The Falcon boys’ cross-country team finished seventh overall in the State of California at the 2021 CIF state championship meet in Fresno. The meet was dominated by Newbury Park, which won both split categories, featured four of the top-five finishers, six runners in the top 10, and scored only 16 points total, 103 points ahead of second-place finisher Great Oak and 215 points ahead of Crescenta Valley. Points are scored by adding the finishing place or rank of the five fastest finishers (Newbury Park’s top five runners finished 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 for a total of 16 points: 1+2+3+4+6=16).

By comparison, the Falcons’ top-10 overall finish was more impressive given that members were largely absent from the top-30 finishers overall. Rather than relying on two or three runners to carry the team, CVHS ran as a unit finishing with only one member of the team outside of the top-100 and all five of the scoring runners finishing in the top-75. In fact, the Falcons finished with only one runner in the top-10 overall, junior Parker Simmons, who finished ninth. However, the other four scoring runners all placed high enough to earn the team the No. 7 spot in the state.

By Justin HAGER