Updated Sunday morning...
In a morning of multiple highs and lows, we witnessed some history at the 2011 CIF Divisional Finals held at the infamous Mt. San Antonio College course.  contested under near perfect conditions, we witnessed some great efforts this morning.  But despite being the same course these kids competed on four weeks ago, it becomes a juggernaut of emotional highs and lows.  Starting with a high moment, Vista Murrieta senior Erika Reddish broke Hanna Peterson's one year old course record by running away with the Division I CIF Title in 17:12!  Patiently letting others do the work the first half of the course, Reddish took over at the top of the Poop Out Hill and never looked back rolling to the 13 second victory.   

Xavier College Prep, only in its 4th year of existence, captured the Girls Division V CIF Title by placing five in the top 25 to secure the crown.  Led by Valeria Ruiz' 8th place finish, they ran to a very impressive 98:35 team time.  In that same race, Marywood - Palm Valley senior, Alexia Velarde, got out to a huge lead and held on for the 18:04 CIF Title!  Right behind her was the freshman from Linfield Christian, Jackie Crowther in a time of 18:29.  Both easily qualified onto the state meet as individuals.  Surprisingly and unranked for most of the season, Crowther led her Linfield Christian group to next week's state meet!  Xavier College Prep's boys also qualified after taking 5th place in the Boys Division V race.  This is their 2nd straight year as they will look to expand upon their 5th place state meet finish a year ago.  They were led by a great 15:57 effort of senior Tommy Paz.  This school is quickly built itself into one of elite small schools programs in California.  In that same boys' race, Isaiah Thompson of Sherman Indian took 15th place and snagged that last state meet individual spot.   We realize that most of these small schools get overshadowed by the great effort of the larger schools, so here's to some great efforts and great representation at next week's state meet!

In highlighting Reddish above, Vista Murrieta's girls finished right behind Great Oak's girls who took home the 3rd place plaque.  Being ranked #1 all year long and looking for a 3rd straight title, Great Oak was definitely disappointed.  Led by Pauline Mandel's stellar 17:53 effort, Great Oak still ran one of the fastest times in county history for the Mt. SAC course.  Meanwhile, Great Oak's boys saw a HUGE step-up performance by Michael Hewitt to also take home the 3rd place CIF plaque.  Meanwhile, the boys put it together well and ran the 2nd fastest team time ever in Riverside County.  With all boys clicking next week, they can realistically go after the Woodward Park county course record and claim a spot on the podium!  Both easily qualified back to next weekend's California State Meet.  We also suspect that a much more driven Great Oak girls squad to be present now for next weekend's state meet as they will look to defend their state title! 

Meanwhile, do not count out Vista Murrieta's girls for the podium at next weekend's state meet!  An absolutely inspiring 17:58 performance was put forth by Sarah Benson while their regular #2 Nicaela Hernandez did not finish the race today.  Remember that Benson did not rejoin the team until seven weeks ago and seems to be making leaps and bounds every week!  With Hernandez running as well as she did last weekend at prelims, the Broncos will be vying for that state title!   

Speaking of Broncos, Porter Reddish qualified for the state meet as an individual as their boys just fell short by a mere 8 points!  His 15:01 effort was the top effort in the county!   He helped soften the blow of realizing that his boys just missed the state meet.  Rest assured that the junior driven squad will be one of the higher ranked groups in the state in 2012.  Also moving forward as an individual is Norte Vista junior Omar Caro out of Division II.  His 15:08 effort yielded him an impressive 4th place in a very competitive race.  Caro continues to carve out a nice legacy here in Riverside County.   

Also qualifying for the state meet in that Girls Division I race were Centennial's Adriana Olivas (17:25), and the Corona dynamic duo of Alicia Williams (17:43) and Venus Shabgahi (17:50).  Along with JW North's Mariel Mendoza (17:33) qualifying for her 3rd straight meet in that incredible Division II race, the Big VIII league sent four individuals forward.  Olivas and Williams move on for the 2nd straight year. 

We have updated all of the top Mt. SAC marks for the boys for the 2011 season!  Working on the girls... 

TOP COUNTY GIRLS
-Erika Reddish (Vista Murrieta) 17:12
-Adriana Olivas (Centennial) 17:25
-Mariel Mendoza (JW North) 17:33
**Alicia Williams (Corona) 17:43
-Venus Shabgahi (Corona) 17:50
-Pauline Mandel (Great Oak) 17:53
*Sarah Benson (Vista Murrieta) 17:58
-Alexia Velarde (Marywood-Palm Valley) 18:02
**Angela Ziff (Temecula Valley) 18:10
*Miranda Kewley (Great Oak) 18:14
***Jackie Crowther (Linfield Christian) 18:29
***Maiya Larsen (Great Oak) 18:37
*Alexis Messerly (Great Oak) 18:46
*Maria Hurtado (Vista Murrieta) 18:47
***MaCayla Thompson (Santiago) 18:48
*Kim McNamee (Great Oak) 18:51
*Raelyn Werley (ML King) 18:51
*Brooke Evans (Vista Murrieta) 18:53
-Carly Bauer (Great Oak) 18:54
**Valeria Ruiz (Xavier Prep) 19:02
*Bethany Balady (Vista Murrieta) 19:09
**Fernanda Rodriguez (Rubidoux) 19:25
*Chanel Monica (Xavier Prep) 19:26
**Jackie Aparicio (Santiago) 19:31
-Haley Brzycki (Corona) 19:32
-Amber Withrow (Corona) 19:35
-Suzanna Aguilar (Corona) 19:38
-Marisa Boren (Corona) 19:45
***Alexis Santhaonam (Vista Murrieta) 19:47
*Meg Lizza (Xavier Prep) 19:50
***Makenna Nelson (Santiago) 19:54
**Lily Seynaeve (Santiago) 19:58
-Tori Vollmer (Santiago) 20:01
***Julia Dalecio (Xavier Prep) 20:08
**Megan Huebner (La Quinta) 20:08
-Areanna Suarez (Xavier Prep) 20:09
***McKennah Genovese (Santiago) 20:17
-Sarah Rodriguez (Santiago) 20:19 

TOP COUNTY BOYS
*Porter Reddish (Vista Murrieta) 15:01
*Omar Caro (Norte Vista) 15:08
-Nick Woolf (Roosevelt) 15:08
-Michael Hewitt (Great Oak) 15:12
-Kevin Chamberlain (Great Oak) 15:32
*Kyle Warrick (Roosevelt) 15:33
-Eddie Carrillo (Great Oak) 15:39
*Jack Balder (Great Oak) 15:40
*Omar Solis (Vista Murrieta) 15:43
-Brenden Emery (Great Oak) 15:44
-Aaron Potts (Roosevelt) 15:46
**Hector Hernandez (Canyon Springs) 15:49
-Edgar Cobian (La Sierra) 15:51
*Jeomar Muro (Vista Murrieta) 15:54
-Garrett Williams (Corona) 15:56
-Tommy Paz (Xavier Prep) 15:57
-Jimmy Gauger (Corona) 16:03
**Garrett Mullenniz (Vista Murrieta) 16:04
*Isaiah Thompson (Sherman Indian) 16:12
***Jeremy Beck (Roosevelt) 16:14
*John Hernandez (Vista Murrieta) 16:17
-Brandon Messerly (Great Oak) 16:20
*Matt Smith (Vista Murrieta) 16:20
*David Aguilar (Corona) 16:21
*Christian Contreras (Woodcrest Christian) 16:33
*Josh Soler (Corona) 16:33
*Chris Spinney (Xavier Prep) 16:34
-John Spatter (Corona) 16:35
**Emery Caster (Xavier Prep) 16:37
*Nathan Velarde (Great Oak) 16:44
*Francisco Romo (Vista Murrieta) 17:00 

we will update you all with more....