UPDATE: “Men’s and women’s cross country teams have qualified for the CIF Southern Section Finals.

The finals race will take place in Riverside, CA on Saturday November 19.

The men’s team members include Noah Freeman, Hunter Talbott, Hayden Ritchie, John Welch, Michael Lima-Sabitini, Devin Gibbons, Zane Cox, Fernando Perez, and Reed Piette. The women’s team members include Sapna Dholakia, Shannon MacKellar, Summer Shea, Katelyn Wilson, Desiree Oden, Cassidy Klein, Chloe Laguna, Lauren Reeves and Hannah Dumaine.

Good luck to the Aztecs at the finals as the top 7 teams will advance to the State Finals in Fresno, CA on November 26th.”

Following published on Sept. 29:

Men’s and women’s cross country are at the top of their game this year with their eyes set on making it to CIF finals at the end of the season.

Women’s cross country has an upcoming meet in Clovis on October 8th. The girls team recently competed in the Crestview League Prelims and placed second. Senior Shannon MacKellar said, “ This cross country season is going well! We have had a lot of injuries so far but those girls are beginning to jump back in and everything in falling into place.” Coach Debbee Mariotti said that their goal for the season is to win back to back CIF championships and be in the top three in the state.

Men’s cross country is also off to a great start. There are a lot of seniors on the team this year and with that they hope to make it to CIF finals. Junior Michael Lima-Sabatini said the team is working extra hard this year to achieve their goals. “We are doing double practices and then run on Sundays,” said Lima-Sabatini. The last time the team was in CIF finals was 2011 . Coach Rich Medellin said that the team also hopes to win the North Hills league.

Men’s cross country had a Century League Preview Meet on September 29 at Irvine Park. They have run three other races and placed second place in the Pat Hadley Memorial Race.

Both team have performed well in preseason and look forward to starting league in the upcoming weeks.