Flagstaff AZ Junior Solos 14:10.1, Breaking Trey Caldwell's 3-Mile Course Record; Braelyn Combe Completes Third Consecutive Title; San Clemente CA Boys, Mira Costa CA Girls Win Team Sweepstakes Titles

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Ken Martinez photos

RESULTS|VIDEOS

WALNUT, Calif. - Yohanes Van Meerten entered a new realm Saturday morning at the 77th Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational.

The Flagstaff AZ junior crossed the finish line at Mt. San Antonio College in a jaw-dropping 14 minutes, 10.1 seconds, obliterating Trey Caldwell's 3-mile meet record of 14:46 from last year. The course changed prior to the 2024 meet. 

Van Meerten's wide margin of victory in the Boys Division 1 and 2 Team Sweepstakes race was 40 seconds on the second day of the country's largest high school cross country meet.

"Overall, I'm very excited," Van Meerten said. "I think I had a little bit more left in the tank...still a great feeling of what I did today."

Mario Montoya of Redondo Union CA followed Van Meerten's effort in second in 14:50.2, surging past Maximo Zavaleta of Martin Luther King CA, who was second to Van Meerten through the first two miles. Zavaleta finished third in 14:52.4.

Van Meerten took the field through 4:31.8 at mile one, leading by a few strides over Zavaleta. At mile two, his lead increased up to 19 seconds, covering two miles in 9:26.5 (4:54.7). 

Van Meerten hit the track with a lead over 200 meters, finishing the last mile in 4:43.6. 

Van Meerten's result on Saturday has sparked an ambitious attempt in a few weeks at Nike Cross Regional Southwest, the same course where he ran 14:25.7 at Desert Twilight in late-September.

"The main thing is I got to focus on NXR next," Van Meerten said. "It's a great time, but I want to break 14 (minutes) as a high schooler. I hope this year I can do it."

No. 23 San Clemente CA overcame a 24-point deficit to Redondo Union on the final mile, winning the team race with 104 points. Yohan Anderson finished seventh in 15:03.

Montoya and Matteo Sanchez (14:59.4, fifth) scored seven of Redondo Union's 134. 

No. 22 Beckman CA, which beat San Clemente at the Clovis Invitational two weeks ago, finished third with 139 points.

Jace Deledonne of Poly (Riverside) CA surged away from Albert Jacinto of Chaffey CA to win the Boys Division 1 and 2 Individual Sweepstakes title in 14:42.7, breaking Caldwell's course record an hour before Van Meerten did so.

Braelyn Combe Three-Peats, Breaks Meet Record

Braelyn Combe of Santiago (Corona) CA won her third consecutive Mt. SAC title, running a meet record 16:53.2 in the Girls Division 1 and 2 Individual Sweepstakes. 

Combe, similar to Chiara Dailey's racing tactics on Friday, went into the race with an aggressive approach, going through the first mile in 5:14.5 to build an eight-second lead on Charlotte Hopkins of Arcadia CA.

"The biggest thing was to try to break 17 (minutes)," Combe said, who bested Abigail Errington's meet record of 16:57.

"I think the course record, itself, was in the back of my head, but to get the meet record is really exciting."

Combe's lead over Hopkins grew to 20 seconds at mile two and 26 seconds at the end when Hopkins finished second in 17:29.3.

Taylor Biggambler of Flagstaff finished third in 17:57.2, Combe's teammate Addyson Johns finished fourth in 18:01.8 and Olivia Bollenbach of Poly (Riverside) finished fifth in 18:04.5.

Freshman Sabina Cruz of Westlake CA won the Girls Division 1 and 2 Team Sweepstakes title in 17:39.6. 

Mira Costa CA teammates Alana Clarke and Evelyn Ursini finished second and third in 17:42.8 and 17:45.2, respectively, leading the Mustangs to the team win over Great Oak CA 58-113.

Lucia Pearson of Saugus CA took fourth in 17:46.7 and Sedona Sweginnis of San Clemente finished fifth in 17:49.5.