Loyola’s varsity cross country team competed in the CIF Southern Section Prelims on Nov. 16, the CIF Finals on Nov. 23 and the CIF State Championship on Nov. 30. The varsity team finished second in the prelims and fifth in the finals.
Loyola placed second behind Redlands East Valley High School at the CIF Prelims in Riverside.
Senior and UCLA commit Anthony Stone finished first with a time of 15:09. Junior Zachary Zambrano finished behind him in 16th place with a time of 15:38. Senior Gus Marshall, junior Arjun Vadgama and sophomore Richard Moreno finished 20th, 21st and 29th, respectively.
Discussing the team’s performance, Vadgama said, “Overall, we performed well as a team and managed to finish in 2nd place. The team was a little disappointed we didn’t finish first, but we just have to work harder.”
Moreno said, “Our team is looking forward to the CIF Finals; we have to make sure we work hard and go into the finals strong and ready to perform.”
The Cubs placed fifth at the CIF Finals, as they finished with 157 points, 98 behind first place Newbury Park. Stone came in fifth overall with a time of 14:43. Vadgama finished behind him in 29th place with a time of 15:09.
Zambrano and Marshall ranked 34th and 37th, respectively. Loyola’s varsity team had times ranging from 14:43 to 16:06.
Stone said, “The team had outstanding performances at CIF Prelims and Finals. The top seven really stepped up at finals to help us qualify for the state meet. I was very impressed that six out of the top seven set a new personal record for three miles.”
Stone said, “We came into the season with the goal of making the state meet. The fact that we met that goal makes us very excited.”
Loyola’s varsity cross country team placed fourth overall in the state championship with 176 points.
The average time of each runner was 15:48. Anthony Stone placed ninth individually with a time of 15:15. Vadgama and Zambrano also finished within the top 30 with times of 15:38 and 15:40.
With their season over, the underclassmen look to fill the shoes of the departing seniors and build upon the success of Loyola’s strong cross country program next fall.
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