Davis' Fiona O'Keeffe, Mt. Spokane's John Dressel lead the way at 41st Stanford Invitational; Los Gatos boys edge Bellarmine College Prep, Davis and Bella Vista girls need 6th runner to determine winner

By Erik Boal, DyeStatCAL Editor

John Dressel of Mt. Spokane (Washington) and Davis' Fiona O'Keeffe validated their status as two of the nation's top prep runners by posting the fastest individual times in the seeded races Saturday at the 41st Stanford Invitational.

Dressel, who was also visiting Stanford on a recruiting trip, pulled away from Nathan Tadesse of Surrey (British Columbia) and Arcadia's Phillip Rocha to prevail in the 5-kilometer race in 14 minutes, 50.8 seconds. Tadesse clocked 14:58.5 and Rocha, second Sept. 20 at the Woodbridge Classic, was third in 14:59.8.

O'Keeffe clocked 16:39.8 to distance herself from Ella Donaghu Grant High of Oregon, runner-up in 17:13.2.

Alexa Efraimson, the reigning Nike Cross Nationals champion who recently decided not to race during her senior year in Camas (Wash.) and turn professional, represented Nike in the women's college/open 6-kilometer race.

Efraimson was leading with 400 meters to go, before fatigue set in and she momentarily collapsed before struggling to the finish, placing third in 20:45.3.

Washington State's Abby Regan won in 20:30.7 and UC Riverside's Raquel Hefflin was second in 20:38.7, both passing Efraimson in the final 200 meters. Stanford won the team competition with 71 points, ahead of UC Davis (94).

Stanford's Joe Rosa and Maxim Korolev both finished the men's 8-kilometer race in 23:15.4. Washington State edged UC Santa Barbara 73-74 for team title.

There were also several strong team performances in the seeded competition, highlighted by Los Gatos -- led by Chris Foster (15:02.8) -- knocking off Bellarmine College Prep 160-166 in the boys race, with Arcadia rebounding from a loss Thursday in its Pacific League meet to place third with 173.

Davis and Bella Vista tied at 103 in the girls competition, with Davis prevailing on a sixth-runner tiebreaker when Jeanne-Marie McPherson finished 65th, ahead of Bella Vista's Renny Castanon in 78th.

Campolindo relied on the season debut of senior Brighie Leach (17:45.2) and her sixth-place finish, along with senior teammate Toni Finnane (17:48.9) taking seventh to place third overall with 109.

Eleanor Roosevelt, led by freshman Tahlia Adams (17:44.9), was fourth with 177.
Las Lomas' Chloe Hansel posted the third-fastest girls time of the day of 17:28.5 to win the Division III girls race.

Gunn's Gillian Meeks (17:41.3) rallied to edge Cupertino freshman Caroline Gee  (17:42.6) to secure victory in the Division I race.

Bishop Amat's Emily Hubert (17:53.7) and Ally Palomino (17:59.3) were first and second in the Division IV girls race to lead the Lancers to a 58-76 victory over Cornwall of New York.
Del Campo's Kathryn Loken prevailed in the Division II race in 17:48.4 and Branson freshman Grace Dailey won the Division V race in 18:39.5.

Vista Murrieta, led by Ashley Cahalan's fifth-place effort (18:39), posted an 80-117 victory over Gunn in the Division I race.

St. Francis of Mountain View, with all five scorers in the top 30, was the Division II girls winner by an 84-139 margin over Glendora.

Aptos had all five scorers in the top 20 in Division III, led by Mattie Peoples taking fifth in 18:22.2, to defeat Bishop O'Dowd 55-111.

Prep League rivals Mayfield and Flintridge Prep squared off for the first time this season, with the Cubs producing a 64-66 victory in the Division V race. Emily Serhan was third in 18:51.2 for Mayfield, which will meet Flintridge Prep again Oct. 11 at the Clovis Invitational on the state-meet course at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Buena's Kaleb Kunes (15:29) and Andrew Witt (15:29.1) crossed the finish line within a couple of steps of one another to help the Bulldogs place third in the Division I boys race with 120 points. Vista Murrieta won with 73 points and King City took second with 98.

Bella Vista's Drew Childs prevailed in the Division II race in 15:22.4, but Steele Canyon was the team winner by a 93-137 margin over Willow Glen.

Colin Burke of Bishop O'Dowd was the Division III champion, clocking 15:07.7. Paso Robles secured an 80-104 victory over University City.

Salesian's Tomas Navarro started the meet with a Division IV victory in 15:08.6. Bishop Amat also captured the Division IV boys team title by defeating Flintridge Prep -- which moved up from Division V -- by a 78-157 margin.

St. Joseph Notre Dame of Alameda relied on Cooper Teare (15:50.7) winning the Division V race to propel the Pilots to a 59-72 victory over Lick-Wilmerding.