook (Sacred Heart Cathedral), Liam Miller (South Torrance), Oliver Zimmerman (Thousand Oaks), Andres Lomeli (Kimball) - Evan Noonan won this event last year
12:30 D4 Girls - JSerra, Placer, Archie Williams, Harvard-Westlake JSerra has made it to NXN the last two years. Can they make it again? JSerra finished third in the CIF SS merge.
Individuals: Chiara Dailey (La Jolla), Sophie Polay (JSerra), Maya DeBrouwer (La Canada), Ava Decleve (Scotts Valley), Chloe Elbaz (JSerra), Maddie Giogio (Marlborough) - Chiara Daley won this race last year. She has chosen to run Footlocker for the last two years. It is her hometown and her parents raced Foot Locker.
1:00 D5 boys - Menlo Schools boys - Speaking of NXN, conventional wisdom has schools from the larger divisions (i.e. D1 or D2 typically qualify for NXN). There have been exceptions with Palos Verdes and JSerra making it a few times to NXN. Last year D4 boys had the most individuals make it to NXN. Can Menlo boys finish in the top two or get an at-large invite ton NXN? They set the team course record at Crystal Springs to qualify for state. Getting the team course record is not easy task at Crystal Springs. Crystal Springs Uplands is another contender in D5
Individuals: Eyan Turk (Woodcrest Christian), Landon Pretre (Menlo), Benjamin Bouie (Crystal Springs Uplands), Ryan Fitzpatrick (The Nueva School), Blake Bay (Fresno Christian), Olly O’Connor (Viewpoint), William Hauser (Menlo)
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