GIRLS - DIVISION 2
#1 BRAVO MEDICAL
Bravo Medical enters the ’24 XC season with a typically potent team sourced by the 2nd largest City XC program. And they’ll need it. The D2 City team championship is going to be a fire fight! Bravo’s top 5 are all seniors and that should weigh in their favor. Their top 4 are impressive - count on SOFIA NAJARRO, JASMINE HERNADEZ, ANGELIQUE MORALES and KARINA ALANIZ to deliver big. All of these athletes are capable of scoring in the top 15 in November. NAJARRO should be looking at a top 5 finish and MORALES continued to shine in spring with impressive 3,200m and 1,600m performances. But they’re vulnerable in the crucial #5 position. JAELYNN ARDON started to show some big improvements last year and she’ll need continue making progress to help Bravo past an imperious San Fernando team. This is a program that cultivates runners slowly and progress typically begins to bear fruit in the junior and senior years when top runners seemingly appear like magic. No magic though, just a rock solid running program based on fundamentals.
Sofia Najarro leads Bravo Medical into the ‘24 XC season with aspirations for a 3rd consecutive team title and a top 5 individual finish at City Finals.
#2 SAN FERNANDO
In the last 5 years, the San Fernando girl’s team has quietly become a presence in D2 culminating in their #5 at last year’s City Finals; their highest placement in the championship in over 20 years. This team looks to be on the cusp of something bigger and ’24 might be that year. The team typically participates in at least one local invitational, usually SCV or Bell-Jeff, but in ’23 they showed up at Mt. Sac and freshman ANGELOU HOYUELA broke out as the team #1. This team is solid top to bottom with room to spare - they have a strong lead runner in Hoyuela, less than 90 seconds separate their #1 and #5, and there #6 and #7 are only 30 seconds off their top 5. Hoyuela focused on shorter distances in track this spring but she’ll be counted on to break-up Bravo’s top 3 and in the process should be gunning for a top-10 finish at the Champsionships. San Fernando’s next 4, all seniors, should place in the top 30 in November but they’ll have to do better than that to take down Bravo. EVELYN RODRIGUEZ and ALYSSA SANCHEZ will likely be the #2 and #3 and they’ll both need to get in front of Bravo’s #4 with sub 20:30 performances. SUSAN MIER and SAMIRA GARCIA are a very competent #4 and #5 and if they can continue to improve as they have in the previous 3 years they could help seal the #2 spot for San Fernando and maybe even a championships. Most of San Fernando’s top runners continued running in spring which should pay dividends this fall. Definitely a program on the rise and a team to keep on eye.
Angelou Hoyuela leads a San Fernando team on the cusp of greatness.
#3 SANTEE
The falcons top runner senior ANGELES FELICIANO will undoubtedly be looking for Santee’s 4th individual City title and a school record on Pierce (currently 18:11.0 by Crystal Morales in 2011) on November 23rd. Seniors LIZBETH CHAVARRIA and KIMBERLY GALLARDO should hold down the #2 and #3 spots and junior STEPHANIE REMIREZ-DIAZ will be close behind. But they’ll need a #5 to shore up this team and sophomore DESTINY GALVAN looks to be that runner. She showed promise last fall and continued the same this spring. Santee has a lot of ground to cover to catch Bravo and they’ll need a break-out performance from someone other than FELICIANO to make it happen.
Angeles Feliciano looks to a D2 City individual title after superlative junior XC and track seasons.
#4 CANOGA PARK
Anyone who doubts that ANGELINA LOPEZ has a shot at the individual championship this fall need only look at her State performance last year where she posted the 3rd best City time. For the last 2 years she’s run under the shadow of standout Angelina Valladares and some of her performances during this time have been uneven but when she’s on she is very tough to beat and we’re betting that as the de facto front runner for the Hunters she’ll have a renewed purpose that will drive some epic performances. While she’s typically under-trained in the summer Angelina appears to be taking a different approach her senior year. We’ll get our first proof of this change at the Watermelon Run on August 3rd. The ’24 team is well balanced with 3 seniors and 4 juniors. Juniors SARAI ROSAS and VANESSA PEREZ and senior DULCE GODINEZ will likely comprise the core of Canoga Park’s scoring 5. They’ve all shown very good year-to-year improvements and expect that will continue this year. The #5 position is a toss up between juniors ANA JASSO and ABRIELE ARCILLA and senior JASMINE GARCIA. Perez performed well this past track season. PEYTON HERNANDEZ moved out of the district so will not be running for Canoga. This is a well coached team with a lot of options. They have almost 2 ½ minutes to make up on Bravo so a team Championship is unlikely but all other possibilities are fair game.
Angelina Lopez is ready to prove she’s the best in D2 XC in 2024 while leading her Canoga Park team.
#5 MIGUEL CONTRERAS
Miguel Contreras have 2 runners that should place in the top 10 this fall, senior BRIDGETTE TRUJILLO who is the #3 returning D2 athlete and senior MARITZA RAMIREZ, the #6 returning D2 runner. Two other seniors SHARRY AGUILAR and KIMBERLY COS RENOJ will likely be in the top 5 but don’t count out JESSICA CHAVEZ GONZALEZ, EMILY RIVERA GUERRERO or ELIZABETH OVANDO-CARRANZA; all of whom continued running and improving this spring.
Brigette Trujillo looks for a Miguel Contreras school record as well as a shot at the D2 City title in 2024.
Division 2 Best of the Rest . . .
A typically dominate Eagle Rock team lost 6 of their 7 varsity girls to graduation so ‘24 will be a rebuilding year led by senior TENAYA FIGUEROA. Monroe is without their top 2 runners from ‘23 but sophomore MISHELLE ZUNIGA had an impressive freshman year in both XC and track and looks ready to take the #1 spot. Seniors ALISON OSORIO and LAURA DIAZ should provide strong #3 and #4 positions. Esteben Torres senior SAMANTHA AVILA is the #10 D2 returning athlete and posted the 5th best 3,200m.
Monroe will need to reset this year since losing their top 2 runners from last year. Sophomore Mishelle Zuniga (3rd from left) and seniors Estefani Alas (middle) and Allison Osorio (2nd from right) will need to step up.
Esteban Torres senior Samantha Avila is the #8 returning D2 girl from ‘23. She’ll be looking for a top-10 finish this year.
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