California State Meet Preview
- West Coast XC
- Nov 28
- 5 min read
California State Meet - November 29, 2025
Woodward Park - Fresno, CA
Watch the preview HERE
Ten races in five divisions will be competed to see who are the team and individual champions at the California State Meet on Saturday. Here is a preview:
Division 2 Boys 8:30
The defending division 2 champion Jesuit boys are favored to repeat and punch their ticket to NXN in Portland. The Marauders are led by Connor Bilodeau and has a strong pack to back up Connor. Dos Pueblos won the southern section at Mt SAC last week with fellow section rivals Woodbridge looking to make the podium. Vacaville was close to Jesuit at SJS and Mountain View won CCS and is a threat to make the podium.
Individually, the aforementioned Bilodeau of Jesuit will be in the front along with SJS champion Cooper Stream of Vacaville, CCS champion Alijah Murillo of Branson, Benjamin Fernandez of Matilda Torres, Jaxon Northcutt of Mt Carmel of the San Diego section, Ryan Chen of Mountain View and watch the quartet of boys from the southern section including Aidan Antonio of Woodbridge, Derek Luna of Rio Mesa, Adrian Cantu of Saugus and Lyle Mideiros of Claremont.
Division 3 Boys 9:00
Campolindo boys want to make NXN like the girls accomplished a few years ago and to be favorites to get one of the automatic births and win the division 3 state title. The team is loaded with underclassman and will be a factor in the near future. West Torrance, West Ranch and Oak Park of the southern section are looking to make the podium with San Diego section champion Cathedral Catholic.
Andres Lomeli of Kimball is one of the individual favorites. Oliver Hunter of Dana Hills, Michael Scarinice of South Pasadena, Clark Gregory and Caden Ehrhorn of Campolindo, Noel Huato of Del Oro, Nathan Wilbur of Cathedral Catholic an Aiden Dunosky of Willow Glen are other challengers.
Division 2 Girls 9:30
Whitney of the SJS section has been the top team so far this season and St Francis of Mountain View can be a challenger along with Westlake, Claremont, Tesoro and Ventura of the Southern Section. Point Loma won a competitive San Diego section over Scripps Ranch and Mt Carmel.
The division 2 girl's race has the individual fire power led by Summer Wilson of Irvine who ran 15:14 on the rain course at Mt SAC last Saturday. Aelo Curtis of Ventura won the Clovis Invitational in October and Amaya Bharadwaj of Palo Alto is undefeated so far this season. Brenna Mannion of Vista Del Lago won the SJS section, Mt Carmel duo of Olivia Campos and Isabella Mayer will be in the mix, Kaylie O'Connell of Monte Vista won the NCS section and Sophie Hutchinson of Whitney is another top runner in division 2.
Division 3 Girls 10:00
St Francis of Sacramento won the SJS and is one of the favorites in the girl's division 3. El Toro won the southern section last week and won the division 2 state meet last year. Santa Margarita and Oak Park are other contenders from the southern section. Northgate won the NCS last Saturday.
Freshman Alyssa Gutierrez of St Francis has raced like a veteran this season. Gretchen Yakaitis of Carondelet on the NCS and Stella Newman of Burlingame won the CCS two weeks ago. Santa Margarita one-two punch of Carol Dye and Taryn Coulston of Santa Margarita and Kamilah Salim of West Torrance will be challenging. Also watch for Harper Diaz, winner of the San Diego section, of Santana.
Division 4 Boys 10:30
JSerra boys and Foothill Technology raced each other closely last week at Mt SAC and will have a rematch on Saturday. St Mary's College won the NCS last week and Sage Creek of the San Diego section is coming on strong. Harvard-Westlake hope to make the top three podium.
The individual race is up in the air with multiple contenders like Vin Kruegar of Oaks Christian, Sebastian Taylor of Bishop O'Dowd, Josiah Bowman of Sage Creek and Charles Abemayor of Harard-Westlake.
Division 5 Girls 11:00
The meet could be between CCS champion Crystal Springs Uplands and central section champion Immanuel. The division 5 field is deep and San Francisco University and Lick Wilmerding will also be in the mix.
Ella Mogannam of Lick Wilmerding is undefeated this fall and will have challengers in Clara Riddle of Immanuel, Anna Salter of Crystal Springs Uplands and Elliana Patterson of Christian.
Division 1 Boys 11:30
The podium fight could be a southern section affair with defending state champion Beckman leading the way. San Clemente, Mira Costa, Redondo Union and Crescenta Valley are other southern section teams looking to be on the podium. Bellarmine College Prep made the podium last year and will be hoping to race their way to return to the podium.
Elias Thronson of Davis is the top sophomore in the state and has run the fastest sophomore class time on the Woodward Park course. Maximo Zavaleta of MLK ran the fastest California time at Woodward Park this season. Conor Lott of Clovis North will use the home field advantage at Woodward Park. Another super sophomore is Mario Montoya of Redondo Union and Yohan Anderson of San Clemente broke 15 at the Clovis Invitational. Mason Nguyen of Beckman and Stephen Sziebert of Bellarmine College Prep hope to break 15 on Saturday.
Division 4 Girls Noon
JSerra girls look to win their fifth D4 title in this decade and also punch their NXN ticket once more. Archie Williams won the NCS by going 1-2-3 last Friday. Placer won the SJS and Sage Creek won the San Diego section.
Chiara Dailey of La Jolla races to defend her D4 individual title. Monserett Santillan Silva of Century won the southern section after finishing 53rd last year at CIF SS D4 race. Freshman JSerra duo of Maya Pawlowicz and Brooklyn Tennant will lead the Lions. Brooke Lee of Archie Williams led the 1-2-3 punch and Giselle Fernandez of Riverbank won the SJS.
Division 5 Boys 12:30
San Francisco University has a long winning tradition in the girl's D5 and now it could be the boy's turn as they finished 1-2-3 at NCS. Viewpoint, Menlo School and Ontario Christian will be racing for the podium.
Individually, the D5 boys has a number of athletes who could make the top 5 NXN individual team. Ryan Fitzpatrick of Nueva, Blake Bay of Fresno Christian, Ben Friedland of San Francisco University and Olly O'Connor of Viewpoint all have a chance to break 15 on the Woodward Park course.
Division 1 Girls 1:00
Buchanan girls finished second to Trabuco Hills at last year's state meet and look to win it this year. They are also one of the favorites to return to NXN. Their top six finishers at the central section return next year. Mira Costa girls won the southern section and was the top team in the merge. Davis won the SJS and could make the podium. The defending D1 champion Trabuco Hills and 2023 NXN team Santiago (Corona) are other teams with podium potential.
Individually, there a lot of stars racing in the final race on the state meet. Jaelyn Williams of Eastlake won the San Diego section by over 1:40. Braelyn Combe of Santiago (Corona) qualified individually to NXN last year and won last week's D1 race at Mt SAC. Millie Bayles of Trabuco Hills ran the third fastest time last Saturday after the merge in the southern section. Avery Wolk of Davis won her SJS race two weeks ago and Isabella Ramirez of Bullard on the central section over Buchanan runners Layla Merancio and Brooklyn Buckley.
Look for photos of all ten races after the meet!
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