PV Girls Win 4th Straight CIF Cross-Country Title

Familiarity, surprise and, finally, victory punctuated Palos Verdes’ drive to its fourth consecutive CIF 4A girls’ cross-country championship.

The Sea Kings ran away with the event Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College by placing 4 runners in the first 23 and garnering 32 points, far ahead of second-place finisher Newport Harbor, which finished with 87. Huntington Beach was third with 133 points.

Ashley Black was second, Maya Muneno finished third, Traci Goodrich was 10th and Karen Zareski placed 24th.

The Sea Kings, who won their fourth straight CIF 4A crown, now have their sights set on next Saturday’s state championships in Fresno. Palos Verdes won the inaugural state event in 1987.

Black, Palos Verdes’ No. 1 runner, dueled Santa Barbara’s Jamie Park for the individual title for the second year in a row, and again finished behind Park. Last year the duo also ran 1-2 in the CIF finals.

“Maybe I am a little disappointed personally,” admitted Black, who covered the course in 18:12, substantially behind Park’s 17:56. “It would have been fun to win the individual title, but it doesn’t take away from the team’s win.”

Park took an early lead, but Black battled back and caught the Santa Barbara runner at the 2-mile mark. Then Park pulled away again.

“We were there together for a long time until the 2-mile mark,” Black said. “But at the top of ‘poop-out hill’ she kind of surged ahead, and when we started downhill she just got too far ahead of me.

“But the whole team can really enjoy this because it’s our fourth in a row. It’s really neat to be able to say you ran on four championship teams in a row.”

Palos Verdes’ strong showing can be attributed largely to experience, strength and coaching, but there was also an element of surprise in the Sea Kings’ season--the emergence of freshman Muneno. Saturday, she capped off her improbable season by finishing third in a time of 18:30.

“She really is a big surprise for us, but a nice surprise,” said Sea Kings Coach Joe Kelly. “She’s the kind of runner who is a great competitor because she’s always at her best in the big races.”

The Sea Kings entered the competition without Lori Lucas and Dana Sublett, two of the mainstays of the squad. But Kelly said the team was somehow able to pull it all together.

“I thought that we would have a real old team this year,” said Kelly, who guided a squad of three seniors, three sophomores and a freshman. “But with some of the injuries we’ve had, some of our younger runners really picked up the slack.”