The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by Joe Carlson & Debbie Hughes.
On a cold and foggy Saturday morning at Mt. SAC, three teams from Long Beach were in action at the CIF-SS Cross Country Championships, running for hardware and a spot in the CIF State meet in Fresno.
Unfortunately for the Long Beach schools, none of the teams were able to finish in the Top 7 of their Division 1 races, and none of the individuals were able to punch their tickets to State.
The Wilson girls’ team finished in 9th, led by junior Nadia Mejia’s school record time of 18:13.6, placing her 18th. Mejia was sixth among individual runners who could’ve advanced to the State meet, but only the top five are eligible to move on.
Meanwhile, Jack Brown was the top finisher for Long Beach in the boys’ race, leading the Millikan Rams to an 11th place finish. His time of 16:02.5 was good for 50th place.
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Girls’ Varsity
It was another promising showing for the Wilson girls as they threatened for a Top 7 finish in their first CIF finals appearance since 2004. After just missing out on the Moore League title, the Bruins were able to answer back to be the league’s fastest squad at CIF.
“The goal for the year was to get everyone to buy in and give everything they had all the way to the end, and we accomplished that goal,” said Wilson head coach CJ Brewer. “Nadia broke a school record again at Mt. SAC, and the rest of the girls were really energized by that, and they all did their job. Having all the kids returning is really encouraging, and for the Wilson team to finish the best here at the finals out of the teams in our city and represent our city well is something that they all should be proud about.”
Given that the girls’ D1 race was the first of the day, they had to deal with the coldest weather and a thick layer of fog blanketing the course. That made it a bit more challenging for the Bruins, who were happy with their performance overall.
“Honestly, it was really hard, because showing up here, we’re all freezing cold, so we all knew we’re gonna feel a different type of way today,” said Mejia. “But we all had a mindset to have fun and not stress and worry about making it (to State). But after we saw our performance today, the team was honestly really happy that we were that close, which gives us motivation for next year that we’re going to be even closer and probably make it.”
Poly’s Avery Peck was the next Long Beach runner across the line, finishing 21st with a time of 18:20. Senior Alexa Hernandez Lujan moved up really well, sitting 74th after the first mile to charge all the way up to 35th at the finish in a time of 18:52.
Wilson’s Riley Jones (19:26) was 55th, followed by Audrey Buckley (19:30) in 58th. Then Poly freshman Sienna Young was two spots back of that Bruin duo in 19:35.
Avery Errecart took 63rd for Wilson in 19:39, followed by Leticia Tovar in 75th, running a 19:52 to give Wilson five runners under 20 minutes and in the Top 75 runners.
With the whole squad set to return next season, along with a few other key runners, the future looks bright for the Bruins, who’ve now gotten a taste of the D1 finals.
“The lights are bright when it’s your first time, and then you grow numb to it when you return,” Brewer said. “So I’m sure we’ll be a little tougher, they won’t be as nervous, and they’ll be more dialed in and ready to take that Wilson jersey to the next notch next year.”
Boys’ Varsity
The Moore League champion Millikan Rams were not expected to crack the Top 7 in the Division 1 boys’ race, especially with top runner Max Ramirez sidelined. And despite a game plan to get out quickly, the Rams were stuck in the middle of the pack early on before charging back in the second half of the race to place 11th.
“I’m not surprised that their kicks were good, because we work on that a lot,” said Millikan head coach Pedro Ramirez of how the Rams finished the race. “I’m happy overall, it’s not a bad day. Obviously we didn’t qualify, but not a bad day. I’m okay with this. I’m happy.”
Senior Jack Brown was one of those active movers for the Rams, who was sitting in 104th position after the first mile as the runners climbed the trademark Mt. SAC switchbacks. But he was able to find his rhythm and his speed, moving up 32 spots on his second mile, then gaining 22 more positions over mile three. Brown finished 50th to lead the Rams in a time of 16:02.
“At the beginning we were running a little behind schedule, so we didn’t get strides or anything, and that kind of messed with me a little bit. So my first mile was pretty slow,” Brown explained. “And the entire time I was just like, ‘Ah, man, I gotta catch back up.’ So that’s just what I was doing, picking off people throughout the race.”
The Rams had a clear plan to stay in bunches, with their top five runners finishing between spots 50-76. They were navigating a different course at Mt. SAC this year, with the finish line on the track and the exclusion of “Poop Out Hill” on the course map. Brown said there were different challenges with the elements, and that it was Millikan’s race plan to stick together.
“It was a lot better than the normal course when it’s sunny and dusty, but it was muddy and you were slipping a little bit, especially on that concrete,” Brown said. “But I think we handled it pretty well. We were able to stick with each other on the hills and kind of bunch up.”
Brandon Hinojosa-Garcia was part of the lead pack for Millikan the entire race, finishing 53rd in a time of 16:04. Aiden Ransom (16:17.3) and Lucas Lindsey (16:17.9) went back-to-back in 71st and 72nd, respectively. Jack Walsh wasn’t far behind in 76th, running a 16:21.
Saturday’s races conclude the cross country season for Long Beach’s athletes, but many of these runners will be back in action during the spring for track & field.
