First to Finish

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Despite finishing second in her heat at the preliminaries one week before, Palisades High freshman Zoey Morris was confident going into the City Section Cross Country Championships. After all, she had clocked 18 minutes, 9.5 seconds and ran comfortably behind Granada Hills sophomore Samantha Pacheco while lowering her personal-best by 1:11 on the three-mile course.

In the Division 1 girls final Saturday morning in muddy conditions and on a slightly altered route at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, the two girls took turns on the lead and stayed within a few strides of one another for much of the first two miles, but as they neared the end of the switchbacks Morris started pulling away and she widened the gap gradually on her way to first place in 17:41 flat, the second-fastest time ever by a freshman at Pierce, only slower than the 17:33.8 recorded by Sofia Abrego of Granada Hills in 2018.

“I was just trying to stay up with Sammy for as long as I could,” said Morris, the first Palisades girl to win the individual title since another ninth-grader, Miranda Schriver, did it in 18:18.3 in 2017. “I was trying to keep my normal pace the same as hers. Going up the last hill I wasn’t sure how far in front of her I was so I focused on what was ahead of me. You always want to win, but my goal in every race is a PR, so I’m more happy about that.”

Though it rained overnight, by the time of the first scheduled race (the Division 5 boys at 8 a.m.) the course was deemed dry enough to run on, thanks in part to Palisades coach Rob Hockley, who volunteered to run the full distance to make sure it was safe. To lessen the potential of slipping on the steepest downhill portion he recommended the runners revert to the same lower, flatter trail used at the beginning of the race. The variation made the course a fraction shorter—approximately 2.87 miles—but officials were relieved they did not need to switch to the alternate 5K three-lap asphalt course around Pierce’s Shepard Stadium that was last used in 2010.

“The course changes weren’t too bad,” Morris said. “There were a few puddles I had to go around, but that’s about it— no big deal.”

Three-time champion and 2015 Pali High graduate Marissa Williams, the winningest distance runner in section history, set the girls’ finals record at Pierce (16:33.1) as a senior. Yet Morris accomplished something Williams could not: win the individual title as a freshman.

“Zoey ran a super race and I had a feeling she might win because she pushed Samantha the whole way last week at prelims and she had a lot left,” Hockley said. “She’s gotten better and better and today she put it all together.”

Pacheco, who clocked the fastest prelims time (17:56.7), established herself as the City favorite by winning the Blue Division varsity race in 17:43.4 at the Woodbridge Classic in September and the Division 1-2 girls varsity green race in 18:44 at the Mt. SAC Invitational in October. She looked unbeatable in winning by 80 seconds at the West Valley League Finals and while she ran a Pierce personal-best 17:53.8 Saturday, it was only good enough for second. She was trying to become the Highlanders’ fifth straight individual winner, following Abrego in 2018 and 2019, Isabel Castagnola in 2021 and Meztli Velasquez in 2022.

Morris is lucky she has an older sister to push her and offer advice. Senior Kyra Morris, who came in fourth Saturday in 18:52.6, two spots better and significantly swifter than her 19:31 as a junior last fall. She was third at prelims. Louisa Mammen, nicknamed “Lulu,” was third Saturday in 18:47.0, helping Palisades win the team title with 31 points, snapping Granada Hills’ streak of five straight. It was the Dolphins’ seventh girls title and first since 2016. Granada Hills was second with 62 and Cleveland was third with 102.

While Morris was unfazed by the mud, it clearly affected Max Fields in the Division I boys race. The Dolphins’ senior was trying to become the first male to win three individual titles and he was the clear favorite after posting the fastest prelims time (15:28.4).

He set the pace and led for two and three-quarter miles but fellow 12th-grader Joseph Vargas from

Cleveland caught and passed him as they started up the last hill and emerged on the other side well in front, winning in a personal-best 15:07.70. Fields settled for second in 15:18.50.

“I let him lead the whole time but I stayed close behind him so I wouldn’t have to make up too much ground,” said Vargas, who won his heat at prelims a week before in 15:43.6 (the third fastest of the day) and won the City 1600 meters in the spring. “This is the first time I’ve beaten Max in cross country. Last year he beat me by like 40 seconds. I knew he was faster than me but I figured with my kick if it came down to the last 800 and I was 10 meters behind him, I’d win.”

It was the second disappointment in six months for Fields, who got sick the morning of the City 3200 meter finals in May and competed anyway, only to finish runner-up to teammate Owen Lewicky, who clocked a personal-best 9:34.08 in the eight-lapper.

“I lost my momentum going around the turns and I couldn’t execute the aggressive pace I started with,” said Fields, who did not get to compete as a freshman because of the pandemic but won in 15:22.5 as a sophomore and repeated in 15:08.9 in 2022. “The mud really messes with you. Today just wasn’t my day.”

Pablo Rosales of San Pedro holds the finals record at Pierce, running 14:31.3 in 2009. Vargas’ winning time Saturday was the fastest finals effort since El Camino Real junior Justin Hazell clocked 14:57.87 in 2016. He went on to become the first City runner to win the state meet the next year.

Though his bid for a three-peat came up short, Fields did help the Dolphins make history by taking their third straight team title and sixth overall with 23 points and setting a new team time record of 1:17:21.11, breaking the old standard of 1:17:42.8 set by Belmont’s 1998 squad.

“It says a lot about our depth,” Hockley said. “To have five guys go sub-16 is phenomenal. I’m hoping we can do that at state.”

Five Palisades runners finished in the top seven, with sophomore Blake Sigworth finishing third in 15:20 (the fastest time by a City 10th-grader since Pierce became the finals venue in 1976), senior Axel Mammen placing fifth in 15:30.00, sophomore Zachary Cohen taking sixth in 15:31.40 and Lewicky rounding out the scorers in 15:41.00, good enough for seventh place. Palisades’ net average was 15:28.22.

“For us to break the record everyone had to drop time significantly and they did,” Hockley added.

Andrew Razo placed 18th in 16:20.6 and fellow sophomore Lajus Collins, who replaced Ben Barnett as the team’s seventh man at finals after Barnett was unable to complete the race at prelims. While neither counted towards the team scoring they contributed nonetheless by bumping other teams’ runners down a few places, just as freshmen Gabriella Gilyard and Vitalija Schafer did shortly after in the girls race.

Granada Hills was second in the boys race with a score of 50 and Cleveland was third with 70, led by Vargas and Alexander Mendoza, who was eighth in 15:49.7.

Palisades’ boys and girls had previously swept the Division 1 finals in 2015. The last school to do it was Granada Hills in 2018.

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