By Leonard COUTIN

The second annual Cool Breeze Invitational took place Friday at the Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena near the Rose Bowl. Several levels of races took place that began in mid-afternoon and continued into the late evening. The final event posted two non-seeded varsity races and the main event, the last of the evening, was the Invitational Showdown of the seeded varsity.

The Invitational was well attended by schools throughout Southern California. It raised the bar of competition for runners and offered the chance for them to post key marks early in the season. In other CIF Divisions, many of the attending schools are ranked according to the school size, but the Cool Breeze Invitational is laid out similarly to the master meet in track – athletes race as one.

The Falcons were confident and well-prepared on Friday with many of the younger runners setting personal record times. Colin FitzGearld, who set the course record running a time of 14:55.86, was eager to engage last year’s team winners from Claremont who posted a score of 98 in 2016. When the horn sounded, FitzGerald got his team out quickly. Mid-course, the Falcons were in the top 30 positions holding strong and staying together. At the top of the course, FitzGerald put forth an amazing burst of speed to separate himself from the other leaders to run his final lap. He clocked a new record time of 14.52.8 for the win followed by Elias Opsah of Redland East Valley (15:02.4) and Flintridge Prep’s Evan Pattinelli (15:06.7). CV’s Spencer Geck ran one of his best races to capture 11th (15:29.0) followed by Zach Johnson taking 15th (15:30.8). Manan Vats recorded a PR time of 15:32.5 to capture a key spot of 16th and Artin Allahverdian took 31st (15:45.4), which carried the Falcons to a team win scoring a low 75 points.

Final boys seeded team scores: CV 75, El Toro 131, Saugus 165, Arcadia 182, Redlands East Valley 188, Claremont 190

“We are really pleased with how the all the teams ran,” said CV’s Coach Mark Evans. “The varsity boys had a very good race. It was great to see them win against some very good teams. They have been working hard all summer and this was their first real test. There will be more to come.”

The Falcon girls faced fierce competition and didn’t fare as well as the boys. Naila Ortiz, who continues to lead the Falcons, scored 25th running a time of 18:23.3. Caitlyn Couch, new to the team, took 59th (19:00.4). Fellow teammates Sophia Atin placed 101st (19:32.9), Samantha Moore took 117th (19.55.5), Melissa Owens placed 123rd (20:10.5), Gabby Borraez took 124th (20.11.2) and Izzy Liberman placed 137th (20:20.6).

“The girls ran well and are really improving. Caitlyn Couch adds depth to the team. We feel good about our chances as we go into League meet one on Tuesday at Arcadia Park. We will be very competitive in League at all levels,” said Evans.

Sophia Gitlin of Flintridge Prep led her team and placed 10th running 17:54.6. The team placed 10th in overall standings.

Final girls seeded team scores: Claremont 111, Saugus 118, Serrano 124, Chandler 132, Arcadia 172, and Mira Costa 176. CV scored 15th team place.

  Leonard Coutin