With the CIF Southern Section Cross Country Championships inching closer and closer, the 75th annual Mt. SAC Invitational not only provided athletes a chance to compete against a variety of runners, but it also gave them a glimpse of what the sectional might look like.
A runner-up performance by South Pasadena junior Abigail Errington helped the Tigers girls’ team finish behind Cathedral Catholic of San Diego overall in the Division 3, 4 and 5 Team Sweepstakes.
Errington clocked in at 17 minutes, 22 seconds at the 3-mile course as Cathedral Catholic edged South Pasadena 78-126 to win the meet. La Jolla sophomore Chiara Dailey won the race in 16:52.
Mt. San Antonio College will be the site of the CIF finals on Nov. 18.
Tigers junior Saidbh Byrne followed Errington in seventh with a mark of 18:34 for the South Pasadena girls’ team, who are ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division IV polls.
South Pasadena junior Sofia Humphrey came in 25th in 19:40, junior Chloe Koo in 42nd (20:20), sophomore Rose Vandevelde in 50th (20:38), sophomore Raden Estridge in 76th (21:25), and sophomore Amada Cortes in 81st in (21:43) rounded out the participating athletes.
The boys’ team, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Division IV polls, finished eighth in the Division 3, 4 and 5 Team Sweepstakes with 258 points.
Freshman Michael Scarince was the first Tiger to cross the finish line in 36th place in 16:29, followed by junior Noah Aldana in 42nd in 16:35, senior Keeran Murray in 47th in 16:39, junior Ethan Kung in 59th in 16:50, senior Jarvis Kikekawa-Fraser in 74th in 16:57, sophomore Kai Tilley in 84th in 17:08, and junior Adam Ruiz in 121st in 17:40.
St. Francis of La Cañada Flintridge won the meet with 74 points. Ethan Parcells, a senior at Rim of the World High School, won the race in 14:53.
South Pasadena will compete in the Rio Hondo League finals slated for Thursday, Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. at Lacy Park in San Marino.
First published in the October 27 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
