Griffins make a strong run at Central Park Invitational

Pictured, from left, are Jean Sullivan, Ava Faris and Maria Halfhill. The three sophomores helped the varsity team take 5th overall at the Central Park Invitational. Photo by Ted Apodaca

The Los Alamitos High boys varsity team was led by Kaleb Yemane, who was 4th overall with a time of 15:19.1. Klaus Quinonez was 6th overall with a time of 15:31.8. Joshua Williams was 38th overall with a time of 16:10.6 and junior Brian Rogers took 52nd overall in 16:25.5. Jonathan Rosenthal rounded out the top five for the Griffins in 59th place in 16:32.6.

In team scoring, the Griffins were 5th place overall. The boys varsity race had 38 teams posting scores, along with nine other schools who had runners, but not enough to qualify for team scores. The top five runners for each team’s runners were counted toward team scores.

Cypress was 10th in team scoring, led by a 37th overall finish by Nicholas Rosales with a time of 16:08.8. Teammate Christian Cobo took 64th overall with a time of 16:36.3, while Nathan Slevcove finished 70th overall with a time of 16:43.1. Jose Jiminez was the fourth finisher for Cypress, with a time of 16:51.1 and Jesse Lapid rounded out the scoring for the Centurions with a time of 17:24.2.

The Los Alamitos High girls varsity team took 5th in team scoring among 32 teams that posted team scores. Junior Olivia Velasco led the Griffins with a 26th overall finish in a time of 18:50.4. Senior Amanda Muniz was 33rd overall with a time of 19:01.7. Sophomores Ava Faris (19:20.5), Maria Halfhill (19:30.0) and Jean Sullivan (19:30.1) rounded out the five scoring runners for the Griffins. Kaya Guerrero, also a sophomore, was right behind Sullivan in a time of 19:30.3 and 55th overall place.

In the boys JV race, Los Alamitos’ J’von Leong was the 14th overall finished in a time of 17:13.8. Elijah Moon was 40th overall with a time of 18:00.0 and Mitchell Hein took 46th overall in 18:06.6. In the girls JV race, Los Alamitos took 2nd overall in team scoring.

Ella Scales led the Griffins with an 4th place overall finish in a time of 20:25.2. Amber DeMarco was 8th overall with a time of 20:47.7. Wendy Dunbar was 15th overall with a time of 21:08.3, while Madison Garcia, 27th overall and Hailey Wick 39th overall, rounded out the five scoring runners for the Griffins.