Having dominated its first two Western League meets, the Palisades High cross country team was eager to test itself against elite competition Saturday morning at the Bell Gardens Invitational.
The Dolphins proved to be up to the challenge and leading the charge was Jakob Pollack, who ran the three-mile course at Cerritos Regional Park in 15:16.43 to win the junior boys race and help Palisades take first place in the team standings.
Pollack finished over two seconds ahead of runner-up Paul Abdo from Diamond Bar. Jack Hockley was Palisades’ second placer, finishing 14th in 16:22.10.
Rounding out Palisades’ contingent were Ben Hansen (28th in 16:45.83), Jonathon Flores (29th in 16:49.02), Jordan Burkhardt (38th in 17:02.42), Gabe Fuligni (43rd in 17:25.46), Phillip Neman (59th in 17:43.56), Luis Valdivia (18:59.11) and Adrian Hernandez (23:59.03).
As a team the Dolphins totaled 74 points, six fewer than second-place Schurr.
Palisades also took first place in the sophomore boys race. Ben Hamer won in 15:08.38, Jake Greanias was third in 16:14.20 and Finn Cawley was fourth in 16:20.00. Joey Reed was 19th in 17:02.82, Oscar Gagne was 22nd in 17:07.49. Rounding out Palisades’ contingent were Jordan Hughes (19:30.150, Lars Widman, John Mete (19:55.46), Isaac Solough (22:27.57) and Jeremy Sacristia (23:31.17).
Palisades totaled 43 points to outdistance runner-up St. John Bosco (91).
Freshman Brent Smith ran in the senior boys race and finished fifth in 15:18.68. Paul Luevano from Venice won in 14:16.75.
Connor Smith was the Dolphins’ second finisher, placing 33rd in 16:13.20. Rounding out the senior squad were Will Taylor (17:08.61), Mel Vega (17:52.70), Gabriel Etaat (20:12.38) as Palisades took 12th in the team standings.
Ryan Breitman (18:18.55) was 31st and Emmett Kallmeyer (19:01.52) was 53rd in the freshman boys race. Jack Hager (19:33.37) and Matthew Stern (24:02.77) also contributed.
The girls were almost as impressive, winning the junior race thanks to the efforts of Tatum Colby (19:30.01), Ariel Pollack (19:32.07) and Shannon Lee (19:36.49), who finished ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively. Chelsea Levi was 18th in 20:00.73 and Anna Bohuny was 31st in 20:54.26. Nicole Figueroa (22:20.47) and Julia Klotz (24:01.77) rounded out Palisades’ squad, which totaled 49 points, 16 less than second-place Glendora.
In the senior division Emma Ulfvengren (18th in 19:18.97) and Kiana Billot (22nd in 19:28.16) led the Dolphins to eighth place with 243 points. Maddie Frick (23:11.87), Greer King (23:23.64) and Aileen Figueroa (23:52.68) also contributed to the team’s success.
In the freshman girls race, Pali High’s Brittany Darrow clocked 19:08.90 to take second behind Walnut’s Chloe Arriaga (17:00.70) and lead the Dolphins to second place with 94 points.
Skylar Smith (22:04.40) was 20th, Katie Thomas (22:07.40) was 24th, Grace Dean (22:36.20) was 31st, Ellie Schultz (22:52.10) was 39th and Nina Cawley was 41st in 23:01.10.
The Dolphins’ ninth-grade girls squad also consisted of Rachel Smuts (23:47.10), Rebekah Shane (25:59.50), Jackie Hamilton (26:26.10), Adriana Lupercio (27:20.40) and Ariana Abtahi (33:26.80).
Palisades’ highest placer in the sophomore girls division was Ilaria Stewart, who came in 25th in 21:18.60. Teammate Lulu Takei was 36th in 21:48.76, Caitlin Bose was 65th in 23:51.05 and Shelly Quiroz ran 25:50.03.
Palisades will be back in action next weekend at the 68th annual Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut. The meet consists of Age Division, Open, Seeded and Sweepstakes races. The Dolphins are entered in the Open Division.
— Steve Galluzzo
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