Bellarmine-Sacred Heart Inviational
Final Update
An incredible day of running at the Bell-Jeff Invitational on Saturday morning as 18 City schools participated and delivered some exceptional performances.
The races leading into October are always interesting. Most teams are in the middle of big training cycles so athletes are tired and performance tend to be all over the map. And injuries tend to start cropping up which was definitely a common theme across most teams.
For the boys the ‘Doug Speck-Sweepstakes’ race had City teams Palisades, Granada Hills, and Marshall squaring off. Palisades competed without their top 2 runners Max Fields and David Tobin.
The bigger race though was the boys Varsity-Red which had 8 City teams competing including division 3 City title challengers Franklin and Bernstein.
See below for pictures and details.
There was no sweepstakes race for the girls divisions so the Varsity-Red race was loaded. Granada Hills girls impressed as usual as did division 2 Eagle Rock and smaller schools Canoga Park and Helen Bernstein. Granada’s Sofia Abrego and Taft’s Amelie Missig did not compete at Bell-Jeff.
Some notable teams missing this year including El Camino Real and Verdugo Hills (who both opted for the Masters University Invite instead), Bravo Medical, University, Hollywood, North Hollywood, and Van Nuys.
BOYS UPDATES
Franklin Impresses!
The story of the day was the Franklin duo of Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez who took 1st and 2nd in the Varsity Red race.
Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez (480) and David Martinez (478) have had an epic 2 weeks. At Woodbridge last week David ran the 2nd fastest time in City this year covering the 3-mile course in 15:38.6. And at Bell-Jeff Francisco won the Varsity-Red race in 15:46.7. These guys are gunning for a City title in November.
Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez (480) is in the lead pack going up the 1st hill in the Bell-Jeff Invitational’s Varsity Red race. He won the race in a time of 15:46.7; the fastest City time and the 8th fastest time of the day.
David Martinez comes out of the hills in 2nd place with 600 meters to go. He had a pack of Loyola runners hunting him down but David held position and took runner-up in the Varsity Red race in a time of 16:17.3.
Granada Hills
The Granada boys placed 3rd in the Doug Speck Invitational race and took the City bragging rights with the best LA City team time. Juan Alcala (16:31.3), the top runner for Granada, continues to run the hills well which will be a factor post season! Their 4th and 5th boys, freshman Alexander Mendoza and senior Ryan Mittelstadt, provided the winning edge.
Pablo Abrego finished 22nd in the Doug Speck Invitational race in a time of 16:47.1. Pablo was Granada’s 2nd fastest finisher on Saturday. Behind Pablo is Cleveland sophomore Joseph Vargas who was the top City sophomore finisher on Saturday.
Alexander Mendoza (Granada Hills) continues to run well, placing 31st in the Doug Speck Invitational in 17:10.8
Palisades Charter
Though Palisades top 2 runners Max Fields and David Tobin did not run on Saturday their teammates picked up the slack and earned a 5th place in the Doug Speck Invitational race and the 2nd fastest City team time.
Palisades top finisher Jose Sevilla passes the 2-mile mark on his way to a 13th place finish in the Doug Speck Sweepstakes race. Jose had the 3rd fastest City time on Saturday.
Alec Schmitt was Palisades 2nd finisher and continues to improve. He placed 17th in the Doug Speck Invitational race in a time of 16.33.3.
Cleveland
Cleveland’s varsity team ran well at Bell-Jeff placing 7th in the Doug Speck Invitational race and running the 4th fastest team time in LA City.
James Lopez (Cleveland) was back on his game at Bell-Jeff placing 9th in the Doug Speck Sweepstakes race and the 11th fastest time of the day.
Cleveland’s Joseph Vargas continues to impress at Bell-Jeff. Joseph ran a 16:44.8 for the fastest sophomore performance of the day and the 8th fastest City time. (Photo Credit: Joseph’s mom)
Evan Speed has been Cleveland’s dependable 5th boy this season. He placed 55th in the Doug Speck Invitational race in 18:36.7. Evan will be a critical part of the Cavalier’s post-season success.
Marshall
The Marshall boys team continues to improve. At Bell-Jeff 5 runners were under 18 minutes on Saturday. These guys are going to be a factor in November!
Anton Hense led the Marshall team on Saturday with an 18th place finish in 16:42.0.
Finlay Robertson (l) and Panos Papaadeas (rt) finished 30th and 24th in the Doug Speck race at the Bell-Jeff invitational.
BOYS CITY TOP-10
Here are the top 10 City finishers across all boys races:
Note: Pace is based on a 2.94 course length.
BOYS CITY TEAM RESULTS
And here’s how the City boys teams fared:
Note: Teams with less than 5 runners across all races do not have team times or rankings.
GIRLS UPDATES
Granada Dominates and Eagle Rock Rocks!
Granada fought valiantly to get the win in the Varsity-Red race but Quartz Hill’s top 4 were too much for the Highlanders on Saturday. Nevertheless, some standout performances from Granada and some of the other City teams.
Three of City’s best runners compete in the girls Varsity Red race at the Bell-Jeff invitational on September 25th. Isabel Castagnola (545-Granada Hills), Keely Miyamoto (416 - Eagle rock), and Dulce GOnzalez (219 - Canoga Park) lead runners up the 1st hill. These girls are all front runners in their respective divisions: Isabel is ranked #7 (soon to be revised up) in division 1, Keely is ranked #1 in division 2, and Dulce is ranked #1 in division 3.
Granada Hills
Even without Sofia Abrego the Highlanders were formidable, leading all City teams. Isabel Castagnola led Granada and was very close to breaking 19 minutes on a course that’s a decent proxy for Pierce.
Isabel Castagnola runs off the last downhill with 400 meters to the finish and Quartz Hill closing hard. Isabel held her off to take 3rd place in the Varsity Red race, 7th overall, and 1st in LA City. (Picture Credit: Phil Missig)
Jocelyn Pacheco rounds the s-turns just after the 2-mile mark. She had a huge finish to pick up 5 places in the last 800 meters and place 5th in the Varsity Red race, 10th overall, and 2nd in City.
Palisades Charter
The girls team placed 3rd in the Varsity Red race with consistent performances across their top 5. For the 1st time in 5 years the Dolphins do not have a true front-of-the-pack runner but they are succeeding with a group of girls that all run within 1 min 30 seconds of each other.
Molly Wittenberg was Palisades top runner on Saturday clocking a 20:09.7 and taking 10th place in the Varsity Red race at Bell-Jeff.
Sophomore Kyra Morris placed 15th in the Varsity Red race to help Palisades to a 3rd place finish.
Eagle Rock
The girls of Eagle Rock continued to impress with a 4th place finish at Bell-Jeff
The Eagle Rock girls varsity team showed City they’re the team to beat in division 2 with a 4th place finish in the premier event at the Bell-Jeff Invitational. (l-r) Marielle Williamson (421), Celeste Corrigan, Iliana Garcia-Lana, Ixtlalli Chavez (406), Kiana Andrada (403), Keely Miyamoto (416)
Helen Bernstein
We’ve been talking this team up since since some of their earlier races back in August and they didn’t disappoint on Saturday. Bernstein finished 5th in the Varsity Red race with the 5th fasted City time. Like Palisades they don’t have a bonafide front runner but they pack it in tight so there isn’t a big time difference between their #1 and #5. If they can continue to improve the division 3 City title should be theirs for the taking.
Bernstien’s top 2 runners Xenia Villarreal (623) and Diana Gonzalez (619) lead a pack into the hills in the Varsity Red race at Bell-Jeff. They had the 3rd and 4th fastest division 3 times, 21:33.5 and 22:36.2 respectively.
Carla Orellana (621) was Bernstein’s 4th finisher on Saturday posting a time of 23:09.4
Noteworthy Performances
Dulce Gonzalez of Canoga Park had a phenominal run at Bell-Jeff breaking 20 minutes in 19:41.3 and taking over 2 minutes off of her 3-mile time at Ojai 2 week ago. She placed 7th in the Varsity Red race and was the 4th fastest City runner on the day.
Kyala Tjenalooi (1527-Taft) leads a pack of Taft girls up the 1st hill on the Bell-Jeff course. She was the Toreado’s top finisher taking 30th place in 22:27.3.
Thea Amon-Franceschi was Marshall’s top girl at Bell-Jeff. She finished in 17th place in the Varsity Red race in a time of 20:41.7.
Zaida Velazquez (566-Granada), Frieda Cedillo (727-Kennedy) and Angelina Valladares (226 - Canoga Park) finished 14th, 18th and 16th respectively. Angelina had a huge PB, taking almost 90 seconds off her time 2 weeks ago at Ojai.
GIRLS CITY TOP-10
Here are the top 10 City finishers across all girls races:
Note: Pace is based on a 2.94 course length.
GIRLS CITY TEAM RESULTS
And here’s how the City girls teams fared:
Note: Teams with less than 5 runners across all races do not have team times or ranking