Skyler Wallace leads Bobcats to back-to-back team titles, with Kendall Kramer running fastest time by Alaska female in meet history to take individual sweepstakes; Jordan Black, Isaiah Givens both produce thrilling victories in boys sweepstakes races; Portola girls, South Pasadena boys also earn team wins

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Even with the addition of another division to the girls team sweepstakes race Friday, Sage Creek CA continued to showcase its strength up front as well as its depth at the 72nd Mt. SAC Invitational.

After prevailing in the Division 4-5 sweepstakes race last season, senior Skyler Wallace added a victory in the Division 3-4-5 sweepstakes to her resume, running the fastest female time of the day by clocking 17 minutes, 28.8 seconds on the 2.93-mile course in Walnut, Calif.

Sage Creek, the reigning Division 4 state champion, supported Wallace with all five scorers finishing in the top 20 to prevail by a 41-99 margin over Alaska 4A state winner South Anchorage, led by a ninth-place finish from junior Ava Earl (18:36.3) and five scorers placing in the top 35.

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Agoura CA demonstrated similar depth by having all five scorers in the top 25 to secure a 66-164 victory over Foothill Tech CA in the Division 3-4-5 boys team sweepstakes race.

North Phoenix Prep AZ senior Jordan Black edged Arroyo CA junior Saket Sama by a 15:07.3 to 15:09.1 margin to produce the top two times on the opening day of competition.

West Valley senior Kendall Kramer produced the fastest time by an Alaska female athlete in meet history, prevailing in the Division 3-4-5 girls individual sweepstakes in 17:36.9 in the final cross country race of her high school career.

Pasadena CA sophomore Isaiah Givens capped the day’s schedule in thrilling fashion by holding off Moorpark CA senior Keith Murray by a 15:11.5 to 15:12.5 margin in the Division 3-4-5 boys individual sweepstakes race.

But among several standout performances Friday, the most impressive effort came from Sage Creek, which not only repeated as girls sweepstakes champion, but lowered its overall team time from last year by more than two minutes to clock 92:19.

Lavanya Pandey (18:12.9) placed fifth, Stormy Wallace (18:16.6) was sixth, Malia Leupold (19:02.4) took 14th and Madeline Mack (19:21.8) secured 19th for the Bobcats, who not only secured a victory against South Anchorage and third-place San Francisco University (136 points), but fellow San Diego rivals Cathedral Catholic (fourth, 143), El Capitan (fifth, 192) and Santa Fe Christian (eighth, 270).

Village Christian CA junior Mia Barnett (17:56.5), St. Margaret’s CA freshman Liesel Blau (17:56.6) and Foothill Tech junior Brooke Secreto (17:57.2) joined Skyler Wallace in running under 18 minutes in the team sweepstakes race.

Agoura, the top-ranked boys team in Division 3, had Ryan Koepnick (15:19.9) and Beau Bordelon (15:24.6) finish fourth and fifth, with Ethan Godsey (15:55.6) taking 12th, Seth Hardy (16:14.5) placing 21st and Ben Klepper (16:17.4) grabbing 24th.

Joshua Villasenor (15:31.5) and Oliver Pick (15:43.2) were eighth and ninth for Foothill Tech, which had four scorers in the top 20 to trail Agoura by only four points through four runners. But the Dragons’ fifth scorer didn’t place in the top 100, resulting in the final margin of victory.

South Pasadena CA relied on a fourth-place finish from Sam Clark (15:26.9) to earn a 135-147 victory over Esperanza CA in the Division 3-4-5 boys individual sweepstakes race.

Senior Ryan Manes led Esperanza by finishing 15th in 15:59.9, with Oak Park CA senior Sebastian Sawyer (15:23.7) the only other athlete in the race in addition to Givens and Murray to run under 15:30.

Along with Black, Sama, Koepnick and Bordelon, St. Margaret’s CA junior Jackson Adelman (15:17.2) and Brea-Olinda CA senior Shane Gaffikin (15:28.5) both ran under 15:30, placing third and sixth in the boys team sweepstakes race.

Kramer, who hadn’t raced since winning her third straight Alaska 4A state title Oct. 5, was the only athlete to run under 18 minutes in the girls individual sweepstakes race. She eclipsed the previous Mt. SAC record by an Alaskan female competitor of 17:46 by West Anchorage’s Kristina Smith in 2002.

Kramer will return home to resume training for her upcoming Nordic Skiing schedule in the winter. She is ranked among the top junior athletes in the United States.

Freshman Jadyn Zdanavage (18:33.1) finished sixth for Portola CA, which edged Costa Mesa CA by a 103-105 margin. Senior Diane Molina was fourth (18:16.5) for Costa Mesa, finishing behind Kramer, El Cajon Christian CA junior Alaina Zamorano (18:10.2) and South Pasadena sophomore Sydney Morrow (18:14.6).