Belmont Might Get Challenge in City

Los Angeles Belmont High has romped to seven consecutive City Section boys’ cross-country championships, but title No. 8 might not come so easily.

That was apparent Saturday in the Bell-Jeff Invitational in Griffith Park when Belmont got a scare from North Hills Monroe before winning the Division I title, 38-45, over the Vikings.

Belmont defeated runner-up Monroe, 45-104, in the City final last year. But the Vikings had three of the top four finishers Saturday, including first-place Manuel Ruiz and second-place Juan Guzman.

Ruiz, a junior who won the 3,200 meters in the City track championships in May, ran 14 minutes 41 seconds over the 2.8-mile course that started and finished north of the Greek Theatre.

Guzman was second in 14:59 with teammate Daniel Guido fourth in 15:26.

Jose Villela placed third in 15:14 for Belmont with teammate Miguel Hernandez sixth in 15:41.

Depth was the key to Belmont’s victory as the Sentinels had five runners among the top 11 finishers.

Monroe’s No. 4 runner placed 13th and the Vikings’ No. 5 runner was 25th.

“We just seemed a little flat,” Belmont Coach Everardo Silva said. “We’ve been training for 12 weeks with no races and we just didn’t seem sharp to me.”

McFarland had five of the top seven finishers in the Division IV race to post a 19-97 victory over L.A. Salesian. Giovanni Perezchica placed first in 14:47 for the defending state Division IV champion Cougars with Victor Zavala second in 14:57 and Javier Medina third in 15:21.