La Mirada High School

The La Mirada Cross Country members took to the hills at this year's Mt. SAC Invitational and all of them experienced great success. The highest placing team for the day was the Girls Varsity team, who placed fourth in their respective Varsity race. Leading her team in their quest on this day was Senior, Audrey Serrata. Her time of 20:22 was fast enough to place her 2nd on La Mirada's Mt. SAC elite list and her 15th place finish earned her a prestigious Mt. SAC Medal. Sophomore Ana Poblet tied the sophomore record with her time of 20:31, and Freshman Destinie Martin finished as the third varsity girl, while breaking the School Freshman Record, racing to a time of 20:57. Rounding out the Varsity girls on this day were Seniors Vanessa Thomas (21:06), and Jen Minero (21:45), Junior Jackie Martinez (22:08), and Sophomore Kendal Van Wuyckhuyse (22:47). In what was better news then the girls 4th place finish, was the return from injury of Captain Amanda Stephens who placed 6th in her Junior Varsity race, with a time of 21:33, placing her as the Lady Mats 5th runner overall.

Going into their race the Varsity boys hoped for a top ten finish. Knowing that they had drawn the toughest Varsity race outside of the days Sweepstakes races, the boys looked forward to the challenge of running against tougher competition. In the end the boys stepped up their racing level and fought through the fast moving, crowded field to conquer their goal and finish in ninth place. Their Varsity team time of 85:01 is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, times ever run at Mt. SAC by a La Mirada Boys Varsity team. Leading the way on this day were three Sophomores and a Senior. Nathaniel Moore, and Jared Bird were only separated by two seconds as they both broke the old Sophomore record to finish in 16:42 and 16:44 respectively. Daniel Lee followed in a time of 16:53, with Dag Tesfaye trailing only a second behind to finish in 16:54. Seniors Mario Perez (17:48) and Ben Ramirez (17:50) raced as the teams 5th and 6th men, while Sophomore Jake Cooley was back in the pack a bit running in at a Mt. SAC PR time of 18:09.

The highest finishing Matador at any race level on the day was Freshman Ryan Holash who placed 4th in his Freshman race, finishing in a time of 17:38, thus placing as his teams 5th best runner overall for the day.