Santa Clarita Invitational 2021
A new 2.91 mile course at Central Park provided the venue for the Santa Clarita Invitational. On a brisk, sunny morning - a perfect day for running - 272 athletes from 13 city schools competed in 10 races. The course was mostly flat with a moderate hill the runners encountered 2 times on a loop at about 1.5 and 2.5 miles.
BOYS VARSITY RACE
Austin Ledgerwood of El Camino Real leads a string of City runners in the final mile of the Santa Clarita Invitational. Austin had the top City time finishing in 15:57.1. Sophomore Jeff Vargas of Cleveland is close behind and was the top City sophomore in 16:02.0.
William Rojas was Monroe’s top finisher and the 2nd fastest City runner on the day. He’s pictured here at about 1 1/2 on the 1st pass of the hill loop.
Taft’s Emmanuel Palacios and ECR’s Mateo Glass at the 2-mile mark. Mateo hammered the final mile to finish in 16:03.9 with the 4th fastest City runner. Emmanuel ran a brave 2-miles and was Taft’s top finisher in 16:45.0.
Sophomore Alec Flores was Granada Hills’ 2nd finisher in the varsity race placing 46th in 16:53.4.
Austin Ledgerwood (ECR-537) and William Rojas (Monroe 1012) race to the finish for top City honors with 100 meters to go. Austin finished just ahead of William, placing 16th (15:57.1) and 17th (15:57.3) respectively.
Jonah Gensler (ECR-533) leads a pack of runners including Kevin Alvarez (ECR-522) and Ryan Dudley (Granada Hills-714) with 1 mile to go.
Jaume Folz (Taft-2330) fights for position in the final mile of the varsity race at the Santa Clarita Invitational. Jaume placed 51st in a time of 16:57.4.
*Team Rank Is based on hypothetical scoring assuming all City teams ran in the same race. Hamilton did not have 5 runners so the team was not ranked.
Race Notes:
Cleveland: James Lopez (#1), Harrison Nguyen (#3), and Michael Brown (#4) did not run.
El Camino Real: Max Liberman (#2) and Evan Sinnot (#5) did not run.
Granada Hills: Varsity team did not run; competed at Clovis meet.
Monroe: RigoBerto Castellanos (#2) and Andrew Camarena (#5) did not run.
El Camino Real took City boys honors in the large school JV and Varsity races while Granada Hills was the top City boys team in the Frosh/Soph race. Individually, ECR’s Austen Ledgerwood (15:57.1) posted the fasted time of the day followed very closely by Monroe’s William Rojas (15:57.3). Birmingham’s Efrain Hernandez (17:34.9) and Vielman Gonzalez (17:13.0) were the top City runners in the large school Frosh/Soph and JV races
GIRLS VARSITY RACE
Hamilton’s varsity girls team at the starting line of the large school varsity race at the Santa Clarita Invitational. The Hamilton girls ranked 4th in City behind Canoga Park, Granada Hills and Helen Bernstein.
The Canoga Park girls team warms up prior to the small-school Varsity race at the Santa Clarita Invitational. Canoga took 4th place in the race and posted the best girls City team time across all races. Dulce Gonzales (183) and Angelina Valladares (190) had the top City girls times as well, 19:16.4 and 19:54.5 respectively. Angelina Lopez (184) had the best city freshman time. The other Canoga runners (l-r): Ashley Pineda (188), Angie Pineda (187), Sarah Godinez (behind 190), and Aalyah Avila (181).
Granada Hills’ Fiona Le was the top City finisher taking 30th place in 19:55.7. She helped the Highlanders take 11th place in the large school varsity race.
Luciana Valencia led the Hamilton girls varsity team with a 35th place finish in 20:24.3. She had the 3rd fastest City time and helped the Yankees to 13th place in the large school varsity race with the 2nd ranked team time for City schools.
Kayla Tjenalooi continues to be the top runner for Taft and finished the 2.91 mile course in 20:57.4.
Elizabeth Servin (751) was Hamilton’s 2nd runner to finish in the large school varsity race. Her time of 20:54.3 ranked her as the 11th fastest City runner on the day.
Isabella Ballesteros was close behind Fiona Le, finishing just outside 19 minutes in 20:05.5 and taking 36th place.
Monroe’s Leyla Huerta (1002) heads to the finish line in front of Hamilton’s Elizabeth Servin (751). Leyla and Elizabeth finished in 55th (20:54.1) and 56th (20:54.3) places respectively.
ECR’s top runners Rebecca Ascencio and Makenna McArthur descend out of the hills on the 1st loop. Makenna crushed the last 2 miles to finish in 21:02.0 and Rebeca finished in 21:54.4.
Sophia RIchardson was Cleveland’s top runner, placing 65th in a time of 20:10.2.
*Team Rank Is based on hypothetical scoring assuming all City teams ran in the same race. Central City, Santee, and Verdugo Hills did not have 5 runners so the teams were not ranked.
Race Notes:
Granada Hills: Varsity team did not run; competed at Clovis meet.
Taft: Amelie Missig (#1) and Ashley Williams (#4) did not run.
In the girls large school races Granada Hills was the top City team in both the Frosh-Soph/JV and Varsity races. Junior Megan Eng (22:51.8) was Granada’s top finisher in the FS/JV race and Fiona Le (19:55.7)and Isabella Ballesteros (20:05.5) were the top finishers in the varsity race. The Hamilton girls varsity team led by Luciana Valencia (20:24.3) and Elizabeth Servin (20:54.3) ran impressively scoring a runner-up position in the City team rankings. Their freshman, Maria Cruz Santiago (21:18.7) also scored well and posted the 2nd fasted City freshman time.
Canoga Park and Helen Bernstein placed well in the small school varsity race with a 4th and 7th place team finish. Canoga’s Dulce Gonzalez (19:16.4) and Angelina Valladares (19:54.5) continue to impress with the top 2 City times on the day and their freshman Angelina Lopez (20:45.2) gave the Hunters 3 runners in the City Top-10. Xenia Villareal led a strong Helen Bernstein team with a time of 20:26.8.
Individually the smaller school teams dominated the girls city top-10 rankings taking 7 of the top 10 spots. In addition to the names above, Samantha Medrano (20:25.8) and Fiorella Aguirre (20:47.0) from division III Verdugo Hills placed in the City Top-10.