Apaches Lose Mt. SAC Title

WALNUT, CA — The boy's cross country team came in second in the Boys' Sweepstakes race at the legendary Mt. SAC Invitational, losing to Rancho Cucamonga.

Unable to successfully defend their Mt. SAC title, the Apaches lost 125-81. Darren Fahy of La Costa Canyon won the individual title, finishing first with a time of 14:41.

Arguably the biggest high school cross country meet in California, the Mt. SAC Invitational attracts teams from all over California and even Arizona. Held at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, the invitational is one of the few meets where teams from different divisions can compete directly against one another.

Like this season's earlier meet at , Mt. SAC is used as a barometer to gauge the best teams. The winner of those meets often make strong showings at the California State Championship.

Unfortunately, Arcadia — formerly ranked second in the nation, but now ranked eighth — lost to a deeper Rancho Cucamonga. The Cougars are ranked second in state and fourth in the nation.

Rancho ran a solid race led by senior Luis Gutierrez, who finished at 14:55.

Although Arcadia senior Sergio Gonzalez finished second in the race with a time of 14:49 — just 8 seconds behind Fahy — his performance was not enough to carry his team.

Cucamonga simply had the better depth on Saturday, and its top five finishers had an overall stronger race than Arcadia's top five finishers.

Rounding out Arcadia's top five were junior Mitchell Pratt, junior Ryan Vargas, senior Anu Sha and sophomore Esteban de la Rosa. Pratt placed 14th overall with a time of 15:19, Vargas placed 19th overall with a time of 15:27, Sha placed 42nd overall with a time of 15:52 and de la Rosa came in  52nd overall with a time of 16:07.

Despite Arcadia's early successes this season, the team has recently been plagued with injuries. Five of its top seven runners are recovering from or out with injuries. As a result, Coach Jim O'Brien has had to constantly juggle his lineup.

Gonzalez just recently recovered from a calf injury he suffered before the beginning of the season. Vargas is dealing with a chronic foot injury. Gonzalez's younger brother Josue, who finished fourth for Arcadia at the Woodbridge Invitational, has a broken toe.

The Arcadia girls' cross country team also competed at Mt. SAC. The girls' team, though not ranked nationally, are currently raned seventh in the state. The team has enjoyed some measure of success this year with victories over their league rivals Crescenta Valley and Burbank.

The Apache girls, too, faced stiff competition in the Girls' Sweepstakes Race. However, they finished 10th with an overall team score of 271 points even without one of their top runners, freshman Laura Guidolin.

Overall, Simi Valley High School won the Girls' Sweepstakes race, led by sophomore phenom Sarah Baxter. She won with a comfortable 32-second lead, coming in at 16:59.

The Arcadia Girls were led by sophomore Veronica Yamane. Yamane finished 20th for the race, with a time of 18:21. She was followed by senior Alejandra Quintero, who placed 31st overall at 18:38. Junior Glindy Mancia placed 62nd overall at 19:24, followed by senior Joyce Liao, who placed 72nd overall at 19:43. Naomi Wilcox completed the Arcadia scoring, placing 86th overall at 20:03.

For the second year in a row, Arcadia won the boys' JV Nationals at Mt. SAC. With an overall team time of 1:20:57, Arcadia won the race with 28 points. Their closest competition was Great Oak who finished with 72 points.

This race is generally used by coaches and fans to determine the overall depth of a high school's cross country program. In short, it's for the boys ranked eighth or higher on their respective school teams. Leading the J.V. team was sophomore Mahmoud Moussa with a time of 15:57. He was followed by Francis Lee at 16:01 and Juan de la Rosa at 16:11.

Both the Girls and Boys' teams will compete this Friday at the Apache Invitational. Teams from all over Southern California will meet at the . The races start at 2 p.m, and admission is free.