Great Oak wins fifth straight crown, with Newbury Park and Bakersfield Ridgeview securing memorable first titles; Liam Anderson, Anthony Grover repeat as individual champions

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Great Oak completed its drive for five consecutive boys championships, Orange County programs Laguna Beach and St. Margaret’s celebrated their fourth and third titles, respectively, with a pair of first-time winners also being crowned Saturday at the CIF State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

RESULTS | DIVISION 1 PHOTOS | DIVISION 2 PHOTOS | DIVISION 3 PHOTOS | DIVISION 4 PHOTOS | DIVISION 5 PHOTOS

Great Oak became the third boys team in state history, including the first in Division 1, to win five straight titles with a 61-72 victory over West Ranch.

Jesuit junior Matt Strangio, the reigning state 3,200-meter champion, added an individual state cross country crown by covering the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes, 4.5 seconds. Strangio became Jesuit’s first individual winner since Matt Farley in Division 2 in 1993.

Sophomore Mateo Joseph led Great Oak with a fifth-place finish, clocking 15:12, with the Wolfpack overcoming an injury to junior Gabe Abbes to still place five scorers in the top 20.

Great Oak matched the success of McFarland (1992-96) and Woodcrest Christian (2005-09) with a fifth straight championship, contributing to a state-record 13 with one school for Wolfpack coach Doug Soles.

Newbury Park secured its first Division 2 crown, relying once again on the strength up front from junior Nico Young, who became the Panthers’ first individual champion since Jeff Wilson captured back-to-back Division 3 titles in 1990-91.

Young clocked 14:59.2, with Newbury Park placing six athletes in the top 40 to prevail by a 77-90 margin over La Costa Canyon, which had Caleb Niednagel (15:07.3), Jacob Stanford (15:11.7) and Garrett Stanford (15:28.2) finish fourth, fifth and ninth to become the only team in any division with three athletes in the top 10.

Great Oak, West Ranch, Newbury Park and La Costa Canyon all qualified to race Dec. 1 at Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore.

Redwood Larkspur senior Liam Anderson repeated as Division 3 individual champion, producing the fastest time of the meet at 14:55.3. Anderson became the first to capture back-to-back titles in the division since Brea-Olinda graduate Austin Tamagno in 2014-15.

Ridgeview made history for the city of Bakersfield, becoming the first team in either gender to win a state championship with an 83-94 victory over Campolindo. Defending-champion West Torrance was third with 166 points.

Alex Cuevas led the Wolf Pack with a ninth-place finish in 15:40.2, just behind Campolindo’s Teddy Buckley in eighth in 15:38.9. Dylan Gunn added an 11th-place effort in 15:49.1 for Campolindo.

JSerra junior Anthony Grover rebounded from a fourth-place result Nov. 17 at the Southern Section finals to repeat as Division 4 champion, clocking 15:21.8 to become the first individual to secure back-to-back crowns since Big Bear’s Caleb Webb in 2013-14.

It also marked three championships in the past four years for JSerra, along with Andrew Burkhardt in 2015.
Laguna Beach captured its fourth overall title, including its first since 2009 with a 68-97 victory over Sir Francis Drake, which had Cooper McCarthy (15:49.2) and Nico Pompili (15:56.2) finish eighth and 10th, respectively.

Ryan Smithers placed second in 15:27.8 and Logan Brooks took seventh in 15:48.7 for the Breakers, who ran the fastest time by any team in division history on the Woodward Park course Oct. 12 at the Roughrider Invitational by clocking 79:33.

Laguna Beach had five scorers in the top 50 on Saturday, but couldn’t eclipse its own record, running 80:09.

Senior Andre Williams added to Sonoma Academy’s history with his Division 5 championship effort in 15:35.2, helping the Coyotes become the fourth program in division history to produce individual winners in both genders, joining St. Joseph Notre Dame, Marin Academy and Mt. Shasta. Rylee Bowen captured three Division 5 girls titles for Sonoma Academy from 2014-17.

St. Margaret’s earned its first Division 5 championship since 2011 and its third overall with a 95-163 victory over Lick Wilmerding.

Sophomore Jackson Adelman took second in 15:39.5 for the Tartans, who had all five scorers in the top 50.

Champions

Division 1 - Great Oak 61 points

Division 2 - Newbury Park 77 points

Division 3 - Bakersfield Ridgeview 83 points

Division 4 - Laguna Beach 68 points

Division 5 - St. Margaret’s 95 points