This race held in Griffith Park every year can be very hot. We got lucky, the temperature was in the mid-eighties with an easy breeze but the competition was smoking. The boys varsity was first up and lead by Matthew Meredith who finished 5th and the team was 6th. The girls varsity who are rated 5th in the CIF Southern Section and 7th in State were facing two State ranked teams. The girls came away victorious with Stephanie LaFace, 3rd, Kazia Mermel 5th, Miranda Cornwell 10th, Lily Peterson 12th, Mia Gilbert 13th, and Rebecca Vasquez 14th. The Lady Knights superior depth sealed the victory. This crucial win should move the girls team up in all of the rankings.
The JV teams are our farm club where we develop talent and plan for the future. The girls JV had a strong showing with Marlina Barnett-Crespo and Maggie Guinnip leading the way in 4th & 5th. Juliette Fedoroff, Emily Glennon and Sarah Verin helped their team to a 4th place finish.
The boys JV race would be funny if it wasn't such a bad joke. Five ND harriers were in the top twenty at the mile mark but the lead pack took a wrong turn while a race official was distracted reading a book. The runners got a free for all tour of the Los Felix district well south of the race course when they should have been back on trails in Griffith Park. Lucas Deleon made an impressive debut for NDXC despite running about a mile and a half farther than the advertised racing distance!
Next week the varsity teams will be at the Stanford Invitational testing themselves against the best in Northern California while the JV will be competing at the Staub-Barnes Meet at Crescenta Valley Park. This is what the Daily News said:
Notre Dame gave coach Jon Sutherland an impressive birthday present by winning the girls' white division race by a 43-49 margin over Paraclete in a battle of Div. IV ranked programs.Although No. 7 Paraclete had each of its first three runners -- Madi Grenier (18:23.63), Mariah Theologidy (18:47.97) and Melanie Fujiwara (19:00.20) -- respectively finish ahead of Notre Dame's top three athletes, it was the Knights' depth, with Lily Peterson (20:03.86), Mia Gilbert (20:11.15) and Rebecca Vasquez (20:23.78) taking 12th through 14th, combined with the absence of Kristin Monson, one of Paraclete's top five runners according to coach Andy Helme, that resulted in the final margin.Stephanie LaFace (18:37.06) was third, Kazia Mermel (18:52.72) finished fifth, and Miranda Cornwell (19:24.95) took 10th for No. 5 Notre Dame, which hadn't competed since the Seaside Invitational on Sept. 7, when they finished seventh in the combined results of all grade races."I've had a lot of these girls for four years and they've put in a lot of work. I'm so happy for them," Sutherland said. "We're getting there, but I think we can be even better. I would love nothing more than to get on the podium at state."