First published in the Sept. 8 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
Despite losing last year’s top runner, Arielle McKenzie, to a school transfer, the La Cañada High girls’ varsity cross-country team placed third in the prestigious Invitational Sundown Showdown Division at the Cool Breeze Invitational behind perennial powerhouses Great Oak High of Temecula and Santiago High of Corona. The Spartans finished second in the state last year, and its performance at Cool Breeze shows it is poised for another title run.
The girls’ team was led by Maya DeBrouwer’s remarkable second-place finish in the Sweepstakes Division. DeBrouwer’s breakout performance was an over-one-minute personal record as she recorded the second-fastest time on the day out of 500 runners competing in all divisions. Junior Katelyn Matarese combined with DeBrouwer to provide the top 1-2 punch in the meet with a seventh-place finish in the Sweepstakes Division and seventh overall.
Freshman Charlotte Hopkins made her high school debut with a strong third position showing for the team, finishing 22nd in the race and 23rd out of all runners, while fellow freshman Haloe Ball was the team’s final scorer, finishing fifth on the squad.
“These two top first years not only give La Cañada a top program this year, but one that looks to be extremely strong for many years to come,” according to the LCHS coaching staff.
Senior captain Cat Mispagel finished fourth for the team and 46th overall while providing much-needed leadership to the young squad, playing a key role in the team’s third-place finish.
Sophomore Kaoru Saito continued her meteoric rise from last year as she finished sixth for the team with a PR and fellow sophomore Kelly Sellman also continued her great run, finishing seventh also with a PR.
Yasmin Ghaneh and Caitlin Roehmholdt finished eighth and ninth, respectively, despite the heat. Finally, Brittany Rivas, a CIF medal winner in the 300 hurdles, finished a race 16 times longer than her specialty with a time that beat over 200 of the girls that raced on the day.
The girls also entered a team in the Varsity Division, which was led by Amy Kiang and Hannah Kiang. Amy Kiang beat her best 2021 times by over two minutes and Hannah Kiang ran a fine 22:08 in her cross-country debut. Finally, Nevrik Gharamanians had a strong first race and showed she is ready for the big improvements on the season.
Senior Max Smith’s fifth-place finish led the boys’ team to second in the Varsity Division. Robert Lee finished second for the team and 10th in the race to provide a great 1-2 finish for the boys’ squad. Siraaj Sandhu continued his vast improvement with a PR that showed he will be a force for the team this year. George Hervey had a PR for a great fourth-place finish, while Jamie Saunders locked up the second place finish for the boys. Andres Uribe, Umar Sallem, and Munoz Alejandro finished as the team’s sixth, seventh and eighth runners, respectively, with both Uribe and Sallem registering new personal records.
The rest of the boys ran a shortened 1.5-mile course in the lower divisions because of the heat. Sam Smookler was the top finisher with an 8:39.2 time to finish 41st in the Sophomore Division. He was followed close behind in the race by Braden Dhillon, who turned in an 8:44.4 time, Gabriel Kronson, Luke Schaedel and Christian Cabrera.
Will Drobis was the top freshman finisher at 8:48.3, which gave him 43rd in the Freshman Division. He was followed by Corey Cheung, David Kakuk, Isaac Cho, Roylce Lui, Joshua Kim, Judah Leven, Nareg Khaskaki, Alex Rosas and Nieko Ourwersloot, as the boys team put its young depth on display.
— Content provided by Chris Matarese
FLINTRIDGE PREP
The Flintridge Prep boys’ cross-country team opened its season on Saturday evening at the Cool Breeze Invitational. Typically held on the Brookside Golf Course at the Rose Bowl, the race took place at the Fairplex in Pomona. Due to the warmer weather, the non-varsity races were 1.5 miles, while the varsity races remained 3 miles.
The Wolves boys’ varsity team placed 11th out of 29 teams with Carter Sakai and Kevin Martinez leading the way. The freshmen team, led by Declan Mansbridge, Luwi Gorocica and William Krause, took fifth place out of 31 teams in their race, which included both large and small school divisions. In the sophomore race, Carl Li was Flintridge Prep’s leader, but the team did not have enough runners to score as a team.
The team will continue its season on Tuesday with a Prep League meet in Palos Verdes, followed by the Lancer Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 10, in Whittier.
— Content provided by Scott Jung
