CIF returning to Mt. SAC for postseason cross-country meets

By Andrew TurnerStaff Writer

May 14, 2020 5 PM PT

The CIF Southern Section announced on April 29 that the section’s boys’ and girls’ cross-country championships will return to the course at Mt. San Antonio College once the fall sport returns to competitive racing again.

After an $87-million dollar renovation project, which included a new Hilmer Lodge Stadium, track, scoreboard and educational facilities, the CIF postseason meets are set to come back to the venue for the first time since 2015.

The coronavirus pandemic has pressed the pause button on sports. For the time being, the Division 2 and Division 4 preliminaries would run on Friday, Nov. 13, and the Division 1, Division 3 and Division 5 prelims races would take place on Saturday, Nov. 14. The CIF finals are scheduled the following Saturday, Nov. 21.

With a challenging course that tests runners with three hills — “Switchbacks,” “Poop Out” and “Reservoir” — the Mt. SAC course has its fans. Two points are prominent among supporters, who note that the course has a distinguished place in the sport. They also argue that its rugged terrain makes it a “true cross-country course.”

“That’s where it’s always been,” Laguna Beach boys’ cross-country coach Scott Wittkop said about CIF returning to Mt. SAC. “Let’s be honest, it would have never changed if they didn’t have the construction. It would be like having state not at Woodward Park. It’s just all about tradition, and Mt. SAC goes way back into the 1970s. Eric Hulst ran on it at Mt. SAC.”

While renovations took place, the section postseason meets were held at the Riverside City Cross-Country Course. Competitors raced on what was a mostly flat, dirt surface.

Laguna Beach junior Jessie Rose ran in the CIF Southern Section girls' Division 4 cross-country final at Riverside City Cross-Country Course on Nov. 23, 2019.

Laguna Beach girls’ cross-country coach Steve Lalim, whose team took second place in the Division 4 final last season, said he was excited about racing at Mt. SAC again.

“It’s a great course with so much history,” Lalim said. “Because of the challenges of Switchbacks, Poop Out and Reservoir, the course shows the strongest teams.”

Without the section holding its state-qualifying meet at Mt. SAC for the past four seasons, several teams decided to forego the Mt. SAC Invitational. The physically-imposing meet’s proximity to league finals was a concern to coaches like Ocean View’s Daniel Hurtado.

“I don’t like Mt. SAC,” Hurtado said. “I think it’s dumb to have Southern Section athletes run Mt. SAC twice within eight days the week before state. Not only does that feel like a disadvantage, but also some sections up north have two weeks before their section finals and state.

“If you decide to run the [Mt. SAC] Invite so your athletes get to know the course, that’s three Mt. SAC efforts in one month with league finals right in the middle.”

Newport Harbor boys’ cross-country coach Nowell Kay said that the historical aspect of comparing oneself to performances of the past was a positive, but he added that the “uphill [and] downhill” running required on the Mt. SAC course is a cause for concern for athletes hoping to show well at state.

“You’re running that three times in five weeks, including two weeks in a row,” Kay said. “I think it kind of put Southern Section at a competitive disadvantage going into the state meet, just because of all the pounding that the legs are going to take on all the hills.”

Costa Mesa senior Diane Molina finished fourth in the CIF Southern Section girls' Division 4 cross-country final at Riverside City Cross-Country Course on Nov. 23, 2019.

Experience on the Mt. SAC course has been limited for some of the top returning locals in girls’ cross-country next season. Kira Anderson, who teamed up with UC Irvine-bound Diane Molina to help lead the Mustangs to the state meet for the first time since 1997, got her first taste of the course as a freshman in October.

Anderson, who also helped Costa Mesa reach the Division 5 final in girls’ water polo, said that the hills bother her the most as a runner.

“I think it’s Reservoir Hill because it’s the last one, and I was just dead at the end,” Anderson said, recalling the toughest part of the course for her. “That one, I kind of just lost it because you had already done two hills, and then that one comes up, and you’re just like, ‘Aw dang it. Another hill.’ That was the worst one for me.”

Fountain Valley’s Kaho Cichon, the reigning Surf League champion and a Daily Pilot Dream Team selection as a sophomore this past season, has yet to run on the Mt. SAC course. Cichon is known for her speed in the 800 meters, so Brian Bivens, who coaches girls’ cross-country and track and field for the Barons, wants to manage her three-mile race total in the fall.

Still, Cichon would like to have a go on the course before the CIF meets.

“I’ve heard many stories about it being a really hard race,” Cichon said. “I have mixed feelings about Mt. SAC becoming the future CIF course. I would definitely want to run a race before CIF to know how the course is like.”