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POST SEASON
THE FINAL ANALYSIS
City Performances Down 5.5% - The Impact of COVID
Based on 2021 City Final results, City athlete performances were down 5.4-5.7% compared to 2019. These results are an improvement from the beginning-of-year analysis from Woodbridge which showed performances down by 8.7% (boys) and 13.9% (girls). So, City athletes did make up ground over the course of the season but did not fully recover from the impact of COVID-19.
Our Approach . . .
In order to understand the ‘In-Season’ improvements over the course of the 2021 City season we rated ‘Beginning-of-Season’ City performances by looking at ‘21 and ‘19 Woodbridge results and ‘End-of-Season’ City performances by looking at ‘21 and ‘19 City Finals results. 2021 ‘Beginning-of-Season’ ratings are based on comparing ‘21 Woodbridge City results to ‘19 Woodbridge City results (down 8.7% in ‘21 versus ‘19 for boys and down 13.9% for girls). 2021 ‘End-of-Season’ ratings are based on comparing ‘21 City Finals results to ‘19 City Final results (down 5.4% in ‘21 versus ‘19 for boy, and down 5.7% for girls). The 2021 ‘In-Season' change is the difference between the ‘Beginning-of-Season’ rating and the ‘End-of-Season’ rating (improvement of 5.4% for boys and 11.4% for girls).
We compared 2021 results to 2019 because ‘19 is the nearest full-season dataset and therefore should have fewer extraneous variables such as division re-allocations or shifts in participation that might obscure the COVID-19 impact. But keep in mind that 2019 was by no means an average year. In fact 2019 was below average on many metrics compared to average City performances over the last 10 years.
Comparisons in the tables above that involve City performances from Woodbridge ‘21 do NOT include divisions 3 and 4 since these divisions did not participate in the ‘21 Woodbridge Invitational. In order to keep the analysis comparative when evaluating Woodbridge ‘21 City results to either ‘2019 Woodbridge results or ‘21 or ‘19 City Final results we chose to exclude divisions 3 and 4 from all Woodbridge AND City Final races, for 2021 AND 2019.
We focused on the ‘Scoring Runners’ (top 5 runners for each team) vs ‘All Runners’ in our analysis to eliminate some of the exaggerated outlier variability inherent in the 6th and 7th place runners, particularly in City results, and to keep comparisons consistent since some teams don’t have a 6th or 7th runner.
CITY FINALS 2009 - 2021
The tables below are a compilation of results from the Division 1 Boys races at the City Finals from 2009 through 2021. Sorry, no girls or divisions 2-5. The categories in the left column are key metrics to evaluate yearly performances. Each category has rankings for each of the 12 years, 2009-2021, which ranks a specific year’s performance against other years in that category.
Three things stand-out.
FIRST, how exceptional the 2009 division 1 boys runners were. They ranked 1st or 2nd in every performance category in ALL 12 years.
SECOND, what a phenomenal performance the Palisades boys team delivered this season. In a year in which COVID-19 obviously factored into City performances, Palisades transcended City norms with a truly outlier performance.
THIRD, City Final performances were very consistent with early season results from Woodbridge. In both cases there were exceptional performances by specific individuals and teams but on overall the times were well off City averages.
LA CITY’S RISING STARS
The tables below list the TOP 10 State performances by City 9th and 10th graders.
BOYS
Palisade’s MAX FIELDS led the State rankings, both for the underclassmen and overall. Venice’s PAUL TRANQUILLA was the only freshman to make the list. JOSEPH VARGAS (Cleveland) started off fast in his Division 1 race, clearing the first mile in 5:03.3, and then settled in to a more conservative pace that earned him a City rank of 19 overall in 17:12.8 and 3rd in our ‘Rising Star’ ranking. Verdugo’s future looks to be promising with 2 runners on our ‘Rising Star’ ranking - sophomores DUSTIN HARZMAN and EVAN ELLERSIECK. Final note: Seven of the Top-10 ranked underclassmen run for Divisions 2-5.
MAX FIELDS (1258-Palisades) was the top City runner in the State meet finishing in 16:10.3.
GIRLS
GABRIELA NASCIMENTO (New West-1116) crests a hill prior to mile-1 in her Division 5 race. Gabriela posted the top City underclassman time at State, 19:50.3.
GABRIELA NASCIMENTO (New West) continued her post-season excellence with a sub-20 performance at State (19:50.3) that ranks her as the top City underclassmen. Canoga Park’s ANGELINA VALLADARES may have had the most impressive State performance, leading her team with the top time and one of only 5 City girls to break 20 minutes. Garfield’s sisters KELIA & SOPHIA NARANJO-CHAMPION have exchanged places all year and at State Kelia took the sibling honors with a time of 20:14.3. Both made our Top-10 ranking and look to be top Division 1 competitors in the coming years. MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ (Granada Hills) was the top City freshman for most of ‘21 and she continued the streak posting a time of 20:13.5 at State. Final note: CANOGA PARK has 3 girls on the ‘Rising Stars’ list; in addition to Angelina Valladares, ANGELINA LOPEZ and KARINA PEREZ also made the list - watch out for this team in the next 2 years!
CITY TOP-10 STATE PERFORMANCES
The tables below rank the Top-10 LA City BOYS and GIRLS performances, across all divisions. Scroll through the tables to see rankings by 1st, 2nd and 3rd-mile splits.
Thirty-three City schools and 125 City athletes competed in this year’s State meet. And while overall performances where a bit lackluster (it’ been 16 years since an LA section boy has not broken 16 minutes and 14 years since a girl hasn’t broken 19 minutes) there were some noteworthy City performances nonetheless.
ISABEL CASTAGNOLA (Granada Hills) placed 61st in the Division1 Championship race, posting the fastest City time of 19:06.0.
BRANDON ADREANI (New West) was the top Division 5 runner at State with a time of 17:26.9.
KEELY MIYAMOTO (Eagle Rock) competes in the Division 2 championship race. Keely was 1 of 5 City girls to break 20 minutes, finishing in 19:51.6.
AUSTIN LEDERWOOD (ECR-559) running at less than 100% still posted a respectable time (16:30.6) ranking 5th overall among City runners,
DAVID MARTINEZ (Franklin) posted the 2nd fastest City time at State with a 6:15.8 to take 53rd place in the Division 3 Championship race.
KIANA ANDRADA (Eagle Rock) smiles all the way to the finish :)
LUIS SANDOVAL & DANIEL RUIZ of San Pedro pose in front of their team pavilion after finishing their Division 1 race.
JAMES JIMENEZ (venice) posted the top Division 2 City time at State, 16:38.0.
MOLLY SANDRIDGE (Reseda) continued her post-season prowess at State with a time of 21:03.1, ranking her 20th in City across all divisions.
EAGLE ROCK lines up prior to their Division 2 Championship race. (l-r) Kiana Andrada (538), Keely Miyamoto (542), Elizabeth Corrigan (541), Celeste Corrigan (540), Tory Yetter (540), Marielle Williamson (543)
MAX FIELDS (Palisades Charter) started slow but quickly picked up the pace to post the top City time at State, 16:10.3.
ANGELINA VILLADARES (Canoga Park) is only a sophomore but ranked 4th among all City runners at State. Her time of 19:57.4 was an impressive finish to a season that showed continuous improvement.
CHRISTIAN ALVARADO ORTIZ comes over the final ridge with 1000m to go in his Division 5 race.
Bravo Medical standouts ANGELICA MILAR and BRYN BOGUE relaxing after their State Division 2 performances. Angelica finished in 20:24.3 (ranked 11th i City) and Bryn in 21:06.1.
The STERN boys team after their Division 5 championship race: (l-r) Juan Pablo Morales (61), Jonathan Machic (60), Victor Gonzalez (62), Angel Garcia (57), Christian Alvarado Ortiz (58), Alberto Hernandez (56)
VICTOR GONZALEZ (Stern)
One of City's greatest runners SOFIA ABREGO (Granada Hills) competes in the Division 1 State Championship race.
PACIFIC PALISADES girls team after their Division 1 race.
WILLIAM BUJAKE (New West) ranked 2nd in City's division 2 behind his teammate in 17:50.6.
CELESTE CORRIGAN (Eagle Rock) with about 700m to go in the Division 2 championship race.
FIONA LE (Granada Hills) finishes up an incredible post season in 20:53.9, ranking 18th in the City overall
RIGOBERTO CASTELLANOS (Monroe) charges down a hill just prior to the 1st mile in the Division 2 Championship race. Rigoberto finished the race n 16:54.8.
CRISTIAN ALVARADO ORTIZ (Stern) was the top runner for Stern, finishing his Division 5 race in a time of 19:06.7.
ISABEL BRENNINKMEIJER (New West-23:06.4) with 800m to go in her Division 5 Championship race. Isabel ranked as New West's 2nd runner in her 1st season running.
MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ (Granada Hills) continued her reign as the top City freshman girl with a 20:13.5 in the Division 1 Championships race.
LA CITY FINALS
WOW!
What a City Finals!
A perfect morning for racing welcomed our LA City finalists and they delivered with some remarkable performances!
Here is a rundown of the LA City Championships.
Continue to check-in, we’ll be updating the site through-out the week!
Start of the Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College - Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021
BOYS CHAMPIONSHIPS
PALISADES BOYS TURN IN A HISTORIC PERFOMANCE
You have to go back to the Belmont team of 1998, the best team in LA City cross-country history, to witness a better City Championship performance than the Palisades Boys teams delivered at the City Championships on Saturday. MAX FIELDS won the individual City title, the 1st time a Sophomore has won the Division 1 LA City title since 1997, when Belmont’s Humberto Vargas accomplished the same feat. His time ranks as the 4th fastest performance EVER by a Sophomore at the City Finals. AND, the Palisades team-time was the best in LA City in 24 years - not since the great Belmont teams of 1997-1998 has an LA City run so fast!
PALISADES CHARTER - Division 1 Boys City Champs
LA CITY DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS Front (l-r): Max Fields (1485), Jose Sevilla (1489), Back (l-r): Joshua Kovaks (1486), Jeremy Santiago (1487), David Tobin (1490), Noah Wexler (1491), Alec Schmitt (1488)
Max Fields’ win at City was an inspired performance. It wasn’t until the last 200 meters that he surged ahead of Austin Ledgerwood (ECR) to take the lead for good and capture the City title. David Tobin, his teammate and the 2nd Palisades runner to cross the finish line, had the race of his life posting an incredible 15:37.7 to place 3rd and take almost a minute off his best time at Pierce. Jose Sevilla (15:40.8) and Alec Schmitt (15:51.2) ran well to both post times under 16 minutes. Palisades top 5 scoring runners all placed within the top 14 in the Division 1 championship race.
Max Fields leads the Division 1 Championship race on the 1st pass through ‘The Steps’ on his way to winning the individual City title at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021.
In September we predicted a Palisades City Title - both individually and for the team. We also thought they could deliver 5 runners under 16 minutes - a feat only accomplished by Belmont. They were close; 4 Palisades boys ran under 16 on Saturday and their 5th was only off by 10 seconds. On the whole not a bad day of running!
Well done and congratulations to the Division 1 Champions - Max Fields (1st - 16:24.1), David Novak (3rd-15:37.7), Jose Seville (4th-15:40.8), Alec Schmidt (7th-15:51.2), Noah Wexler (14th-16:10.2), Joshua Kovacs (28th-16:55.4) and Jeremy Santiago (17:32.7). And Coach Rob Hockley!
EL CAMINO REAL - Division 1 Boys 2nd Place
If not for the impressive Palisades performance, El Camino Real would have been the story of the day. Just 2 weeks ago, at the West Valley League Finals, this team was struggling to get 5 runners under 17 minutes and only had one runner showing any promise of a sub-16 performance.
Evan Sinnott (1201), Isaac Torres (1202), Max Liberman (1200), Justin Canas (1197), Austin Ledgerwood (1199), Mateo Glass (1198), Kevin Alvarez (1196)
What a difference 2 weeks makes! To a person this team delivered at City Finals. Austin Ledgerwood smashed his Pierce PR by 48 seconds to post an incredible 15:25.7 - breaking 15:30.0 on Pierce is where legends are made! Max Liberman took over 30 seconds off his Pierce PR to go under 16-minutes in 15:52.8. Mateo Glass, a sophomore, was just one second off of a sub-16 minute performance; his 16:01.0 is 24 seconds faster than his previous Pierce PR. Isaac Torres, who finally showed hints of what he is capable of in Prelims, took 16 seconds off of that time to post a 16:11.0 at Finals. And finally, their 5th boy, Evan Sinnott, a runner who came into this season as one of the top returning athletes from 2019 but has been sidelined with injuries, put together an inspired performance finishing in 16:48.0 - almost a minute off of his best time at Pierce this year. Amazing performances - congratulations to the team and to Coach Colson.
El Camino Real’s Austin Ledgerwood crosses the finish line in 2nd place in the Division 1 Championship race with a massive course PR of 15:25.7. He led an ECR team that peaked to perfection to take 2nd place.
BREAKING 16 MINUTES
Last week we predicted that 5 runners in Division 1 would break 16 minutes; an off year by any standard but understandable in light of COVID. Nine boys broke 16 minutes on Saturday in Division 1 with some brilliant and unexpected break-throughs. We assumed Max Fields, Austin Ledgerwood, Jose Seville, Alec Schmitt and Max Liberman would break 16 - that was our 5. The surprises were David Tobin who absolutely knocked it out of the park on Saturday with a 3rd place finish and 15:37.7 clocking. San Pedro’s Luis Sandoval (15:44.7) and Daniel Ruiz (15:47.6), who both posted huge course PR’s (Bruce Thomson would have been very proud of these boys!). Sophomore Joseph Vargas, Cleveland’s break-out star, took over 2 minutes off his Pierce course time back in September to break 16 minutes in the Finals - 15:590 - phenomenal!
San Pedro’s LUIS SANDOVAL (1576) and DANIEL RUIZ had big races at the City Finals, posting the 5th (15:44.7) and 6th (15:47.6) best times on the day. San Pedro had a 3rd runner that nearly broke 16-minutes as well, junior ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDOZA (16:03.6 - not pictured). JAMES LOPEZ (Cleveland-1124) was a certain pick for a sub-16 City Final performance as well as ‘All-City Team’ recognition but was hampered by a late-season injury.
ALL-CITY TEAM
Below we’ve compiled the top times from Saturday’s City Finals across all divisions to recognize the best-of-the-best. The top 14 athletes, boys and girls, that comprise our ALL-CITY TEAMS.
The Boys All-City Teams are directly below. The girls table is in the next section.
BOYS ALL-CITY TEAMS
All-City Notes - Boys
Francisco Rodriguez (Franklin) is the only non-Division 1 runner to make the All-City 1st team. He’s also the Division 3 Individual City Champion and the Northern league champion. Jude Sandridge, Reseda’s stand-out sophomore and a member of the elite sub-16, shaved 20 seconds off his Pierce Course PR to take 3rd in the Division 3 race. He is the Valley Mission league champ. James Jimenez, Division 2 champion and another elite sub-16er, continues the Venice tradition of delivering top-tier performances at the City Finals in his final race at Pierce. James posted the 2nd fastest time in Prelims to win the combined Division 1&2 Heat 1 race. And finally, Finlay Robertson, in his best performance this year and his final race at Pierce, ran a course PR of 16:00.8 to take 10th place in the division 1 race; less than a second off a sub-16 performance!
FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin) crosses the finish line to win the Division 3 City Championship at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021. His time of 15:48.1 smashed the previous Division 3 City record and helped the Panthers to a historic 2nd place team finish in the City title race.
DIVISION 2 CITY CHAMPS - MONROE: (l-r) Nicolas del Angel, Brendon Valadez (1423), Rigoberto Castellanos, William Rojas (1422), Daniel Rivera. Missing - Netzer Escobr, Jefler Alonzo
Four of LA City’s best individuals from four of the City’s best XC teams stretch for the finish at the City Championships. MATEO GLASS (ecr-1198), FINLAY ROBERTSON (Marshall), REESE ROBLES (Granada Hills) and ADRIAN SVERLOW-MENDEZ (San Pedro) all had huge PR’s on the Pierce course and just missed breaking 16- minutes by seconds.
A final note on the Boys All-City team: In 2021 13 athletes broke 16 minutes; the same number of runners in 2019. So in a very difficult year LA City cross-country continues to excel and inspire!
GIRLS CHAMPSIONSHIPS
Start of Girls Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021
GRANADA HILLS - DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONS: Coach Johnny Wiley, Isabel Castagnola, Sofia Abrego, Meztli Velazquez, Jocelyn Pacheco, Zaida Velazquez, Naima Salazar, Fiona Le, Coach Bernardo Abrego
GRANADA GIRLS SOAR AT CITY FINALS
Granada placed 5 girls in the top 12 in the Division 1 City Final race to continue a City Final winning streak that goes back to 2017. They didn’t quite match the time of their legendary 2018 team but still managed to get 5 girls under 19 minutes! Isabel Castagnola, 2021’s LA City Champion, once again set a course PR taking almost 20 seconds of her Prelim time. Jocelyn Pacheco finished her City season strong (and without glasses!) with a 2nd place finish in 19:13.0. Naima Salazar (19:23.6) had a brilliant race to take 4th place, dropping almost a minute off her Prelim time and returning to her ‘19 form. And Sofia Abrego returned for her final Pierce race to place 10th in 19:50.9 after a difficult season waylaid with injuries.
Isabel Castagnola holds a commanding lead at the half-way point in the Division 1 Championship race at Pierce College on Saturday, Nov 20th, 2021. Isabel won the race in a course PR of 18:18.9.
At Mile 1 in the girls Division 1 Championship race Naima Salazar (Granada Hills-1247) runs with Frieda Cedilla (Kennedy-1247) in 11th place. Naima ran a very strong 2nd half of the race to chase down 7 girls and finish in 4th place in 19:23.6. Frieda placed 8th in 19:44.0. Palisades’ Layla Adeli (17th-20:31.0) and Taft’s Amelie Missig (15th-20:16.9) are close behind.
DIVISION 2 GIRLS - EAGLE ROCK WINS BIG OVER BRAVO
EAGLE ROCK DIVISION 2 CITY CHAMPS (l-r) KIANA ADRADA (1163), Celeste Corrigan (1165), Elizabeth Corrigan (1166), Ixtlalli Chavez (1164), Marielle Williamson (1168), Keely Miyamoto (1167), Tory Yetter (1169)
Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin crosses the finish line to take the Division 2 individual title in 19:07.0. The Venice junior, in only her 3rd LA City race, posted the 3rd best time of the year at Pierce.
CELESTE CORRIGAN (Eagle Rock) takes 3rd place in the Division 2 Championship race with a PR of 19:17.7. Celeste had a phenomenal post-season, taking 2nd place in the Northern League final, then dropping her Pierce PR by over a minute at City Prelims to win her heat, and finally this performance at Finals.
DIVISION 3 GIRLS - CANOGA PARK WINS A THRILLER OVER RESEDA
Dulce Gonzlez has the Division 3 race well in hand at about .75 miles into the Championship race. She was 1 of 2 girls to break 19 minutes on Saturday and her 18:52.0 is the 2nd fastest time at Pierce this year.
CANOGA PARK - DIVISION 3 CITY CHAMPIONS: (L-R) ANGIE PINEDA, KARINA PEREZ (1095), DULCE GONZALEZ (1093), SARAH GODINEZ (1092), ASHLEY PINEDA (1097), ANGLEINA LOPEZ, ANGELINE VALLADARES (1098)
Reseda’s YANILETTE MONTANA emerges out of the fog at the top of ‘Horseshoe’ in 4th place. Yanilette finished impressively to move up two places and finish in 2nd place in the Division 3 Championship race with a PR of 19:41.2.
GIRLS ALL-CITY TEAMS
Sophomore Gabriela Nascimento put New West and Division 5 on the map with her 19:37.6 performance at City Finals. In only her 2nd high school race she won the Division 5 City title and ranks 13th in City overall. Gabriela is a ‘Rising Star’!
Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin crosses the finish line to take the Division 2 individual title in 19:07.0. The Venice junior, in only her 3rd LA City race, posted the 3rd best time of the year at Pierce.
Kaylee Vargas (San Pedro) and Fiona Le (Granada Hills) both came through BIG at the end of this season. Kaylee took almost a minute off her Prelim time to break 20 minutes (19:58.7) and place 11th in the Division 1 Championship Race. She also qualified for State as an individual. Fiona scratched her way up from JV with a big performance at League finals and continued to improve through City Finals where she broke 20 minutes (19:59.1) - and placed 12th as Granada’s 5th scoring runner.
Dulce Gonzalez’s final appearance at Pierce was an appropriate finish to a superlative season. Dulce won the Division 3 race, smashing her course PR by over 40 seconds in a time of 18:52.0 and posting the 2nd fastest time at the City Championships. In her 1st race this year at the Western League finals, unknown Venice junior Lidia Prokopovych-Shchepetkin placed 4th with an impressive 19:47.80 at Pierce. And in only 3 races, EVER, she’s claimed the Division 2 City title and risen to #3 overall in LA City with a time this past Saturday of 19:07.3. Lidia is someone to watch in 2022! Freshman Brynn Bogue (Bravo Medical) was our ‘Rising Star’ selection back in September and she definitely delivered in the championships with an impressive 2nd place finish in Division 2 and a sub-19 performance, 19:14.4. Celeste Corrigan (Eagle Rock) had been running well all year but took it to another level in post season. In the Northern league finals at Pierce she took 2nd in 20:42.0. The following week at Prelims she dropped her Pierce PR to 19:31.1 and then in the Finals to 19:17.7 to take 3rd in the Division 2 race and rank 6th overall in LA City. When you look at Ava Baak’s Woodbridge and Mt. Sac times the expectation is that she’ll run mid-19’s at City Finals. But expectations and reality are different things and Ava was able to deliver on those expectations. Her 19:20.0 at City Finals is a modest Pierce PR for her but a a very strong performance that ranks as the 7th best time at the Championships and led Palisades to a 2nd-place team finish.
Well done to all these runners. The best-of-the best!
Garfield’s talented sisters, sophomore Sophia & freshman Kelia Naranjo-Champion, placed 5th and 7th in the Division 1 Championship race. Their times of 19:32.7 and 19:38 were the 10th and 12th fastest on the day.
The Sophomore Class
In case your counting, that’s 3 sophomores that broke 16 minutes at City Finals - Max Fields-Palisades-15:22.5, Jude Sandridge-Reseda-15:56.0, and Joseph Vargas-Cleveland-15:59.0. And that doesn’t include Mateo Glass who missed the mark by only one second. That’s the 1st time in the history of LA City XC that 3 sophomores have broken 16 minutes on the Pierce course in the City Finals.
Max Fields’ 15:22.5 on Saturday ranks as the 4th best sophomore time ever at City Finals behind City greats Roman Gomez (1982-Belmont-14:53.0), Martin Morales (Wilson-1988-15:04.7), and Humberto Vargas (Belmont-1997-15:21.9).
Sophomore Joseph Vargas sprints down the gauntlet to finish in 15:59.0. The final sub-16 runner in the Division 1 race, Joseph was also the 3rd sophomore to break 16 minutes on Saturday; an LA City record. That’s sophomore Mateo Glass (ECR-1198) behind him; Mateo finished in 16:01.0.
Jude Sandridge posted the 1st sub-16 sophomore time on Saturday in the Division 3 race. He took 3rd place in 15:56.0.
FRANKLIN
Franklin’s Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez capped an incredible cross-country season for Franklin placing 1st and 2nd in the Division 3 Final race. They both clipped more than 4o seconds off of their Northern League final performances to reclaim the Division 3 City title from Reseda’s very talented Jude Sandridge. All 3 ran under 16 minutes in a 1st for Division 3. A really amazing race.
Franklin’s David Martinez (1205) and Francisco Rodriguez (1209) lead the boys Varsity race at the 1-Mile mark. Reseda’s Jude Sandridge is close behind.
The Finals were bitter-sweet for Franklin though. They were attempting to win the 1st City title in any sport for Franklin High. They lost out to Verdugo Hills by 5 point in a battle that was won in the last mile. Franklin had a faster team-time but Verdugo had stronger 3-5 runners and that was he difference
In addition to Francisco and David, Franklin Gonzalez will be headed to the State meet as an individual qualifier.
Stay tuned - we’ll be updating through-out the day!
CITY PRELIMS ‘21
The City Prelims tend to be a mixed bag that has the top teams holding back and the challengers running for PR’s. The 2021 City Prelims, for the most part, held true to form. Take a look at our analysis below for specifics on team and individual performances at the City Prelims and projections for the City Final.
In this year of COVID we’d be remis if we didn’t highlight a few of the impacts to City’s XC programs in post season as a result of the pandemic:
Belmont, the most successful cross-country program in the modern history of LA City distance running, by any measure, did not have 5 runners at their League Finals. As a result, they did not participate in the City Prelims and will not be in the Finals.
Elizabeth Learning Center girl’s team, which were the City division 5 runner-up team at the 2019 City Finals did not field a team in 2021.
North Hollywood, home of one of the top City runners in the last 30 years, Natalie Stein, did not have a qualifying team, boys or girls, at Prelims.
Manual Arts, Polytechnic, and Dorsey are just a few more of the 20 City schools that did not field a qualifying team for league finals or Prelims.
As part of this issue on the ‘Post Season’ we’re including team and individual rankings, by division, based on Prelim and League Final results. Read on for the details.
LA CITY RANKINGS
Preparing cross-country rankings is far from a perfect science and using the City Prelims as the primary data set doesn’t help the cause, mostly for the reasons mentioned above. In 2021 there was an additional wrinkle in that divisions 3-4 did not run Prelims at Pierce. For these divisions we used the teams’ performances from their League Finals. This introduced further complexities in that many of these teams ran their League Finals at Elysian Park or Peck Park, NOT Pierce. For the division 3 and 4 teams that ran their league finals at Elysian or Peck Park we’ve converted the individual and team times to Pierce-equivalents. Very scientific :)
So……here are our rankings and analysis. We’ll continue to update throughout the week to cover all of the divisions.
TEAM RANKINGS
The tables below rank all teams that participated in the LA City Prelims at Pierce College (divisions 1,2&5) and League Finals at Elysian Park, Peck Park and Pierce (divisions 3&4). Overall team rankings are based on each team’s top 5 runner’s times at the Prelims or League Finals.
Click on the tables below to see TEAM RANKINGS BY DIVISION
BOYS TEAM RANKINGS - ALL DIVISIONS
GIRLS - ALL DIVISIONS
Division 1 Girls Analysis
DIVISIONS
2-5 Girls Analysis
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS - BOYS TOP 25
Click on the tables below to see INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS BY DIVISION
INDIVIUDAL RANKINGS - GIRLS TOP 25
CITY PRELIMS WINNERS CIRCLE
BOYS Division 1 - Heat 2
MAX FIELDS - Palisades Charter - 15:50.1
GIRLS Division 1 - Heat 2
ISABEL CASTAGNOLA - Granada Hills - 18:37.9
BOYS Division 2 - Heat 1
JAMES JIMINEZ - Venice - 16:08.7
GIRLS Division 2 - Heat 1
ANGELICA MILAR - Bravo Medical - 19:11.9
BOYS Division 1 - Heat 1
AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD - El Camino Real - 16:16.0
GIRLS Division 1 - Heat 1
MOLLIE WINTTENBERG - Palisades Charter - 19:23.5
BOYS Division 2 - Heat 2
WILLIAM ROJAS - Monroe - 16:30.1
GIRLS Division 2 - Heat 2
CELEST CORRIGAN - Eagle Rock - 19:31.1
BOYS Division 5 - Heat 2
BRANDON ADREANI - New West - 17:13.1
BOYS Division 5 - Heat 1
ISIDRO VALDEZ - Sun Valley Magnet - 18:07.1
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
JOCELYN PACHECO - Granada Hills - 19:12.5 and FRIEDA CEDILLA - Kennedy - 19:47.5
MEZTLI VELAZQUEZ - Granada Hills - 19:16.3
BRYNN BOGUE - Bravo Medical - 19:42.9
KELIA & SOPHIA NARANJO-CHAMPION - Garfield - 19:30.7 & 20:17.0
JOSE SEVILLA - Palisades Charter - 16:14.7
KEELY MYAMOTO - Eagle Rock - 20:15.7
LUIS SANDOVAL - San Pedro - 16:20.8
AMELIE MISSIG - Taft - 20:45.7
ECR’s ISAAC TORRES - 16:26.6, MAX LIBERMAN - 16:26.0 and MATEO GLASS - 16:24.5
KAYLEE VARGAS - San Pedro - 20:54.9
ANDREW REYES-GOMEZ - Miguel Contreras - 16:33.4
THEA AMON-FRANCESCHI - Marshall - 21:05.0
RIGOBERTO CASTELLANOS - Monroe - 16:52.4
DANIEL RIVERA - Monroe - 17:05.9
WILLIAM BUJAKE - New West - 17:47.0
LEAGUE FINALS
Three venues across greater Los Angeles hosted the 2021 LA City League Finals - Elysian Park, Peck Park and Pierce College. In all, 955 boys and girls competed, representing 5 divisions, 12 leagues and 35 schools.
What makes LA City’s League Finals unique is that it is often the first and last time some of the top LA City teams run against each other. In some of the best racing all year, the East Valley, Northern, and Valley Mission leagues met in a combined League Final race that was awe inspiring. The girls varsity race was absolutely packed with talent that included Freida Cedillo (race winner, Valley Mission champ), Dulce Gonzalez, Keely Miyamoto (Northern League Champ), Yanilette Montano, Celeste Corrigan, Thea Amon-Franceschi, Gabrielle Cannesson, Leyla Huerta (East Valley Champ), and Angelina Valladares to name just a few.
Yanilette Montano (283) and Frieda Cedillo (138) chase the leaders up Chalk Hill just prior to the 1st mile. That’s Marshall’s fantastic freshman Gabrielle Cannesson (188) hanging tough just steps behind!
The boys race was equally exciting with Reseda stand-out Jude Sandridge, Franklin’s dynamic duo Francisco Gonzalez and David Martinez, and Monroe’s William Rojos all toeing the line against the venerable Marshall team that has Finlay Robertson, Panos Papadaes, and Anton Hense.
Jude Sandridge (Reseda), Francisco Rodriguez (109), and David Martinez (105) lead through the 1st pass up ‘The Switchbacks’ at Pierce College at the combined East Valley/Northern/Valley Mission League Finals race on Wed Nov 4th, 2021
The next day, Thur Nov 4th, West Valley’s finest met at Pierce College for the final day of LA City league finals. The Granada Hill’s girls came in as the prohibitive favorites and did not disappoint. Running without 2 of their top runners the Highlanders still placed all of their runners in front of the competition to tally a perfect team score of 15. Granada’s top 3 ISABEL CASTAGNOLA, JOCELYN PACHECO and MEZTLE VELAZQUEZ joined 8 other City girls who broke 20 minutes on the Pierce course in league finals this week.
The boys varsity West Valley league finals proved to be much more competitive with El Camino Real and Granada Hills competing for valley honors. Granada led the race at 1-mile but ECR turned the tides in mile-2 with a team-wide surge that culminated in AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD and MAX LIBERMAN moving into 1st and 2nd and their 5th runner ISAAC TORRES making a big move in the last mile.
Cleveland ran well enough to take 3rd despite JAMES LOPEZ still working to get back to top form. HARRISON NYUGEN looks to be back after missing most of October and JOSEPH VARGAS continues to impress.
Fourth place went to Taft who continues to improve. EMMANUEL PALACIOS went out hard with the lead pack and was able to hold on to take 12th place and the top place for the Toreadors.
Granada’s Juan Alcala (1215) and Pablo Abrego lead the varsity West Valley race on the 1st pass up Chalk Hill. Taft’s Emannuel Palacios (1260), Cleveland’s Joseph Vargas (1130), and several of the ECR team are close behind.
Ranking of TOP-15 BOYS LA City teams participating in League Finals. * Times from finals held at Elysian Park and Peck Park have been converted to Pierce Equivalents. CLICK ON THE TABLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL TOP-10 RANKINGS BY DIVISION.
Ranking of TOP-15 GIRLS LA City teams participating in League Finals. * Times from finals held at Elysian Park and Peck Park have been converted to Pierce Equivalents. CLICK ON THE TABLE TO SEE INDIVIDUAL TOP-10 RANKINGS BY DIVISION.
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
Runners from three of the top teams in the West Valley League sprint to the finish!
Isaac Torres (right) won this battle as part of the larger war for League Team Champion.
West Valley League Finals - Pierce College - Nov 4th, 2021 (l-r) James Lopez (Cleveland), Pablo Abrego (Granada Hills), Isaac Torres (El Camino Real)
BOYS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at PIERCE. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
GIRLS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at PIERCE. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
* Pierce Conversion 1:18.0 for boys. BOYS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at Elysian Park. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
* Pierce Conversion 2:01.0 for girls. GIRLS TOP-10 Performances in League Final competitions at Elysian Park. GREEN highlighted athletes are LEAGUE CHAMPS! CLICK IMAGE FOR TOP-10 RESULTS BY DIVISION
BOYS Western League Champ MAX FIELDS (Palisades - 15:43.8)
GIRLS Western League Champ MOLLIE WITTENBERG (Palisades - 19:29.1)
Jose Sevilla (2nd-16:06.7) and Alec Schmitt (3rd-16:10.6)
BOYS West Valley League Champs - EL CAMINO REAL (l-r) Isaac Torres, Matteo, Glass, Kevin Alvarez, Max Liberman, Justin Canas, Austin Ledgerwood, Evan Sinnot
GIRLS West Valley League Champs - GRANADA HILLS (l-r) Naima Salazar, Jocelyn Pacheco, Isabel Castagnola, Meztli Velazquez, Reece Trice
BOYS West Valley League Champ: AUSTIN LEDGERWOOD (ECR 16:13.5)
GIRLS West Valley League Champ: ISABEL CASTAGNOLA (Granada Hills 19:07.8)
GIRLS Valley Mission League Champ FRIEDA CEDILLO (Kennedy - 19:15.3)
BOYS Valley Mission League Champ JUDE SANDRIDGE (Reseda - 16:16.1)
DULCE GONZALES - Canoga Park - 2nd place Valley Mission (19:34.6).
YANILETTE MONTANO - Reseda - 3rd place Valley Mission (20:17.0).
BOYS Northern League Champ FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ (Franklin - 16:28.0)
GIRLS Northern League Champ KEELY MIYAMOTO (Eagle Rock - 19:37.5)
BOYS Northern League Team Champions MARSHALL (l-r) Finlay Robinson (213), Anton Hense (211), Panos Papadeos (212)
BOYS East Valley League Champ WILLIAM ROJAS (Monroe - 16:35.3)
BOYS East Valley League Team Champs MONROE (l-r) Brandon Valadez, Rigoberto Castellanos, Netzer Escobar, William Rojas, Jefler Alonzo, Daniel Rivera, Nicolas Del Angel
GIRLS East Valley League Champ LEYLA HUERTA (Monroe - 21:25.0)
GIRLS East Valley League Team Champs MONROE l(r) Front: Mirabel Parra, Suleymi Navarro, Leyla Huerta Back: Noelia Ortega, Yasmin Liera, Emili Alacantara, Isabella Miguel, Daniela Dorantes, Stephanie Jeronimo
Garfield's Varsity Team (l-r) Alyson Perez, Mia Reyes, Jacqueline Ramirez, Halle Perez, Sophia Naranjo-Champion, Kelia Naranjo-Champion
Halle Perez (Garfield-20:21.5) 4th place Eastern League Finals - Elysian Park, Thurs Nov 4th.
HANNAH CARLSON (Northridge-22:37.3) Valley City Champ
TESSO SOLLANO (Lakeview Terrace-22:03.0-) North Valley City Champ
ISIDRO VALDEZ (Sun Valley Magnate-18:18.7) Central Valley Champ
ALEXIS RAMIREZ (East Valley-18:44.9) Valley League Champ and ALAN HERNANDEZ (SOCES-18:53.8) runner-up Valley League finals
EAST VALLEY VARSITY - Valley League Champs (l-r) Cristian Cortez (1326), Alexis Ramirez (1330, Samuel Membreno (1329), Gabriel Herrera (1328), Ernesto Hernandez (1327)
COMMUNITY CHARTER VARSITY-North Valley League Champs (l-r) Josue Gonzalez (1315), Eric Cortez (1311), Daniel Martinez (1313), Emanuel Cobos (1308), Emanuel Moreno (1314), William Salcedo (1312), Yamil Ballcels (1310)
FULTON PREP VARSITY - Valley League Runner-Up (l-r) Ronald Portillo (1349), Joshua Bahingire (1345), Aaron Wegulo (1351) Joshua Driottez (1346), Anthony Sanchez (1350), Yael Marrufo (1347), Hector Miranda (1348)
AROUND THE LEAGUES
CITY UPDATES
Team captains, and Olympians, join Sofia Abrego for a photo op at the 2019 Footlocker Nationals in San Diego, Ca.
Jenny Simpson, Brenda Martinez, Sofia Abrego and Abbey Cooper
Congratulations to Sofia Abrego of Granada Hills who has verbally committed to Ivy League Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. In addition to having a rich tradition in running including Olympic qualifier Abbey Cooper the school is also one of the premier educational institutions in the US.
‘The Drive’
Is dedicated to LA City’s high school distance running community
The goal is to evangelize exceptional teams and athletes with high quality, curated content and editorial perspectives in an online periodic publication.
Each volume will include a ‘Special’ section, as well as Athletes of the Week/Month, ‘The Week in Pictures’ including a ‘Picture of the Week’, ‘The Numbers’, and ‘Heard on the Trail’.
ENJOY!
