The Woodbridge Invite, one of the nation’s largest cross-country meets, is held at Irvine’s Great Park. Known for its relatively flat, fast, nighttime course, the event draws teams from across the country and fills up quickly. Over two nights, more than 400 schools and 1,500 runners competed, making for crowded conditions, both on the course and especially at the finish line, with shoulder-to-shoulder parents, coaches, and teammates cheering on the finishers. The largest races had more than 500 runners, but most were in the 200 to 300 range. All races covered a three-mile distance.
The top boy finisher for us was Vincent Russo in the Varsity White division, with a time of 15:58. He was followed by Nathan Ayan (16:19, a nine-second PR), Andrew Buck, and Anton Youngblood. Both finished with times of 17:39. This was about a nine-second PR for Buck and a 31-second PR for Youngblood. Because of the schedule, we ran some of our younger boys in the senior boys’ race (allowed). Sophomore Ziggy Raunig was our top finisher with a time of 18:10 (a 47-second PR). He was followed by the Smith Twins, Chace and Woody, and sophomores Sebastian Tamariz, and Timothy Gilbert.
Our top finisher in the girls’ varsity race was Morgan Maske with 19:12. She was followed by Carly DeVore (20:51), Maesan Everitt (22:18, a 30-second PR), Vivian Scott (22:25), and Lily Humphrey (24:04). Ava Schlomer was our top finisher in the girls’ sophomore race with 23:35, followed by Annalei Berke with 24:52.
