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2014 Recap -- Clovis XC Invitational -- DyeStatCAL

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DyeStatCAL.com   Oct 12th 2014, 12:02am
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Destiny Collins shows greatness to lead Great Oak girls at 36th ASICS/Clovis Invitational; Pocatello's Elijah Armstrong fastest overall, but Great Oak boys prevail once again

By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

The showdown of the state's top two cross country runners turned into a one-woman show and Great Oak achieved another decorated double Saturday at the 36th ASICS/Clovis Invitational.

Great Oak's Destiny Collins established a four-second lead at the mile over fellow junior Fiona O'Keeffe of Davis and never looked back, becoming only the seventh girl to break 17 minutes on the famed 5-kilometer Woodward Park course by clocking 16:57 to secure a fourth win this season in her biggest test to date.

O'Keeffe, the defending Division I state champion, was second in 17:07.72 -- just off her personal-best 16:59 from last season -- and Burbank junior Candela Fernandez enjoyed a 70-second improvement from last year's meet to place third in 17:30.04.

Great Oak became the first team to run under 90 minutes twice at Woodward Park, but narrowly missed the course record of 89:25 set in 2010 by Saugus, posting the No. 3 mark all-time with an 89:43. The Wolfpack clocked 89:28 to win the Division I state title last year.

Kiyena Beatty was one of 10 girls overall to break 18 minutes, finishing seventh in 17:59.82, with Emily Clause right behind in 18:00.99 for the Wolfpack. Maiya Larsen (18:22.52) and Desiree Stinger (18:23.51) were both in the top 18 for Great Oak, which defeated last year's invitational champion Simi Valley by a 42-169 margin.

Great Oak had a much tougher challenge in the boys championship race, but relied on a sixth-place effort from Spencer Dodds (15:21.33) and its usual depth to defeat Anaheim Canyon 127-175.

It marked the third consecutive invitational where Great Oak swept the boys and girls team titles, along with Woodbridge and Nike Pre-Nationals. The Wolfpack also had the fastest cumulative team times based on grade races at the season-opening Seaside Invitational.

In addition, Great Oak won boys and girls junior varsity races, as well as boys and girls frosh/soph division titles, highlighted by Taylor Walker clocking 18:41 to prevail in the girls JV race, a mark that would have been the No. 6 time for the Wolfpack in the championship race.

Elijah Armstrong of Pocatello (Idaho) took on several impressive California challengers, but secured the boys championship victory in 15:01, with Immanuel's Kasey Knevelbaard -- a Division V state title contender -- taking second in 15:12.73, and Arcadia's Phillip Rocha, a challenger in Division I, placing third in 15:14.14.

Westview's Trevor Siniscalchi (15:16.32) and Madera South's Eduardo "Lalo" Herrera (15:19.33) rounded out the top five in the boys championship race.
The fourth- and fifth-fastest girls times of the day came from the opening large school race, with Granada's Megan McCandless (17:35.65) edging Citrus Valley's Claire Graves (17:36.16) in a thrilling stretch run for the victory.

Arroyo Grande, led by sophomore Talley Hill (18:15.56), captured the girls large school team title with 59 points. The Eagles finished second overall behind Great Oak in the scoring merge of all girls races, clocking a school-record 93:38.

Redondo Union's Amber Gore repeated as champion, clocking 17:58.56 in the extra large school race, with the Sea Hawks taking second to Yucaipa by a 73-112 margin. Crescenta Valley's Megan Melnyk (18:39.91) moved from fifth to second in the final 800 meters, just ahead of Amador Valley's Kaitlin Cartwright (18:40.74) and Thousand Oaks' Maddie Weinstock (18:41.91).

Esperanza's Shannon MacKellar relied on a strong surge in the final mile to capture the girls medium schools race in 18:45.61, leading the Aztecs to a 55-92 victory over Yorba Linda. Canyon Crest Academy's Kelly Bernd (18:51.57) and Vista Del Lago's Sarah Anderson (18:56.88) completed the top three.

Central Valley Christian's Gabby Satterlee (18:43.37) prevailed in the girls small school race, with Jourdan Amen (18:55.76) leading Bishop O'Dowd to a 67-97 victory over JSerra.

Clovis' Jacob Russo excelled on his home course, winning the boys extra large school race in 15:30.30, helping the Cougars secure the team title with a 96-157 triumph over Crescenta Valley. Redondo Union's Carlos Suarez (15:39.95) and Thousand Oaks' Brian Joerger (15:42.86) were second and third.

Beaumont's Andres Vizcarra (15:22.78) produced the No. 7 time overall to win the boys large school race, helping the Cougars secure the team victory by a 103-108 margin over Concord De La Salle, which had Matt Schumann take second in 15:33.86, just ahead of Arroyo Grande sophomore Christian Ricketts (15:34.39).

Colin Burke of Bishop O'Dowd continued his impressive early season resume by winning the boys small school race in 15:43.41, helping the Dragons edge Miramonte 96-105. La Jolla Country Day's Julius Diehr (15:50.10) and JSerra's Andrew Burkhardt (15:55.40) were also among the 79 boys runners to break 16 minutes.

Flintridge Prep's Jack Van Scoter took a wrong turn off course, costing him approximately 10 seconds, but still managed to prevail in the boys medium school race in 15:51.71, with San Luis Obispo's William Ernst taking second in 15:57.63.

Alex Torres was third in 15:58.17, leading Placer to the team title with a 99-142 victory over McFarland. Flintridge Prep, a Division V state title favorite, was third with 152 points.



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