Costa’s girls team, Xavier Court make runs for State cross country title

Advancing to the CIF State Cross Country Championships is the Mira Costa team of Tia Pappas, Pnina Tofler, Brooke Inouye, Lucy Atkinson, Olivia Hacohen, Cara Chittenden and Carmen Mel. Photos by Damian Court

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, Mira Costa’s girls cross country qualified for the State meet with a 6th-place finish in the highly competitive Division 1 CIF-SS finals held Saturday at Riverside City Cross Country Course.

With no seniors competing, Mira Costa coach Renee Williams-Smith knew her young runners had their work cut out for them if they hoped to advance to Saturday’s CIF State Championships in Fresno.

Junior Olivia Hacohen recorded the best time for Mira Costa’s girls team.

In each division, the top seven teams and top five individuals on non-qualifying teams if they placed in the top 20 qualified for the State meet.

Williams-Smith evaluated the times of the top 10 schools and strategized on how her team could score the points needed to advance.

“The top three schools (Great Oak, Vista Murrieta, Arcadia) were all at a very high level, and then the next seven schools were all extremely close,” Williams Smith said. “Our front runners needed to place in the low 30s and they finished in 23rd, 25th and 29th in scoring exceeding our expectations. Each one of them improved by approximately 10 seconds from last week’s prelims.”

Juniors Olivia Hacohen (28th, 18:01.7), Brooke Inouye (31st, 18:04.4) and Lucy Atkinson (35th, 18:06.9) put the Mustangs in a solid position. Sophomores Pnina Tofler (74th, 18:46.2), Tia Pappas (103rd, 19:12.5), Cara Chittenden (114th, 19:16.5) and Carmen Mel (139th, 19:45.8) carried the rest of the load.

Competing in Division 1 for the first time this season, Williams-Smith had the team compete in tough races this season to gain experience while hoping to end the regular season ranked in the top 10. They finished ranked No. 5.

“We knew that learning how to race groups that go out harder would pay off,” Williams-Smith said. “The team took it to heart and learned from each race this season and got stronger each time. These girls worked hard all summer and have really come together as a team and we are so excited with their improvement.”

Redondo’s girls finished 9th with the team of Lila Copeland (20th, 15:41.9), Peyton Heiden (55th, 18:30.5), Isabella Landry (71st, 18:43.55), Molly Hastings (89th, 19:00.5), Shelby Bender (91st, 19:00.6), Isabel Ramirez (154th, 20:01.3) and Kasey Bohney (170th, 20:50.7).

Bay League champion Xavier Court will represent Mira Costa in the boys race after placing 8th at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals.

Also representing Mira Costa at the State championships will be Xavier Court who qualified with an 8th-place finish (14:50.8) in the boys race.

The Mustangs placed 11th and were helped by Cy Chittenden (51st, 15:25.8), Chris Shirazi (81st, 15:45.1), Quinn Satow (97th, 15:53.8), Cole Gamble (112th, 16:01.0), JP Soares (126th, 16:08.3) and Billy Atkinson (135th, 16:14.1).

Redondo placed 24th with Benjamin Tait (93rd, 15:49.1), Farooq Tariq (118th, 16:03.0), Anthony Bass (119th, 16:03.4), Cade Erickson (152nd, 16:40.2), Ariel Rodriguez (154th, 16:43.1) and Alberto Aguilar (164th, 16:53.6).

In Division 3, five South Bay teams advanced to the State Championships led by West’s boys team that won its third consecutive CIF title.

West’s 77 points was well ahead of runner Palos Verdes who finished with 118. Top-20 finishers for West included  senior Andrew Hazzard (10th, 15:29.8), senior Caleb Terrill (11th, 15:31.8) and senior Rory Abberton (17th, 15:39.5).

Palos Verdes was led by juniors Nathan Lantz (6th, 15:20.3) and Wade Nygren (14th, 15:32.6).

South Torrance and Torrance finished 17th and 18th, respectively.

Palos Verdes’ girls placed second to Laguna Hills and was led by senior Grace Catena (4th, 18:10.0) and sophomore Samantha Steman (5th, 18:11.4).

Also advancing are South Torrance (6th) and West Torrance (7th). South  was led by freshman Rania Gomaa (17th, 18:59.8) while West scored big with senior Julia Lopes (9th, 18:38.3) and freshman Megan Gonzalez (15th, 18:55.1).

Torrance narrowly missed the cut with a 9th-place finish.

El Segundo enjoyed success In Division 4 with its boys (3rd) and girls (4th) teams advancing.

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