Freshman Chiara Dailey delivers in Mt. SAC XC Invite debut
Evan Noonan & Joshua Bell shine in Sweepstakes wins; Bishop Amat repeats as girls individual Sweeps champ
By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor
WALNUT, Calif. – For the first time in five years, Friday produced a sub-17 minute female performance at the 74th Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational presented by NIKE, with an exceptional event debut by La Jolla freshman Chiara Dailey.
For the first time in their careers, Evan Noonan of Dana Hills and Joshua Bell of Templeton both achieved sub-15 minute efforts on the legendary 2.93-mile Mt. SAC course en route to Division 3-4-5 Sweepstakes victories.
And for the second year in a row, a win by Emma Arrendondo also lifted Bishop Amat to a team triumph, only this time it came in a Division 3-4-5 individual Sweepstakes race instead of a varsity race, with Cathedral Catholic also repeating as champion in the Division 3-4-5 girls team Sweepstakes competition.
Among all the breakthrough efforts on the opening day of competition, none were bigger than the Division 3-4-5 team Sweepstakes victory achieved by Dailey, who became the first female competitor since La Costa Canyon star Kristin Fahy ran 16 minutes, 54 seconds in 2017 to eclipse the 17-minute barrier in a race on Friday.
In order to do so, Dailey had to pull away from current La Costa Canyon standout, junior Gioana Lopizzo, by running an impressive final mile to triumph in 16:58.
Dailey and Lopizzo, who placed second in 17:14, were even at the 2-mile mark at 11:28, but Dailey demonstrated poise and maturity beyond her years to join an elite group of ninth-graders to deliver a sub-17 effort at Mt. SAC, a list that includes Sarah Baxter, Jordan Hasay and Lauren Ping.
Cathedral Catholic placed five scorers in the top 30 to repeat as Division 3-4-5 team Sweepstakes champions with a 63-118 victory against La Jolla, with University City taking third at 124 points.
JiaLian Mackey was the top Division 5 competitor, finishing third overall in 17:49, leading Viewpoint to a seventh-place performance with 213 points.
Alexandria Pena finished fourth for Cathedral Catholic in 17:58, Scarlett Martin earned eighth in 18:25, Keira Rall took 10th in 18:35, Chiara Bonomi placed 15th in 18:58 and Madelyn Basinet was 26th in 19:26 for the Dons, who prevailed by a 57-97 margin against Sage Creek last season.
Noonan, a sophomore who placed second Oct. 15 at the Orange County Championships at Oak Canyon Park, continued to demonstrate why he has the potential to be the next in a legacy of elite Dana Hills runners by winning the Division 3-4-5 team Sweepstakes race in 14:49, rallying in the final mile to get past Cathedral teammates Emmanuel Hernandez (14:52) and Emmanuel Perez (15:00), who paced the lead pack through the 2-mile mark in under 10 minutes.
Eamon Gordon of Dos Pueblos finished fourth in 15:05 and Hayden Owen of St. Francis placed fifth in 15:10.
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Find more Mt. SAC XC Invite HS meet info HERE, including results, news and more!