GIRLS - DIVISION 4
#1 SHERMAN OAKS CES
SOCES moves from D3 to D4 this year and their top 5, all juniors, will take advantage of this move. SOCES’s top runner junior ALEXANDRA VILLANUEVA missed most of her sophomore XC season last year, including the City Championship; she’ll be on a mission to re-establish herself as a preeminent division 4 runner. Depending on her summer training and her form in August she has a shot at the individual City title. She’ll have stiff competition on that front but the team title should be an easier matter for SOCES and if they win it will be the school’s first. JASMYN TALACTAC and ELIZABETH CASTILLO will compete for the #2 spot and DESTINY LEE and MAI SAKAMOTO fill out the scoring. This has been one of the most consistent City programs over the last 15 years and definitely deserves the recognition that should be theirs in ’24.
Alexandra Villanueva leads SOCES this fall and will be on a mission to prove herself in D4.
#2 GALA
In the fours years that GALA has competed in City XC they’ve not only grown bigger, moving from D5 to D4, but also better, as evidenced by last year’s 3rd place finish at City Finals. And if you followed the school in Track this spring you know GALA is serious about running. This fall, their 5th year of cross country, they continue their march to the top with a #2 ranking. Five sophomores comprise their scoring including MIA KIMURA, HANA KIM, EMMA PANG-LE, KYLIE KIM and SONYA TUROFF so if teams aren’t worried this year they can start worrying about 2025 because this team will be getting a championship imminently. Senior NORA BROWN and sophomore ANASTASIA GEORGITIS fill out the varsity roster. To a person each of these runners showed consistent and marked improvement in their first year of running . If the group as a whole continues to improve this year AND two of them can get down to the low-to-mid 22’s the Goddesses may very well take their 1st City title in 2024. A remarkable feat in just 5 year’s time.
Hana Kim is part of a youth movement at Gala that may have her team usurping the D4 City Championships for the next several years.
#3 BELMONT
The Sentinels have 3 girls ranked in the top 20 in D4 led by junior GABRIELLA ZARAT (#7), senior MAGDALENA HERNANDEZ (#10) and junior VALERIE HERNANDEZ (#20). Not far behind are their other scoring runners, juniors ASHLEY CASSIQUE and MAYOLA ATZ-BARILLAS. Only 3 points and 14 seconds separate Belmont from #2 GALA so the this is going to come down to who wants it more. The Belmont tradition is well know and the lady Sentinels may very well need to tap into that legacy to move up against SOCES and GALA.
Division 4 Best of the Rest . . .
MACES will have a tough time breaking into the top 3 but junior KELLIE MENA should be able to score her 3rd consecutive individual title. Based on last year’s results she’s over a minute in front of returning runners but SOCES junior ALEXANDRA VILLANUEVA will likely make the ’24 title race a lot more interesting. Dorsey junior MARLENE GARCIA should be able to lock down #3 in November. KAYLEE GALVAN (Alliance Collins Family-So) had very promising freshman XC seasons last year and should be in the top at City Finals. Junior CANDY MORENO (Downtown Magnet-Jr) should should also be a top-5 contender.
Kellie Mena will be looking for her 3rd individual D4 City Title this fall.
Junior Marlene Garcia is the #3 returning D4 athlete in ‘24. She’ll be running for a top individual place at City Finals.
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