Boy's qualify for C.I.F. FINALS!

For the first time since 2005, the boy’s will run in the C.I.F. Championships and compete for the school’s first ever State berth! The team placed 2nd in their heat behind top ranked Royal but finished ahead of all too familiar foe El Toro and Long Beach Poly. The C.I.F. Championships fields 16 teams with the top 7 moving on to the State Championships in Fresno, CA. In the 44 years Marina High School has been open, no boy’s XC team has ever made it to the State Championships. When combining all Finals qualifiers, the boy’s ranked 6th overall.

The race unfolded very well for the Vikings. The race went out a little more conservative than other Division 1 heats so the boy’s decided to put 3 scorers in the top 10 and the remaining 4 in the top 35. Coming through the mile in 4:53, freshman Richie Soto decided the pace was too slow going up the Switchback hills. He held a 5-8 second lead for nearly 3/4 of a mile going up the second hill, Poop out. At this point, the boys were placed 1-2-4 in the race ahead of #1 Royal. Karl Baranov and Jason VanHamersveld held on to the 2-4 position as Royal slowly started to creep back approaching mile 2.

As the boys began their downhill surge off Reservior hill, they had piled 3 in the top 11 and five in the top 30. Robert Oliver placed 54th and Sven Sianez was 77th to round out the seven Marina runners. Their point total of 74 was enough for 2nd place behind Royal’s 42 points. The boy’s also ran a school record team time on the Mt.Sac course of 79:01 which is a 15:48 average! No other Marina boy’s team has ever run under 80:00 and the boy’s nearly broke 79:00! They will race again this Saturday at Mt. Sac for a spot on the State Finals line. The race goes off at 10:45am and is the last of the day!