The following is an excerpt from The Del Mar Times article, “Stellar field, big performances highlight CCA Cross Country Invitational.”

Just another early season high school cross country carnival? Not quite. Saturday’s Canyon Crest Academy Fleet Feet Invitational actually felt like a bit of a coming out party for the fifth-year event and maybe, to a lesser extent, the CCA program.

The 65 teams and 1,778 runners participating were both record highs for the occasion and for the first time, 11th-year Canyon Crest Head Coach Andy Corman was able to lure a pair of premier outside teams into the field. Ironically, the atypically drizzly, overcast conditions Saturday delivered perfect cross country weather and combined with the relatively flat, time-friendly course resulted in exceptional top- end competition.

…

The out-of-towners both finished top five in the girls’ team chase but the bigger stories were a scintillating front end duel between La Jolla sophomore Chiara Dailey and La Costa Canyon senior Gioana Lopizzo, and Cathedral Catholic repeating as team titleist.

Dailey, the defending meet champion and Lopizzo, the reigning CIF track & field winner at 3,200m, quickly dispatched the rest of the field, going stride-for-stride for the first two and a half miles. Dailey pulled away decisively in the final half mile, hitting the wire in a stunning 15:54.20, a new course standard and 1:13 better than her winning time in ’22. Lopizzo also bettered the existing mark, clocking 16:06.30.

Somewhat lost in the jaw-dropping performance by the top two was a very strong third place finish by Cathedral Catholic sophomore Lindsay Zimmer. Sidelined by health issues as a freshman, Zimmer made her first prep cross country splash with a 17:16.90 performance that spearheaded a Dons’ squad that was missing steady senior Alexandria Pena (fifth at this race last fall). Cathedral senior Scarlett Martin chipped in with a sixth place (17:33.80) finish.

“Lindsay’s always had talent and ran a really smart race today,” said Cathedral Head Coach Dan Geiger. “Those top two are in a class by themselves and there was a lot of shrapnel behind them. She didn’t get caught up in that, ran her race and steadily moved up in the second half of the race.”

The Dons registered 65 points to clear runner-up Poway by 24. San Clemente was third, followed by Rancho Bernardo, Mira Costa, La Jolla, La Costa Canyon and Canyon Crest.

“With Alexandria out, two freshman girls, Kristine Bickler and Andrea Radilla saved us today, rounding out our top five,” added Geiger. “We kind of handily beat a good field which is pretty encouraging.”

Continue reading at The Del Mar Times – Solana Beach Sun – Carmel Valley News.