Great Oak CA again the favorite to capture both team sweepstakes titles after record-setting efforts last year, with several impressive individual matchups expected during two-day event

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

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The preliminary race assignments were released Sunday for the 71st Brooks Mt. San Antonio College Invitational, with several potential intriguing team and individual matchups scheduled to unfold in the sweepstakes races Friday and Saturday in Walnut, Calif.

Of course, the lineups are always subject to change prior to the start of the two-day event, with 79 races scheduled and more than 300 schools entered to compete on the 2.93-mile course that remains slightly modified due to the ongoing construction at Hilmer Lodge Stadium, with the finish line again set up on the airstrip.

MT. SAC INVITATIONAL ALL-TIME LISTS

Perhaps the two best head-to-head individual matchups will come Saturday, first in the boys individual sweepstakes race, followed by the girls team sweepstakes race.

Rubidoux CA senior Kevin Ramos, last year’s winner in the individual sweepstakes race and fresh off his Riverside course record Saturday at the Inland Empire Challenge, will attempt to repeat in a showdown with JSerra CA junior Anthony Grover, the reigning Division 4 state champion.

Also scheduled to compete in the individual sweepstakes are Logan Underwood of Anaheim Canyon CA, Ethan Danforth of Canyon Country Canyon CA, Connor Livingston of De La Salle CA, Daniel Rush of Golden Valley CA, Cy Chittenden of Mira Costa CA and Franky Varela of San Pasqual CA.

In the girls team sweepstakes, state championship contenders Great Oak CA junior Tori Gaitan and La Costa Canyon CA senior Kristin Fahy are scheduled to square off for the first time this season in a race that also includes Walnut CA senior Chloe Arriaga. Fahy and Gaitan both attended Nike Elite Camp together in July in Oregon.

Great Oak and La Costa Canyon also headline a strong field of California entries, in addition to Anaheim Canyon, Serrano, Vista Murrieta and Walnut. Great Oak produced the fastest girls team time in meet history last year by clocking 87 minutes, 46 seconds.

Five of the state’s elite freshmen in Serrano’s Tiani Goeson, Vista Murrieta’s Devyn Candaele, Anaheim Canyon’s Emma Hadley, Mira Costa’s Dalia Frias and La Costa Canyon’s Kyra Compton are scheduled to compete in the race.

In the boys team sweepstakes, Great Oak will look to secure another victory against a field loaded with quality California challengers, including La Costa Canyon, Loyola, Long Beach Poly, Bellarmine Prep, Crescenta Valley and Thousand Oaks. Reigning Arizona Division 1 state champion Desert Vista is also entered.

Great Oak also produced the fastest boys team time in meet history last year at Mt. SAC, clocking 74:31.

Along with Great Oak’s Tyler Tickner and Gabe Abbes, the race is expected to include La Costa Canyon’s Jacob Stanford, Garrett Stanford and Caleb Niednagel, Bakersfield Stockdale’s Marcus Mota, Bellarmine Prep’s Colin Peattie, Long Beach Poly’s William Frankenfeld, Desert Vista’s Lee Nasewytewa and Sammy Van Alstine, Crescenta Valley’s Dylan Wilbur and Manan Vats, Loyola’s Anthony Stone and Mason Ratkovich, along with Thousand Oaks’ Michael Mireles and Mitchell Burr.

The girls individual sweepstakes won’t have Malibu CA senior Claudia Lane, but there are plenty of talented California entries looking to grab the spotlight. Lane, who has been battling IT band issues and hasn’t raced since Sept. 11, is entered in a varsity race Friday, but it remains uncertain if she will compete.

Jacqueline Duarte of Chino Hills, Nadia Tabrizi of JSerra, Carlie Dorostkar of Canyon Crest Academy, Hope Bergmark of Amador Valley, Cynthia Martin of Chaparral, Hailey Kirsch of Valencia, Natalie Harper of Cosumnes Oaks, Jicel Fernandez-Ramirez of El Camino Real, Caitlin Cornell of San Marcos, Hana Catsimanes of San Clemente, along with the Monte Vista duo of Sidney Isom and Kelli Wilson are all scheduled to compete in the girls individual sweepstakes race.

In Friday’s competition, a preview of the California Division 4 girls state final is expected to unfold, with Foothill Tech, Sage Creek and Harvard-Westlake meeting for the only time during the regular season in the Division 4-5 sweepstakes race.

The race will feature two more talented freshmen in Stormy Wallace of Sage Creek, along with Daniela Quintero of Harvard-Westlake. Older sisters Skyler Wallace and Natalia Quintero are expected to contend for the individual victory.

Also in that race will be Division 5 girls title contenders Flintridge Prep and San Francisco University, along with St. Joseph Notre Dame senior Emily Perez, last year’s state runner-up. Hopi AZ and South Anchorage AK are also entered.

In the Division 4-5 boys sweepstakes race, Sage Creek and Foothill Tech will matchup against reigning Arizona Division 3 state champion Page, led by individual favorite, senior Bowen Martin. Flintridge Prep and San Francisco University are also entered in the race, competing against Arizona Division 4 runner-up Hopi.

In the Division 3 boys sweepstakes race, state championship contenders Palos Verdes, Bakersfield Ridgeview and West Torrance are scheduled to compete, along with Nevada Union senior Garrett Gough.

Palos Verdes, led by junior Savannah Scriven, and Bonita headline the Division 3 girls sweepstakes race, with state championship favorite, freshman Riley Chamberlain of Del Oro entered in a varsity race Friday.