Cool Breeze Recap
After having the meet in the past near the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Cool Breeze Invitational, hosted by Claremont High Schoo, moved to the Pomona Fairplex for a two looped three mile course. The JV athletes only ran one loop for 1.5 due to the heat wave in Southern California. The varsity races were moved to later in the evening with hopes for cooler weather. Here is a recap of the varsity races:
D 3-5 Races
The girls race started with a large pack and then at the halfway point, the pack dwindled to three athletes, Arielle McKenzie of Calabasas, Angelina Vasquez of Barstow and Alexis Corvese of St. Lucy's. By finish, under the hanging lights, Arielle McKenzie pulled away in convincing fashion for the 3-mile win in 18:09.0. This was Arielle's first race as a Calabasas Coyote as she competed for La Canada last year finishing ninth at the division IV cross country state meet and was a finalist in the 800 at the track state meet. St. Lucy's finished first with a team score of 102 and St. Margaret's Episcopal took second with 111 points.
Four boys, Diego Urdiales of Damien, Francisco Rodriguez of Franklin, Alexandro Vielma of Sonora and Anthony Naticchioni of Sevite took a commanding lead the 1.5 mark of the course. Alexandro Vielmoaovertook the lead to win 15:28.7. Moorpark had a pack of four runners in the top nine and won with 46 points and La Canada finished second with 127 points.
D 1-2 Races
The Newbury Park boys and girls varsity team did not race this week so the JV runners got to shine at Cool Breeze. At the 1.5 mark freshman Sophia Grant of Newbury Park was challenged by a pair of Great Oak runners Joelle Upshur and Devlyn Torza. Sophia was able to win in her first high school race with a final time of 18:28.8. Great Oak won the race with 23 points and Beaumont finishing second with 117 points.
Like Newbury Park, Great Oak's JV athletes ran in the girls and boy's D 1-2 races. In the case of the boy's D 1-2 race, Great Oak showed its depth with four boys in the pack of five athletes at the 1.5 mark. At the end Great Oak teammates Logan Carter (15:41.9) and Michael Rodriguez (15:42.2) sprinted to the finish. Great Oak dominated the race with 18 points and Newbury Park taking second with 78 points.
Sundown Showdown
The Sundown Showcase event had 18 ranked teams. Marjourie Lopez of Shadow Hills looked as if she was going to run away from the field with an eight second lead at 1.5 miles. Rylee Blade of Santiago/Corona eventually won the race in 17:13.5 and Maya Debrouwer of La Canada taking second in 17:14. 8. Great Oak won a close team title with 110 points to Sanitago/Corona with 112 points.
Matthew Donis of Highland took the lead at the 1.5 mile mark with Bille Issa of West Ranch, and Cathedral teammates Emmanuel Hernandez and Emmanuel Perez in the chase pack. With a strong second half of the race, Matthew Donis won by nearly 14 seconds with a time of 14:36.8 over the 3-mile course and Emmanuel Hernandez finishing second in 14:50.4. Great Oak boys matched the girl's effort by winning the Sundown race with 86 points and Cathedral finishing second with 127 points.
Photo gallery for D1 to D5 races HERE
Photo gallery for Sundown Showcase HERE