Palos Verdes boys run to Mini Meet cross country title
Palos Verdes’ Ian Irish ran a personal best on a 2-mile course to place third with a time of 10:24. Photo
Battling the heat and a talented field of cross country runners from Mira Costa, Palos Verdes and Saugus, Ian Irish led the host Sea Kings to the boys title with a third-place finish at the Palos Verdes Mini Meet held Thursday, Aug. 31.
Mira Costa’s Xavier Court posted a time of 10 minutes, 6.24 seconds holding off Saugus’ Boon Andrews (10:07.27) and Irish (10:24.24).
Irish’s time was a personal best on a 2-mile course.
Palos Verdes had five runners finish in the top 10 including Irish, Wade Nygren (5th), Brandon Farnsworth (7th), Ryan Shikiya (8th) and Nate lantz (9th) to help the Sea Kings win the team title with 32 points. Saugus (35) placed second and Mira Costa (65) third.
Other Palos Verdes boys placing in the top 20 of the field of 37 runners were Williams Teets (12th, 10:42), Frankie Reid (14th, 10:53), Fabian Veerkamp (17th, 11:00), Eric Anderson (19th, 11:01) and Hunter Burczyk (20th, 11:05).
Palos Verdes’ boys team is ranked No. 2 in the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 poll with Saugus holding the top spot in Division 2.
Senior Grace Catena placed second on her home course at the Palos Verdes Mini Meet. Photo
On the girls side, Saugus scored 29 points, well ahead of Mira Costa (48) and Palos Verdes (51).
Saugus’ Jacqueline Cascione captured the race with a time of 12:09.8. Palos Verdes’ Grace Catena was second at 12:27.65 and Mira Costa’s Brooke Inouye placed third at 12:39.65 in a field of 34 runners.
Palos Verdes’ Ellie Madeja had a top-ten finish placing 7th at 12:54. Also finishing in the top 20 for the Sea Kings were Gabi Collatos (12th, 13:17), Emme Schaefer (13th, 13:19), Natalie Watson (17th, 12:27), Samantha Cohen (19th, 13:31) and Madeline Babros (20th, 13:32).
Palos Verdes’ girls team is ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 3 after winning the 2016 championship before placing third in the State Meet. Saugus is ranked No. 7 in Division 2.
Select athletes from the Palos Verdes squad will compete Saturday at the Lowell Invitational in San Francisco.