“Today I tried to go out harder, because I sort of get intimidated in big races where everybody starts out fast,” said Collison, the reigning Pacific League champion and 2007 News-Press Female Athlete of the Year. “I tried that today, but I think I started to slow down in the middle of the race.”
Including seniors Collison and Lange (18:39.09), the Falcons girls, who placed fourth at the 2006 CIF State meet and are currently ranked seventh in CIF Southern Section Division I, had five runners place in the top 15.
Junior Michelle Callister finished sixth with a time of 19:29. Megan Doeding, also a junior, followed her directly for seventh place with a time of 19:32.20, while junior Carlotta Pham ran the course in 20:01.46 for 14th place.
“We just took it out strong from the beginning,” Lange said. “We kind of got spread out. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go.”
Crescenta Valley’s total score of 30 was 57 points lower than that of second-place Corona.
Looking for a similar coup in its Division I race was the Crescenta Valley boys’ team, ranked sixth in CIF Southern Section Division I.
Loyola (74 points), which is ranked second in CIF Southern Section Division II, and Barstow (78 points), the top-ranked team from Division III, captured the top two spots.
The Falcons, led by top finisher Eric Kleinsasser (15:36.48, 5th place), took third with a total score of 81.
“It was a loaded race, we had some great teams in there,” said Falcons Coach Mark Evans of the Division I boys’ race. “I’m proud of how the kids ran, and it was an exciting race to watch too.
“It took along time for these guys to sort each other out — everybody was right together.”
