WOODLAND HILLS — For 17 seasons, Flintridge Prep’s boys’ cross-country team ruled the Prep League with unprecedented dominance.
But on Saturday afternoon, a new king was crowned, as archrival Pasadena Poly ended Flintridge Prep’s dynastic tradition, running past the Rebels by a 34-48 margin at the Prep League finals at Pierce College.
“It had to end sometime,” said Rebels Coach Ingrid Herskind, who was at the helm for the previous 12 titles. “The target’s finally off our back.”
Poly’s Wesley DeVoll won the race in a dominating 15 minutes 18.56 seconds to lead a parade of Panthers that saw Anaud Upad Hyaya take fourth (16:06.91) and their scoring five place in the top 13.
Poly won all three league meets this season, whereas in recent years, the Panthers had won early in the season only to see the Rebels rally at the finals. Last year, Prep nipped Poly, 34-35 for the title. This season, despite having lost the first two league meets, Prep finished third in last week’s Mount San Antonio College Invitational, with Poly taking fifth in the Division V Team Sweepstakes, giving hope for another such rally. But it wasn’t to be, something Herskind felt early on.
“Our victories have been getting smaller and smaller every year,” said Herskind, whose squad was led by the fourth-place finish of Jason Bunn (16:07.68). “We didn’t have a great race today. We ran well last week, we were kind of hoping that was bumping us up.
“I had a feeling today it wasn’t gonna go well.”
In contrast, the girls’ race went much as Rebels Coach Michael Roffina anticipated, with Prep taking third with 80 points behind first-place Chadwick (28), which had five runners in the top nine, and second-place Mayfield (38).
“We’re coming together,” Roffina said. “We have not had one race this season with the same varsity team. We’re settling in now.”
Prep was led by Dot Silverman, as the former Prep League individual champion finished fifth in 19:24.38, with Chadwick’s Jaye Buchbinder taking first in 18:34.89. Silverman finished second behind Buchbinder in the second league meet of the season.
“The good news is Dot’s not beating herself up about this, it’s just a race,” Roffina said. “She’ll be ready in two weeks. We haven’t seen Dot’s best race yet.”
