Plenty of prep cross country runners from area qualify for state meet

San Luis Obispo High’s Callum Bolger finished second in the Division 3 boys race, while the Paso Robles boys and Atascadero girls cross country teams qualified for the CIF State Cross Country Championships with top-7 performances Saturday at the CIF-Southern Section Cross Country Championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Bolger finished the 3-mile course in 14:59.2, behind Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno, who finished in 14:50.3.

In addition, five other area runners qualified as individuals for the state meet in Woodward Park in Fresno on Nov. 28.

The Bearcats finished second in the Division 3 race, scoring 81 points. Brea Olinda was first with 63 points. Paso Robles put four runners into the top 20, with Luis Armendariz (10th, 15 minutes, 40.9 seconds), Trad Berti (11th, 15:42.4), Ganno Chamberlain (12th, 15:44.8) and Josh Potter (15th, 15:52.8).

Atascadero was fifth in the Division 4 race, scoring 162 points. Mayfield was first with 50 points. The Greyhounds were led by Brittni Frace, who was 15th in 18:55.1, and Ellie Nisbet, who was 17th in 18:56.8.

In Division 2, Arroyo Grande’s Christian Ricketts just missed qualifying for the state meet, finishing 16th in 15:52.3. Leza Cassidy qualified in the girls race, finishing eighth in 18:10.2. Malia Simon was 20th in 18:42.7 and just missed the cut. The boys team finished 12th, and the girls team narrowly missed qualifying as a team, finishing eighth, one point behind Canyon of Anaheim.

“The whole season was a big success. The Southern Section is very deep, Arroyo Grande coach Dan Smirth said. “We gave what we had.”

In the Division 3 girls race, Paso Robles’ Ashley Davis (11th, 18:22.3) and Annie Meeder (18th, 18:45.3) each qualified. The Bearcats were 10th as team, and San Luis Obispo finished 12th as a team. Hope Morgan was the Tigers’ top finisher, taking 32nd in 19:22.5, but failing to qualify.

Morro Bay’s Andrew Stafford, running as an individual, finished 10th in the boys Division 4 race, qualifying for state in 16:02.9. Nipomo finished 10th as a team, with Rogelio Flores coming in 29th (16:30.7) and Garrett Morgan 30th (16:31.9), but neither qualified for the state meet.

James Server of Coastal Christian, running as an individual, qualified for the state meet, finishing in 16:11.6 and taking ninth place in the Division 5 boys race.

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 3:22 PM with the headline "Plenty of prep cross country runners from area qualify for state meet."