Spectators spent a great deal of time looking for a warm place last Thursday, on an unseasonably chilly spring afternoon in nearby Hahamongna Watershed Park at the Rio Hondo League cross-country finals.
But La Cañada High School coach Andy DiConti was understandably fired up over the performances turned in by his Spartans. Senior Jaden Milbrodt withstood the significant challenge posed by eventual champion South Pasadena on his way to a solid second-place finish in the boys’ varsity race, clocking 16:15 on the three-mile course. Sophomore teammate Robert Lee finished sixth with a time of 17:24 to provide hope for the Spartans’ future.
But uncharacteristically, Milbrodt and Lee were the only two competitors in the race wearing the cardinal and gold, meaning that La Cañada was unable to record an official team score for the first time in recent memory, if ever. Temple City finished in second place in the boys’ competition, followed by San Marino and Monrovia, respectively.
Similarly, just three Spartans competed in the girls’ varsity race but DiConti will again see a solid future in the sport as sophomore Catherine Mispagel turned in an impressive time of 20:23 to finish seventh, just a half-second behind South Pasadena’s Amelia Jarolim. LCHS freshman Amy Kiang ran a 21:07 to finish in ninth place and classmate Yasmin Ghaneh rounded out the Spartans’ entries with a 22:08 clocking, good for 15th place.
South Pasadena, San Marino, Monrovia and Gabrielino claimed the top four places of the girls’ varsity competition as LCHS was unable to post an official team score due to its limited number of runners.
The Spartans grabbed two of the top four spots in the the boys’ frosh-soph finals, with freshman Donavan Johnson finishing in second place (19:48) and Alex Muñoz checking in at fourth place (21:04). No team champion was crowned as none of the schools fielded the requisite five runners needed to place in the competition.
