The La Jolla Country Day (LJCD) School boys cross country team concluded its season last Saturday at the State Meet in Fresno with some good news and some bad news. “We went into the race with high hopes, knowing that with a collective great day we could earn a spot in the Top 10, or perhaps even on the podium,” LJCD head coach Scott Sanders said. “Senior Alex Poyhonen was also hoping for a bit of redemption after his disappointment at CIF, and his goal all season long was to finish in the Top 10 and earn All-State honors.” When all was said and done, sophomore Lee Klitzner surged to the finish line in 16:48, only the second LJCD runner to break 17:00 at state. Dennis Roth was next for the Torreys in a time of 17:24, then junior Alex Fleischhacker in a course personal record of 17:30, senior Eric Blodgett (personal record of 17:44), freshman Noah Wolfenzon (personal record of 17:49), and freshman Jake Mack (personal record of 18:51). Poyhonen, who made a tremendous effort at CIFs to finish, had to again deal with a similar muscle lock-up this time around and eventually pulled himself off the course. “While Alex’s (Poyhonen) final high school cross country race ended in frustration and disappointment, and while Dennis (Roth) also left disappointed, having hit the wall with ¾ of a mile to go, the team ended up running the best team race at the State Meet ever run by a Country Day team,” Sanders noted. “The scoring five finished in a combined 1:27:15 and 15th place. That they did this with their top runner not even scoring simply amazes me and leaves me hopeful that we’ll be back in Fresno a year from now.” Elsewhere, University City High senior Mac Fleet captured the Division III race on the 3.1-mile course with a time of 15:08. Teammate Guadalupe Gonzalez placed 10th in a time of 15:33. In Division III girls action, University City High placed fourth overall (Corona del Mar was champion), with La Jolla High placing 17th. The top local girls performers in Division III included University City’s Sheree Shea (fourth, 17:51) and Jessy Hansen (10th, 18:19), and La Jolla High’s Nihal Kayali (25th, 18:58).