Marina’s Kylie Nishisaka runs toward the finish line in the Division 1 race at the CIF State Cross Country Championships.

Here are the top 10 finishers from the 2012 CIF State Cross Country Championships.

Division 1
Individuals
1. Sarah Baxter (Simi Valley) 16:40*; 2. Hagen Reedy (Buchanan) 17:10; 3. Jena Pianin (Amador Valley) 17:39; 4. Kiara McIntosh (Paloma Valley) 17:45; 5. Megan Huebner (La Quinta/La Quinta) 17:48; 6. Fiona O’Keeffe (Davis) 17:49; 7. Kylie Nishisaka (Marina) 17:50; 8. Vanessa Estrada (San Benito) 17:51; 9. Miranda Kewley (Great Oak) 17:58; 10. Ashley Helbig (Great Oak) 17:58
*All-time meet record

Team Scores
1. Great Oak 57; 2. St. Francis/Sacramento 115; 3. Simi Valley 153; 4. Buchanan 181; 5. Davis 214; 6. Rancho Buena Vista 226; 7. Capistrano Valley 232; 8. San Clemente 238; 9. Marina 240; 10. Vista Murrieta 247

Division 2
Individuals
1. Maggie Bell (Granite Bay) 17:29; 2. Samantha Ortega (Saugus) 17:33; 3. Danielle Katz (Los Gatos) 17:46; 4. Paige Tennison (Newport Harbor) 17:52; 5. Melissa Fairchild (Serrano) 17:57; 6. Kayla Ferron (Redondo Union) 18:07; 7. Bianca Tinoco (Golden Valley) 18:09; 8. Kelly Lawson (La Costa Canyon) 18:10; 9. Amber Gore (Redondo Union) 18:12; 10. Andrea Hughes (Valhalla) 18:12; 15. Amanda Gehrich (Tesoro) 18:24; 20. Olivia Goins (Canyon) 18:32

Team Scores
1. Saugus 97; 2. La Costa Canyon 108; 3. Serrano 144; 4. Tesoro 155; 5. Mira Costa 156; 6. Redondo Union 156; 7. Canyon 176; 8. Colony 226; 9. Rancho Bernardo 246; 10. Mt. Carmel 273
*Mira Costa awarded fifth place over Redondo Union by virtue of a better finish of the sixth place runner (56-81)
Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a look at the teams and individual runners that are scheduled to run at the 2012 CIF State Cross Country Championships Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Division 1

Teams

CAPISTRANO VALLEY

MARINA

SAN CLEMENTE

Individual

HALEY SEWARD (EDISON, SR.)

Outlook: Capistrano Valley, which has consistently been on the doorstep of becoming one of the county’s best teams, broke through this season and will be making its first ever state meet appearance. The Cougars finished third at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals, best among the six county schools that competed. Defending state champion San Clemente was fourth, 21 points behind its South Coast League rival. Both the Cougars and Tritons, who have been effective at pack running this season, had a 42-second scoring gap between scoring runners should once again employ that strategy in the hopes of landing on the podium. Sunset League champion Marina (third at the state meet last season) was sixth last week. Senior Kylie Nishisaka placed sixth and had the best time of all county runners in the division. Chargers senior Haley Seward has been hindered by injuries throughout the early portion of the season, but has come on strong in the last few weeks. She was ninth at the CIF-SS Finals and had the fourth best overall time of all county runners. All eyes will be on the highly anticipated team title battle between fellow Southern Section powers Great Oak and Simi Valley, who finished first and second at the CIF-SS Finals. Simi Valley junior Sarah Baxter, perhaps the nation’s best high school runner, is considered an overwhelming favorite to win her third individual state title in as many years.

Read the rest of this entry »