A late miscalculation cost Ronan McMahon-Staggs a medal Saturday at the CIF State Cross Country Championships, but he had no complaints otherwise with what his coach termed “a really smart race.”
The Long Beach Poly senior finished 11th in the boys Division I final on the 5,000-meter Woodward Park course, spearheading the Jackrabbits’ charge to an 11th-place finish in the team race – a good spot after No. 2 runner Zane Witter was slowed by the flu – on a chilly afternoon in Fresno.
Gahr senior Kishan Patel medaled in the boys Division III run, claiming 10th place in a tight finish, and St. John Bosco got a superb showing from sophomore Chris Chavez for a fifth-place finish, second-best among Southern Section schools.
McMahon-Staggs headed into the final 500 meters, on a sloping grade that provides a stern test for a tired runner’s legs, thinking he was securely within the top 10, necessary to win a medal. When Paso Robles’ Damian Gavilan raced past with about 75 meters to go, he thought he was 10th.
He wasn’t, but that could dampen his mood only so much after one of his better races.
“A little bit,” McMahon-Staggs said when asked if he was happy with his run. “My goal was to get top 10, but I fell one place short. But in terms of my time, I’m ecstatic about it.”
He was the fourth Southern Section runner, finishing in 15 minutes, 13.7 seconds, just six-tenths of a second behind Gavilan.
“He had a very good race, his time is an excellent time, way faster than we ran last year, and he ran a really smart race,” Poly head coach Mike Fillipow said. “I know he wanted top 10, but he had a good race.”
It was key for the Jackrabbits, whose goal also was to finish in the top 10 and missed out by 33 points to Davis. They were fifth among Southern Section schools, same as at the sectional finals, but were hindered by Witter’s illness, which left him last among the seven Poly runners.
“He was sick. He was throwing up on the bus,” Fillipow said. “He’s a senior and said he wanted to give it a try. With him racing reasonably normal, we’re probably eighth place, at least.”
McMahon-Staggs, the Moore League champion, was the only Jackrabbit to get off to a good start, hanging with the leaders through a tight first mile before Carmichael Jesuit’s Matt Strangio, whose 14:43.5 winning time was the day’s second-best, and Clovis North’s Isaiah Galindo began pulling away.
Everyone else got caught in the thicket of bodies. T.J. Bryson gained 20 spots in the final two miles or so, placing 49th in 10:46.6. Fellow senior Ezequiel Barraza’s advance was more dramatic: He was last after 100 meters, climbed to 128th (of 178 runners) by the start of the second mile and 86th two-thirds through, then pushed to finish 71st in 16:00.3.
Senior Clark Boyce (94th, 16:14.3) and sophomore Brandon Perry (120th, 16:45.6) also scored for Poly, and sophomore Nicholas Mejia (151st, 16:55.1) finished just ahead of Witter (152nd, 16:55.5).
McMahon-Staggs headed into the last portion of the race in good shape.
“The last 500 meters, I thought I was in 10th place and I kind of (held onto) my cushion as far as I could,” McMahon-Staggs said. “I kind of settled. It’s on me. I just mentally kind of shut down, thought I was in 10th. I think I could have passed somebody in front of me, but I’m really happy with the time.”
McMahon-Staggs finished 86th at the state finals as a sophomore in 16:27.0 and 47th as a junior in 15:53.7.
He and Patel will run at next weekend’s Foot Locker West Regional meet at Mt. San Antonio College with hopes of reaching the national finals the following weekend at Balboa Park in San Diego.
Patel, the San Gabriel Valley League champion, became the first Gahr runner to claim a state medal after holding off Pasadena’s Isaiah Givens – who was second, four spots ahead of Patel, at the section finals – by six-tenths of a second to finish 10th.
His time – 15:39.8 – equaled Samuel Ayala’s four-year-old school record at Woodward Park.
“It went exactly how my coach and I planned,” Patel said. “Go out aggressive in the first mile, try to stick with the top pack as long as possible, and finish in a good spot.”
Patel was in the lead pack through the first mile, then jockeyed within the group that remained after Santa Rosa Maria Carrillo’s Colton Swinth and then Rory Swain began distancing themselves in the second mile.
Fourth through seventh places were separated by 2½ seconds, and Patel was four seconds farther back, seven-tenths of a second behind Dylan Cronin from team champion Moraga Campolindo.
Gladiators head coach Brian Leighliter said he’d told Patel that he shouldn’t “worry about time,” but rather “about place.”
“He ran his heart out,” Leighliter said. “We’re excited about the medal. It’s a decent time, only a few seconds off his personal record. Can’t argue with that.”
Patel, who finished 94th in 16:55.6 at last year’s state championships, called the medal “a big accomplishment, not only for me, but for my coach, as well. It’s just really exciting and it showed that this past four years have been good and a great learning experience.”
Three-time state champion St. John Bosco was happily astonished to discover it had finished fifth in the DIII race after a slower start than expected and senior Alex Frias’ subpar run. Frias, a top-15 hope, was 26th after the first mile – none of the other Braves were in the top 50 – and dropped to a disappointing 38th, with a 16:12.6 clocking.
Chavez ran nearly 13 seconds faster than Frias over the race’s final two-thirds, improving 34 spots to finish 31st in 16:08.2. Junior J.T. McCoy (45th, 16:14.9) also ran a strong second half.
“This is probably Chris’ best race,” Bosco head coach Timothy McIntosh said. “He’s a basketball player, but he’s got a lot of natural running ability, and it finally clicked for him today. … He struggled early in the year with the confidence and kind of worked through it and has been coming on good, and I think today was just a culmination of what he’s capable of.”
Senior Daniel Covarrubias (16:33.3) was 73rd, followed by senior Gabriel Cordova (16:33.3), running 93 seconds faster than in his first state debut two years ago to finish 105th. The other Braves in the 217-runner field were juniors Riley Milligan (172nd, 17:40.7) and Angel Villchis (196th), 18:12.7).
Only Southern Section champion Agoura, which placed third, scored better among sectional rivals.
Valley Christian’s girls, who stunned the field with a fourth-place finish in Division V at last weekend’s Southern Section finals in Riverside, were 19th among 23 teams and last of the seventh Southern Section schools.
The Defenders, who weren’t expected to contend among the top half of the field, got strong races from senior Kathryn Tamminga and freshman Wesli Oeh. Tamminga, also their top runner at the Southern Section finals, climbed from 106th after the first mile to finish 91st in 21:04.3. Oeh, usually the team’s No. 3 runner, was just behind Tamminga from the start and finished 94th in 21:10.01.
Sophomore Sophia Moreno (22:03.4) was with Tamminga and Oeh for the first mile, then faded to 133rd, and seniors Arianna Otero (135th, 22:04.9) and Cameron Erickson (164th, 22:52.8) completed the top five. Senior Bethany Rubio (23:09.1) was 168th and sophomore Meg Pheifer (23:35.1) 175th in a field of 198.
Rancho Dominguez freshmen Melanie Davis (154th, 22:37.2) and Alyssa Lomeli (190th, 24:37.1) ran after finishing fifth and eight, respectively, in the L.A. City Section Division V finals.
Here are the top five teams and top three individuals from each race, plus all local teams and runners:
BOYS
DIVISION 11. Great Oak (Temecula) 462. Jesuit (Carmichael)1443. Bellarmine (San Jose) 1454. Dublin 1595. Burbank 181Others11. Long Beach Poly 281
Individuals1. Matt Strangio (Jesuit, Carmichael) 14:43.52. Isaiah Galindo (Clovis North, Fresno) 15:00.53. Christopher Middleton-Pearson (Dublin) 15:02.9Others11. Ronan McMahon-Staggs (Long Beach Poly) 15:13.749. T.J. Bryson (Long Beach Poly) 15:46.071. Ezequiel Barraza (Long Beach Poly) 16:00.394. Clark Boyce (Long Beach Poly) 15:14.3144. Brandon Perry (Long Beach Poly) 16:45.6151. Nicholas Mejia (Long Beach Poly) 16:55.1152. Zane Witter (Long Beach Poly) 16:55.5
DIVISION 31. Campolindo (Moraga) 472. Maria Carrillo (Santa Rosa) 643. Agoura (Agoura Hills) 1014. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 1935. St. John Bosco (Bellflower) 221
Individuals1. Colton Swinth (Maria Carrillo) 15:10.22. Rory Smail (Maria Carrillo) 15:22.83. Eduardo De Paz (Baldwin Park) 15:32.0Others10. Kishan Patel (Gahr, Cerritos) 15:39.831. Christopher Chavez (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 16:08.238. Alex Frias (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 16:12.645. J.T. McCoy (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 16:14.973. Daniel Covarrubias (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 16:33.3105. Gabriel Cordova (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 16:49.2172. Riley Milligan (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 17:40.7196. Angel Villchis (St. John Bosco, Bellflower) 18:12.7
DIVISION 21. Newbury Park 372. Dana Hills (Dana Point) 883. Claremont 1434. Loyola (Los Angeles) 1765. Redlands East Valley 188
Individuals1. Nico Young (Newbury Park) 14:28.52. Jace Aschbrenner (Newbury Park) 14:53.73. Carrick Denker (Dana Hills, Dana Point) 14:59.9
DIVISION 41. Foothill Tech (Ventura) 932. Scotts Valley 1113. Sir Francis Drake (San Anselmo) 1504. Calaveras (San Andreas) 1905. King City 202
Individuals1. Anthony Grover (JSerra, San Juan Capistrano) 15:03.22. Mitchell Ross (Scotts Valley) 15:17.53. Logan Brooks (Laguna Beach) 15:24.7
DIVISION 51. Viewpoint (Calabasas) 1282. St. Margaret’s (San Juan Capistrano) 1453. Francis Parker (San Diego) 1754. San Francisco University 1815. Flintridge Prep (La Cañada Flintridge) 183
Individuals1. Jackson Adelman (St. Margaret’s, San Juan Capistrano) 15:39.92. Jacob Lehmann Duke (College Preparatory, Oakland) 15:43.03. Drake Prince (High Tech, Chula Vista) 15:44.2.
GIRLS
DIVISION 51. Lick Wilmerding (San Francisco) 732. San Francisco University 1143. St. Margaret’s (San Juan Capistrano) 1264. Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach) 1905. Castilleja (Palo Alto) 207Others19. Valley Christian (Cerritos) 474
Individuals1. Harper McClain (St. Helena) 17:13.42. Mia Barnett (Village Christian, Sun Valley) 17:58.33. Liesel Blau (St. Margaret’s, San Juan Capistrano) 18:00.04. Kaiya Brooks (Crystal Springs Uplands, Hillsborough) 18:11.15. Ryley Burns (Linfield Christian, Temecula) 18:31.0Others91. Kathryn Tamminga (Valley Christian, Cerritos) 21:04.394. Wesli Oeh (Valley Christian, Cerritos) 21:10.1133. Sophia Moreno (Valley Christian, Cerritos) 22:03.4135. Arianna Otero (Valley Christian, Cerritos) 22:04.9154. Melanie Davis (Rancho Dominguez, Long Beach) 22:37.2164. Cameron Erickson (Valley Christian, Cerritos) 22:52.8168. Bethany Rubio (Valley Christian, Cerritos) 23:09.1175. Meg Pheifer (Valley Christian, Cerritos) 23:35.1190. Alyssa Lomeli (Rancho Dominguez, Long Beach) 24:37.1
DIVISION 11. Buchanan (Clovis) 672. Great Oak (Temecula) 713. Saugus (Santa Clarita) 1364. Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego) 1745. Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach) 234
Individuals1. Carlie Dorostkar (Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego) 16:45.42. Corie Smith (Buchanan, Clovis) 17:00.03. Dalia Frias (Mira Costa, Manhattan Beach) 17:38.4
DIVISION 21. Newbury Park 822. St. Francis (Mountain View) 1613. Serrano (Phelan) 1854. El Toro (Lake Forest) 2025. Canyon (Anaheim) 204
Individuals1. Alexandra Klos (Vista del Lago, Folsom) 17:13.12. Amber Rios (Colony, Ontario) 17:35.03. Gianna Mendoza (Presentation, San Jose) 17:36.4
DIVISION 31. Campolindo (Moraga) 742. Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) 1543. Brea Olinda 166 (55)4. Palos Verdes (Palos Verdes Estates) 166 (84)5. Del Oro (Loomis) 217
Individuals1. Riley Chamberlain (Del Oro, Loomis) 17:16.02. Savannah Scriven (Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates) 17:22.53. Bella Longo (Mission Vista, Oceanside) 17:46.8
DIVISION 41. Sage Creek (Carlsbad) 442. Menlo (Atherton) 1213. Orange Lutheran 1534. Covina 1955. Laguna Beach 203
Individuals1. Brooke Secreto (Foothill Tech, Ventura) 17:33.42. Skyler Wallace (Sage Creek, Carlsbad) 17:48.23. Audrey Suarez (Mayfield, Pasadena) 17:53.3
