Ava Murphy / Photo by Krista Hutchinson
Fresh off an individual state title, Daniel Abramowicz was not intimidated by an even bigger stage at the 73rd Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational in Walnut, California.
The West Valley High School senior won the Division 3-4-5 Team Sweepstakes 3-mile race in 15 minutes, 8 seconds — one tick faster than Luke Stefanou of Palos Verdes High School.
With about 430 teams and thousands of runners competing in a dizzying 96 races over two days Oct. 22-23, Mt. SAC is billed as the “world’s largest cross country invitational” and is among the most prestigious high school meets in the country. Races were generally organized by division based on school enrollments (Division 1 being the largest) with West Valley in Division 4 of 5.
Only a handful of runners went faster than Abramowicz in the other divisions. By competing in a “sweepstakes” race, Abramowicz and West Valley faced tougher competition than many of the other races.
Abramowicz led the Wolfpack, which claimed the Division 1 boys state championship in Anchorage on Oct. 9, to sixth place in their race at Mt. SAC. Senior Joshua Baurick (22nd of 116 finishers in 16:24) and sophomore Cirdan Vonnahme (23rd in 16:25) chipped in solid performances.
The West Valley girls team also excelled by winning the Girls D3-4-5 Varsity race comfortably ahead of Moorpark HS and nine other squads. Wolfpack junior Riga Grubis placed runner-up in 19:18 with freshman teammate Evelyn Wool third in 19:32. Sage Personett contributed a 20th-place finish.
South Anchorage High School also represented Alaska on the legendary course at Mt. San Antonio College.
In the girls D4 Varsity race, reigning Alaska state champ Robyn Miller continued her winning ways in 19:01, nine seconds faster than runner-up teammate Elliana Zock. That propelled the Wolverines to first among 14 teams in that race.
In the Boys D4 Varsity race, South Anchorage placed third, led by Blaise Boyer in 16:53.
Photo by Kent Salisbury