By Elizabeth Goldman
Sports Editor
Mira Costa cross country competed in the 2021 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Cross Country Championships on Nov. 27, with girls placing first and the boys placing third.
Senior Dalia Frias finished first with a time of 16:52, followed by senior Ella Parsley in fourth with a time of 17:45, and junior Anna Chittenden in sixth with a time of 17:57.1.
Overall, the girls placed first in Division II with 86 points, 37 points ahead of the second place team, Canyon High School.
“It feels awesome winning state,” Frias said. “It definitely took some grit to break away from the person I was running with, but once I was able to get away, knowing that I was about to win felt so good. After four years of running on the team, it felt like everything had led up to this.”
In the boys division, junior Drew Martin led the Costa team, placing 15th with a time of 15:48.1. He was followed by senior Seamus O’Meara placing 16th with a time of 15:49.4.
“I was slightly disappointed with state, but overall I think CIF is a huge honor,” Martin said. “I don’t think the cross country team has made it that far ever before in state. which is monumental.”
According to Frias and Martin, both teams were nervous going into the competition, but focusing on staying calm and collected allowed both teams to place as highly as they did.
“There were definitely nerves going into State since there was some pressure [to win],” Frias said. “It can get nerve-racking going up against the best teams in the state, so I just tried to stay calm and have fun with it, since that is why I joined the sport in the first place.”
This season, Costa cross country has participated in nine meets prior to the state finals, placing highly in each one. At the CIF-SS Division Finals on Nov. 20, Mira Costa placed first in both girls and boys divisions with 73 and 92 points, respectively.
“I am very excited for the track season,” Frias said. “I think everyone is going to improve so much, since we all really grew as a team this year. I think it’s going to be really fun, and I have some good goals going into it.”
Following the CIF State win, members of Costa’s cross country team competed in the Garmin Running Lane Cross Country Championships on Dec. 4 in Huntsville, Alabama.
“I thought our season was really amazing,” Chittenden said. “We set goals even as early as summer and, through a ton of hard work as a team and with great guidance from our coaches, we were able to accomplish that and more. It was a super special and exciting season.”
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