By: Ella Mahn
On September 6, Mira Costa High School’s Cross Country Team beat the heat in their second meet of the season called the Cool Breeze Invitational at the Brookside Country Club, in Pasadena.
The Varsity girls were the first to race, resulting in a victory led by senior Ella Scalabrini, who finished third out of 190 runners. Senior Carmen Mel also contributed to the win by placing in fourth place.
“We placed 1st as a team which is really exciting since it was an invitational race and a lot of really good teams were there,” Scalabrini said.
The JV boys team also ran well, coming in 10th place overall led by senior Aidan Vellaca who finished 2nd. The Sophomore boys team came in 4th as a team, with sophomore Max Levin leading the pack in 11th place. Freshman Drew Martin finished 20th place in the Freshmen boys race, leading the boys to 6th place as a team. The Varsity boys also were successful, and came in 3rd place, with Senior Billy Atkinson winning the race.
“I’m proud of the boys team’s performance, especially the freshmen because this was only their second race of the season and they came in 6th,” said sophomore Sam Torres.
Later in the day, the Frosh-Soph girls team competed in a race with over 400 people. Sophomore Lucca Franz led her team to finish in 7th place, being the first Costa girl to cross the finish line in 24th place.
“I was very happy with this race, and I now know what I need to improve on personally,” Franz said.
The Varsity girls ran later that night in a seeded race called Sundown Showdown, finishing in 4th as a team. With 200 people competing, Sophomore Dalia Frias finished in 2nd place, just two seconds behind the first place runner. Frias ran a 17:01.1 for the three mile course and beat Jacquelyn Duarte, who had won state the last track season for the mile from Deer Valley High School.
“I think this race went really well and it showed our team where we are and what we need to improve on,” Frias said. “I am happy with how I did personally and it also showed me where I am going into the season.
Many Costa runners were happy with their overall performances. Many runners on all teams broke their personal records while competing at the meet.
“I think the team is just getting stronger and stronger and I can’t wait to see what we do as the season continues,” Frias said.
Mira Costa’s Cross Country Team’s next meet is located in Norco on Saturday, September 21. Mira Costa High School placed very highly in every race, and continues to prove they belong at the invitational meets.
“Overall, Costa did very well in this race,” Torres said. “We mainly want to focus more on training to get to the state meet and doing well at state, along with improving individually and as a team.”
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