By Zach Cavanagh
The dominant form of the JSerra girls cross country team held up once again.
The Lions placed their five scoring runners all in the top 20 to sprint away with their second consecutive CIF-SS Division 4 championship at the CIF-SS Finals last Saturday, Nov. 19, at Mt. San Antonio College.
JSerra’s seventh girls cross country championship and first consecutive titles since the Lions won four in a row from 2010-13 sends the program back to the CIF State Championships. JSerra will look to win back-to-back state titles next Saturday, Nov. 26, at Woodward Park in Fresno.
While the Lions finished off the individual-winning pace of Payton Godsey of Oaks Christian (16:54) in the 2.93-mile race, freshman Summer Wilson led JSerra with a fourth-place finish at 17:47. Brynn Garcia, a sophomore, also earned a top-10 position with a time of 17:53 for seventh place.
Freshman Kaylah Tasser finished 11th at 18:14, junior Georgia Jeanneret finished 19th at 18:41, and senior Anastasia Snodgrass finished 20th at 18:45 to round out JSerra’s scoring five.
JSerra won the title with 56 points to runner-up Oaks Christian’s 101 points. The Lions scored their five runners before Oaks Christian scored its third runner.
The JSerra boys finished in 10th in their Division 4 Final. Sophomore Bradley Arrey led the Lions boys in 29th at 16:14. Freshman Alden Morales finished in 35th at 16:19, and freshman Luke Friedl finished in 42nd at 16:32.
St. Margaret’s Boys Collect Silver in Division 5
In Division 5, the St. Margaret’s boys cross country team was able to earn some hardware with a runner-up finish as a team and in the individual standings.
Everett Capelle, a junior, paced the Tartans with a run of 15:36 to finished 22 seconds behind first place and claim a silver medal. Keven Shen, a senior, also had a stellar run for St. Margaret’s with a 12th-place finish at 16:24.
Despite placing its top two runners in the top 15, Viewpoint’s pack of runners took 25th, 26th, 29th and 31st before the Tartans could place their third runner. St. Margaret’s also scored its fourth runner before Viewpoint scored its fifth, but the Tartans couldn’t overcome the margin. Viewpoint beat St. Margaret’s for the title, 123-135.
Evan Causee, a sophomore, finished in 35th at 17:19, Jared Botuchis finished 41st at 17:26, and freshman Zaden Guruamy rounded out the scoring in 73rd at 18:09.
The St. Margaret’s girls finished fourth in their Division 5 Final to qualify for the State Championships. Freshman Joyce Li led the Tartans in fifth place at 19:29, and sophomore Sarah Bendzick finished 20th at 20:13.
Zach Cavanagh
Zach Cavanagh is the sports editor for Picket Fence Media. Zach is a California Journalism Award winner and has covered sports in Orange County since 2013. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @ZachCav and follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SouthOCSports. Email at zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com.
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