The first Coastal League cluster meet of the 2024 high school cross country season was held on Saturday, Sept. 14, at the San Dieguito Sports Complex in Carlsbad. The meet featured runners from Torrey Pines, Canyon Crest Academy, El Camino, Sage Creek, Vista and La Costa Canyon, with the two Carmel Valley school teams coming out on top.
The Torrey Pines varsity boys won in a nail-biter, finishing in first place by just one point over Canyon Crest Academy. On the girls side, the results were flipped with the Canyon Crest varsity girls taking first and Torrey Pines coming second.
“Our team has been putting in the hard work and it paid off,” said Head Coach Julie Ott in an email. “Several boys ran personal bests showing that each person you in a race counts!”
The spread for the Torrey Pines boys who scored for the team was 25.5 seconds, meaning they finished in close succession in the 3-mile race length. The scoring boys were led by Ryan Chelesnik (15:35.6), William Boag (15:43.2), Zach Dawson (15:44.7), Eamon Moore (15:46.8) and Jack Sheehy (16:01.1).
Canyon Crest Academy took the top individual spots in both the boys and girls varsity races. Raven runners Luca Caruso ran a 14:57.8 and Katja Dunayevich came in at 17:08.1, with a 47.8 second gap over the second place finisher. The CCA girls secured the team win with scoring Joely Klaristenfeld (18:17.20), Lillian Pippel (18:39.6), Natalie O’Dell (18:53.7) and Sonia Whittle (18:59.3).
The Torrey Pines girls varsity team, led by Charlotte Sach, Evelyn Lawson and Sophia Lesser, all ran personal bests of a minute or more and kept the race tight.
“Our team had a goal going into the race, which for the most part we achieved, but we still have more work to do,” Ott said in the news release. “It will be an exciting season as Torrey Pines and Canyon Crest compete against each other.”
