Photo courtesy of Laguna Athletics
Laguna Beach captured their fourth state title in the 32-year history of the State Cross Country meet last Saturday, Nov. 24, at Woodward Park in Fresno, as Ryan Smithers and Logan Brooks earned all-state honors in the team effort. Breakers team time just missed breaking the meet record for D4. Ryan Smithers finished second in the division race with a 15:27.8 on the 5,000-meter course. Logan Brooks came in at 15:48.7, followed by Cal Nielson at 16:08.0, Mateo Bianchi 16:10.0 and Zachary Falkowski with a 16:32.7. Smithers, Brooks and Nielsen all set their personal course records in the run. The squad wore throwback uniforms from the 1970s with matching white caps to emulate the look of the late Eric Hulst, who was the 1975 Southern Section CIF overall meet champion.
On the girls side, Jessie Rose ran a 19:15.0 to lead the Breakers ladies to an 8th place finish. Following Rose, the remaining Laguna runners adding to the team total were Hannah Konkel (19:17.4), Morgan Falkowski (19:52.0) Kaitlin Ryan (20:22.0) and Sierra Read (20.30.8).
