Cross-country on road to CIF
Leo Lucente / The Samohi
[From the left to the right] Leo Mooney (’28), Asher Zaczepinski (’28), Guy Sikora (’27) and Jack Skalaski (’28) after the F/S Boys-Large Schools three mile race at Belarmine/Sacred Heart Invitational on Sept. 28.
Halfway through the 2024 cross-country season, the varsity teams have made a name for themselves in their first year in the Ocean League. So far, the boys have won two meets and the girls have won one, coming second in others. With performances like these, the team is on track to qualify for the CIF Preliminaries, needing a top-three finish in Ocean League to do so.
In their first league meet of the season on Nov. 6 at Columbia Park, Samo won first overall. The girls’ and boys’ varsity teams both got a perfect score for the first time ever, with the girls placing first through seventh place and the boys placing first through sixth, and ninth. Varsity athlete Phoebe Benun (’25) commented on the team’s performance.
“The varsity girls did great working on some new race strategy, and everyone had a lot of fun getting to try out the league,” Benun said.
The cross-country team’s success this season started early on Sep. 20-21 with the Woodbridge Invitational, racing against teams from all over the country. Racing in the evening on a flat course, many athletes on the team set new personal records. The boys’ team won their race led by Kingsley Lin (’27) who placed third. The girls’ team earned sixth place led by Cleo Topp (’25) who came in at 15th.
A week later on Sept. 28, the team competed at the Bellarmine/Sacred Heart Invitational, racing the hilly course at Griffith Park. The girls’ team took second in this race, only six points behind first, while the boys’ team placed sixth.
The cross country team will have their last league meet at the Ocean League Finals on Nov. 6 to determine if they will qualify for CIF Preliminaries on Nov. 15. Currently ranked first in league, the team is preparing to advance both the girls’ and boys’ teams to CIF. Varsity athlete and captain, Maeko Gross (’25), shares her excitement about qualifying for CIF.
“As we approach our final league meet, we’re determined to perform at our best again, aiming to return to the state meet we attended two years ago,” Gross said.