The CIF Cross Country Finals meet was held on Saturday at Morley Field in Balboa Park. Â As expected, the Islander girls team defended their CIF Division IV title with a first place finish. They finished with a 21 point lead over second place Sage Creek, and High Tech High was a distant third. Next up is the State Meet in Fresno on Saturday, November 26.
Individually Renee Phillips was again the Division IV girls champion covering the 2.75 mile course in 16:28. Teresa Perez came in 4th at 16:54, Jasmine Rippey’s time was 17:17, Madden Hundley and Naya Tamariz at 18:05, Claire Morris at 18:26, and Katie Larratt at 20:30.  The top 10 finishers in the race made the All-CIF Division IV team, so our top five girls made it with Morris just missing it in 11th place.
Phillips’ time was the 4th fastest of all divisions so she is again an All-San Diego Section CIF runner. Â She is the only girl in CHS history to win more than one CIF Cross Country Title. Next year she will continue her cross country and track career at SDSU.
The Islander boys team finished in 4th place. A third place finish would’ve sent them to the State Meet. Â According to Coach George Green, the “boys’ team is young and they’ll all be back next year.”
The top boys’ finisher was Luke Klingenberg in 6th place with a time of 17:15 for the 3.08 mile course. Other Islanders were Spencer Busby at 17:40, Connor Jaynes at 17:52, Patrick Harris 18:10, Cole Mullins 18:12, Danny Mineo 18:25 and Ian Hurlburt 18:33. Klingenberg’s top 10 finish qualifies him as an All-CIF finisher and as an individual for the State Meet this Saturday.
Great job Islanders!
