The 2026 Grossmont Conference cross country championship meet is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, at West Hills High School. The San Diego Section championship meet follows Nov. 14 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.
Two more highlight meets provide a great build up to the end of the season: the California state championships Nov. 28 in Fresno and the Brooks Nationals Dec. 12 in Balboa Park.
The East County finals will crown individual champions in both gender fields in the Grossmont Hills League and Grossmont Valley League. Team championships will also be awarded in both leagues.
The section finals are open entry, meaning there is no qualifying meet. The Grossmont finals are a standalone event.
The section finals remain a qualifying meet for the state championship meet. Teams qualify by division along with a select number of individual qualifiers.
The top three teams in both the Division I and Division II fields advance to the state meet while the top three boys and top four girls teams in Division III do so. Only the top two boys teams and top three girls teams in Division IV qualify while the top three boys and girls teams in Division V advance.
For individual qualifiers:
If two teams qualify for the state meet in a race, the top five highest-placed individuals not on a qualified team must finish among the top 12 place-finishers.
If three teams qualify for the state meet in a race, the top five highest-placed individuals not on a qualified team must finish among the top 14 place-finishers.
If four teams qualify for the state meet in a race, the top five highest-placed individuals not on a qualified team must finish among the top 16 place-finishers.
There are no alternates for the state meet.
Boys team champions from last year include Poway (Division I), Mt. Carmel (Division II), Cathedral Catholic (Division III), Sage Creek (Division IV) and Francis Parker (Division V).
Girls team champions from last year include Canyon Crest Academy (Division I), Point Loma (Division II), Cathedral Catholic (Division III), Sage Creek (Division IV) and Santa Fe Christian (Division V).
Eastern exposure
The Grossmont Conference schedule included three regular season cluster events: the first Sept. 4 at Steele Canyon High School, the second Sept. 25 at Valhalla High School and the third Oct. 16 at West Hills High School.
Helix Charter senior Kate Weaver, a returning state meet qualifier, emerged with top times in the first two cluster events: 15:27.8 on the 2.5-mile course at Steele Canyon High School and 15:10.6 on the 2.6-mile course at Valhalla High School.
Santana senior Harper Diaz, another returning state meet qualifier and defending Division III section champion, edged Weaver on the 2.4-mile course at West Hills High School. Harper timed 13:51.3 to Weaver’s 14:30.7.
Helix teammate Ryan Mitchell (16:00.5) took runner-up honors at Steele Canyon High School and also posted a second place finish (15:26.7) at Valhalla High School. Mitchell was third (14:53.4) behind both Diaz and Weaver at West Hills High School.
Other top female runners from the three cluster meets include Grossmont senior Jane Telliard, Santana seniors Megan Messick and Janelle Agana, Santana sophomore Natalie Rodriguez, Mount Miguel junior Nadia Aguilar, Grossmont senior Raya Dann, Monte Vista junior Melissa Velazquez, El Capitan sophomore Riley McGhen, Helix sophomores Naomi Zudiker and Isella Nava, Steele Canyon freshman Maja Saja, Monte Vista sophomore Mariella Ferrer, Steele Canyon freshman Olivia Cookson, Santana senor Ariel MacPherson, Mount Miguel freshman Aracely Sanchez, El Capitan sophomore Marcela Zamudio, Helix sophomore Zoe Krzywicki, West Hills freshmen Lilliam Murphy and Jaylen Wiewel and Mount Miguel senior Roxanne Ocampo.
Grossmont senior Luis Naranjo took top finishing honors at the first boys cluster meet with a time of 15:59.3 for 3.0 miles ahead of West Hills junior Lucas Trogus (16:31.1). Trogus earned top times at the latter two events, running 14:37.3 for 2.9 miles and 16:32.6 for 3.1 miles.
Naranjo finished runner-up at both the Valhalla (14:51.3) and West Hills (17:01.7) meets.
West Hills senior Helio Cortez finished third at the Steele Canyon cluster meet (16:46.0) and again at the Valhalla event (15:25.1). West Hills senior Ryan Revak (17:55.0) was third at the West Hills meet, fourth at the Valhalla event (15:30.0) and fifth at the Steele Canyon meet (16:59.3).
Revak qualified for last year’s state meet.
Mount Miguel senior Jose Mariscal was fourth at the Steele Canyon meet (15:55.7), fifth at the Valhalla meet (15:30.1) and sixth at the West Hills meet (18:02.9). West Hills sophomore Matthew Stinchfiel (17:58.2) and Helix sophomore Conan Connolly (17:59.3) were fourth and fifth, respectively, at the West Hills meet.
Other top male runners from the three cluster meets include West Hills senior Fox Hermanson, Santana senior Dylan Chappelle, Mount Miguel senior David Gonzalez, Helix junior Tyler Kinnard, Mount Miguel seniors Iker Quintero and Marcelino Esquivel, Helix junior Ash Carr, Helix freshmen Nate Madrid, Steele Canyon junior Abednego Cruz, El Capitan sophomore Miles Garcia, West Hills senior Christian Marquez, West Hills junior Nicholas Nelson, Grossmont senior Sayer Hankins, Monte Vista junior Ezekiel Maghirang, Granite Hills senor Jack Digenan, Grossmpnt Morgan Bobrowski and El Capitan senior Tyce Barker.
Teams to watch include the Helix girls and West Hills, Mount Miguel and Helix boys.
Among small schools harriers, Liberty Charter’s girls teram and El Cajon Christian’s Elliana Patterson both made it to last year’s state meet. That was just a bend in the road for Patterson, who continued on to compete in the chic Brooks Nationals championship meet.
