Runners have sprinted to some top times as the area scholastic cross-country season races on.
At La Jolla Country Day School, the Torreys competed recently in the Saints’ Small Schools Invitational at Morley Field.
On the boys side, LJCD won the Division IV race and finished third in all divisions. The Torreys were paced by junior Alex Poyhonen, who finished fourth overall and first in Division IV, in 16:57. Dennis Roth was 10th overall (third in D-4), Alex Fleischhacker was 13th (fifth in D-4), Lee Klitzner was 22nd (10th in D-4) and Jason McCallum rounded out the scoring with his 26th-place finish (12th in D-4).
The girls team only had two runners at this meet.
Senior Ariel Abbott finished 24th (19th in D-4) with a time of 19:45, while Sasha Binderow finished 40th (26th in D-4) in 20:12.
At La Jolla High, the Lady Vikings topped Mission Bay last week by a score of 15-50.
The varsity was led by Courtney Avvampato (first, 19:52), Callan Parra (second, 20:47), Jeanine Mejares (third, 21:11), Katie Beathard (fourth, 22:03), Heather Martin (fifth, 22:16), Christie Richmond (sixth, 22:17) and Marina Mautner (seventh, 23:10).
La Jolla’s junior varsity, also a 15-50 meet winner, was led by Ellie Lee (first, 23:11), Catherine Russell (second, 23:18) and Carey Kennedy (third, 23:32).
At The Bishop’s School, the Knights boys team was eighth at the Small Schools Invitational last week. Top runners to date are Andy Morgosh (senior), Henry Su (junior) and Tyler Davidson (freshman).
“The season is going well so far,” Bishop’s head coach Adam Weiner noted. “We have a solid but mostly young core group of runners who are continuing to develop and improve throughout the season.”
On the girls side, head coach Steven Brown and the Lady Knights saw competition last weekend at the Clovis Invitational in Fresno.
Bishop’s finished in seventh place in a race including 24 of the top Division IV teams in the state.
Junior Elizabeth Schulze finished 10th (in a field of 178 girls). Junior Laura Wyatt, in her first race back from injury, ran a strong race (34th) as did freshmen Serena Glynn (40th) and Alyssa Morgos (85th).
“The trip was a great opportunity to run against great competition on a fast course,” Brown said. “It also provided us a good opportunity to grow closer as a team. All in all, a positive experience for everyone.”