Falcons, Tologs turn in big days

LA CRESCENTA — At the 42nd running of the annual Barnes/Staub Invitational cross-country meet on Saturday at Crescenta Valley Park, for two of the top girls’ programs in the area, the day served in reaffirming their positions as hopeful division powerhouses.

Crescenta Valley High’s girls’ squad, led by Claudia Pham’s fifth-place finish, took second in the Girls’ Division I race, while Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy brought home victory in the Division 3 race, led by Stephanie Vargas’ second-place finish.

“We needed to step up because we’ve been struggling,” said Tologs Coach Kirk Nishiyama, whose team began the season ranked fourth in the CIF Southern Section Division IV rankings, but has since fallen out of the top 10. “This was a step in the right direction.”

It was much the same for the Falcons, who had a 14-meet Pacific League winning streak broken earlier in the season, but compiled 61 points on Saturday with three top-10 finishes, taking second behind West Ranch (40), which is ranked sixth in Division II.

“This was a good race for us,” said Falcons Coach Mark Evans, whose team did well despite missing top-five runner Ali Johnson. “I think they ran with a lot more confidence.

“We’re getting better and they’re getting more confident. We’re just working on being more consistent and running at the top.”

At the top for the Falcons as has been the case most of the season thus far was Pham, who was her team’s fifth-place runner a year ago at Staub in 19 minutes 52.31 seconds. On Saturday though, in a race won by Arcadia’s Catriana McAlister (18:10.27), she finished almost a minute better than the prior year with a time of 19:21.21.

“She’s doing very well,” said Evans of Pham. “She’s very competitive and she’s very focused.”

Pham, a junior, has been thrust into the frontrunner role, replacing last year’s All-Area Runner of the Year Michelle Callister and her older sister, Carlotta Pham.

“It is a little different,” Claudia said of running atop the Falcons’ lineup. “We kind of all balance it out. We all help each other. The dynamics have changed, but it’s still a really good team.”