By Amy Candioty
The Los Alamitos Cross Country Girls Varsity team and two varsity boys, Lon Monk and Matthew Mayhue advanced to the CIF Southern Section-Prelims on Saturday, November 11th at Mt. SAC in Walnut, CA. Mt. SAC is a historic 3-mile run known to be one of the most difficult courses around. The race starts on an old concrete air strip.
The first mile starts on a flat dirt road that leads to a lengthy 400-meter hill called the “switchbacks.” The course then heads down a concrete road, crosses the old air strip again where the runners encounter an intense incline named “Poop Out Hill.” Poop Out Hill heads up about 100 meters, followed by a path of loops and slopes on “Reservoir Hill.” From Reservoir Hill, the runners have a chance to accelerate and sprint down the hill for a quick finish.
The two varsity Griffin boys ran great races. Sophomore Matthew Mayhue ran his race with a time of 17:44. Senior Lon Monk finished his cross-county season with a time of 17:14.
The Griffin varsity girls team took fourth place advancing them to CIF finals next Saturday back at Mt. Sac. Leading the Griffin’s was junior Stevie Holguin (19:37) followed by Chelsea Estrada (19:39), Alejandra Reyburn (19:53), Olivia Bettinger (20:54), Trista Candiotty (21:06), Kaitlyn McQuillen (21:17), and Ruby Flaim (21:21).
Coach Celestin summarized the race as a “great day for the Griffin cross country program. It’s been a great privilege to coach such a special group of student-athletes. When you consider the average GPA for the team is 4.0, and beyond their academics, they commit daily for six months to all the training necessary to be one of the top teams in Southern California–they inspire all of us. So proud of Lon and Matthew for their races and the girls for a great race and qualifying for CIF Finals next Saturday.”
