“For this team it’s been difficult, they’re sort of chasing down a tradition,” said Rebels Coach Ingrid Herskind, whose team, which finished second in state a year ago and third at CIF, has won multiple state championships and has been a top-three team in the division season after season. “I’m proud of them, we’ve still got one more race in our tanks.”
The Rebels were paced by senior Kevin Heintz, who ran to a sixth-place finish in 16 minutes 6 seconds.
“I came out and ran a very good race. It’s not my best race, but it’s certainly an improvement from what I’ve been doing,” Heintz said. “We felt like we came out and put a solid effort in. It wasn’t our best race, but I think we came and certainly did what we needed to do, which was qualify for state.”
The performance comes during a season in which Prep’s stifling run of 17 straight Prep League titles came to an end.
For the Flintridge Prep girls’ team, its string of eight straight trips to the state meet came to end on Saturday, as the Rebels took eighth in the Division V race, a spot behind the cut. Making it an even more unfortunate turn of events was that senior Dot Silverman’s ninth-place finish in 19:35 was a spot behind making the individual cut, as well.
It was a somber revelation as the girls all huddled together for an extended amount of time, taking in the disappointment.
“It’s a moment that every team has to go through,” Rebels Coach Mike Roffina said, “and as one of the girls said, you don’t cry alone. This is a group that’s crying together and it’s about team.”
