J.Serra senior Peter Herold and Mayfield sophomore Audrey Suarez each placed second in their respective Division 4 races of the CIF-Southern Section Cross Country championships, held Nov. 17 at Riverside City Course.

Additionally, J.Serra was second in the D-4 team competition, the best team showing of any local Catholic school at the event, which qualified the Lions for the State Championships Nov. 24 at Woodward Park, Fresno. (A complete list of qualifiers will be announced later this week.)

Also running strong on the team events were Loyola and Cathedral (boys) and Santa Margarita and Mayfield (girls), all of whom placed in the top five in their divisions.

Overall, local Catholic school teams and/or individuals placed in the top 20 in every race from Divisions 2 through 5. (Cross country divisional placements are based on enrollment; no Catholic school competes in Division 1.)

In boys’ races:

  • D-2: Loyola was third in the team event (behind Newbury Park and Claremont), and the Cubs’ Mason Ratkovich and Anthony Stone were seventh and 18th individually.
  • D-3: Servite was eighth (team), and Dimitry Major of Santa Margarita was 15th (individual).
  • D-4 team: J.Serra was second (behind Laguna Beach), with Cathedral fifth and Bishop Amat 14th. Following runnerup Herold were J.Serra’s Anthony Grover (fourth) and Cathedral’s Tyriq Granillo (sixth).
  • D-5: St. Bonaventure’s team placed 20th. Individually, Nick Montijo of Providence (Burbank) was eighth, Adam Corugedo of St. Bonaventure 17th, and Angel Perez of St. Pius X-St. Matthias 19th.

In girls’ races:

  • D-2: Mater Dei’s team placed 14th.
  • D-3: Santa Margarita’s team was fifth, and the Eagles’ Sophie Getz and Kendall Saeger were 12th and 18th, respectively. 
  • D-4: Following fifth-place Mayfield were J.Serra (seventh), Flintridge Sacred Heart (12th), Bishop Amat (13th) and Immaculate Heart (16th). Runnerup Suarez led a quartet of Catholic school runners in the top 10, which included Bishop Amat’s Olivia Paez (seventh), Chaminade’s Maddie Gutshall (eighth) and Flintridge/Sacred Heart’s Lauren Nettels (10th). 
  • D-5: Four Catholic teams were top-20 finishers: La Reina (ninth) Sacred Heart (12th), St. Bonaventure (16th) and Ramona Convent (19th). Holy Family’s Brianna Cindrich was 11th individually.

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).

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