Mollie’s run the Pierce course 2 times including her Prelim performance that was probably a less than optimal effort. Palisade’s Mollie Wittenberg is finishing her 1st season of running and what a season it’s been! Because she’s so new there’s not a lot of history to go on but one thing we know about Pierce is that there’s a steep learning curve which means newer runners tend to show dramatic improvements. If she’s on at City Finals she will be a top 3 finisher and definitely a candidate for breaking 19 mintues. In the final mile where most runners are hanging on for dear life she pulled away from a stellar field and finished with the top time and fastest last mile on the day. Frieda ran a conservative race at Prelims but her win in the combined League Final race a week earlier was truly inspired. On top of that list is Kennedy’s Frieda Cedilla. There are several runners that will challenge the Granada girls for that 2nd place finish. If they can do that Granada should get a 1-3 sweep in the Division 1 individual race. We count these 2 girls as part of the group of 5 girls that should break 19 minutes at City Finals. Jocelyn Pacheco and Meztli Valequez are ranked 2nd and 3rd in Division 1 and like Isabel have shown consistent improvement throughout this year and in particular on the Pierce course. Isabel’s teammates should provide some familiar company on the winner’s podium. In terms of the City Final, she looks to be the only girl with a chance to break 18 minutes which will be more than enough to win the race.

And on the Pierce course she’s improved her time by almost 2 minutes in just this year.

Except for her 1st race this season, she has posted the fastest City time in every race she’s run in. The prohibitive favorite for the individual title is Granada Hill’s Isabel Castagnola. And if we’re really lucky, maybe even get a runner under 18 minutes. COVID has put a damper on such expectations in 2021 but we still expect a handful of girls to post times under 19.

In a good year not so long ago ten girls in Division 1 would break 19 minutes at the City Championships. Led by sisters Kelia and Sophia Naranjo-Champion who placed 2nd and 3rd in their heat they are definitely a team to watch though they don’t quite have the depth to break into the top 2 in division 1 this year. Garfield’s girls ran Pierce for the first time this year and posted the 4th-best team time. Look for the Palisades girls to deliver on Saturday. Just a guess but based on the team’s performance at Prelims Mollie and her teammates weren’t running on fresh legs. Mollie Wittenberg has led the team all year and had the 4th best DI time at Prelims. The Palisades girls team-time at Prelims was almost 4 minutes off of their League Final time a week earlier. Granada ran Prelims without 2 of their top runners - Sofia Abrego and Zaida Velazquez - we assume they’ll both be running at Finals. FIONA LI, who had been running JV most of the season, ran a phenomenal 20:10.9 in Prelims more than a minute better than her previous best at Pierce. Isabel has improved every time she’s run the Pierce course so we’re looking for a sub-19:00 performance on her final run at Pierce at City Finals. Isabel Castagnola led the top-ranked team with the top girl’s time at Pierce this year. Contrary to our theory that the top teams hold back at Prelims, the Granada Hills girls top 5 runners all posted big PR’s last Saturday.

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