Mt. Carmel duo shines at Sundevil Invitational

Mt. Carmel’s Jaxon Northcutt has been practically unbeatable in cross country this season, and he wasn’t about to lose the 45th Sundevil Invitational Saturday.

His teammate, Olivia Campos, just figured she’d be running for second behind Jaelyn Williams of Eastlake in the field over the Balboa Park 3-mile course.

As it turned out, Northcutt’s biggest challenge came from teammate Quentin Fronjian. The Mt. Carmel runners finished 1-2 in the Division 1 Senior/Invitational to lead the Sundevils to the team title, low-scoring San Marcos 40-86.

Meanwhile, Campos stayed close enough that with a quarter-mile remaining, she dug down to inch past Williams, scoring an unexpected upset victory in 17 minutes, 11.8 seconds that brought the entire Sundevils team to the finish line to congratulate her.

After going head-to-head with the Woodbridge Invitational for years, Mt. Carmel officials moved the Sundevil Invitational to later in the season.

Northcutt, a senior, had lost just one race all year when he went out too fast in his debut in the Woodbridge Invitational, then paid the price.

“That was my first time racing at Woodbridge, at night, and I got so excited I took it out and led halfway through the race,” said Northcutt. “The others moved up on me, and all of a sudden, I felt tired.

“It was my first race at night and with all the cheering that went on. … A lesson learned.”

He finished 22nd.

This time, Northcutt was running on the familiar Morley Field 3-mile course. He sped to a time of 14:49.0, eclipsing the record of 14:52.1 by Arizona Peoria Liberty’s Ryan Denhoff in 2023, the first year the long-running meet stretched out to 3 miles.

“It felt like a good win, but I’m still building up to the section championships and state,” said Northcutt. “Last year, I suffered a stress fracture and I worked hard to get ready for this year. I’m still running 55-60 miles a week, but I’ll cut down heading to section, state and the Brooks West Regional.”

Past experience taught Campos not to get too hopeful against the Stanford-bound Williams, who has been sensational on the track but is still looking for her first state Division 1 cross-country title.

“When I saw she was running, I thought I’d just be going for second and a fast time,” Campos said. “When I was still there with a mile left, I decided to go for it because I knew I had more in the tank. Hey, I had nothing to lose, why not?

“This was my biggest win, for sure. Now I’m looking forward to a fast time at Mt. SAC leading into the section championships.”

Wiliams, the meet record-holder with a time of 16:58.9 in 2023, woke up not feeling well. She was still leading until Campos went past with a quarter mile to go, winning by more than 7 seconds.

“I’m happy for Olivia,” said Williams who took almost a half-hour to recover after the finish. “I’m back to where I was as a sophomore, and although this was an unexpected setback, I’m looking forward to the section championships and winning my first state Division 1 championship.

“As bad as I felt in the morning, there was never any doubt that I’d run and just try to do my best.”

Francis Parker’s Ari Llorens captured the Division 2 girls race in 17:47.9, topping Arizona Northwood Ridge’s Sorella Natale (18:50.6) by more than a minute.

Crawford’s Leo Lorenzano was equally impressive in the boys’ D2 race as he clocked a 15:47.4 to down Brea-Olinda’s Marcius Nielson, who ran 15:59.0 and his teammate Taj Aragon, who was right behind at 15:59.3.

Sundevil Invitational

At Balboa Park (3 miles)

BOYS RESULTS

Division 1

Senior/Invitational: Team: 1. Mt. Carmel 40, 2. San Marcos 86, 3. Cathedral Catholic, 108.

Individual: 1. Northcutt (MC) 14:49.0, 2. Fronjian (MC) 15:12.8, 3. Wilber (CathC) 15:22.1, 4. Lastra (Cibola) 15:23.4, 5. Yarbrough (DN) 15:29.0.

Junior: Team: 1. Westview 76, 2. Del Norte 85, 3. Otay Ranch 140. Ind: 1. Morales (RB) 15:59.7, 2. Ayala (WV) 16:13.9, 3. League (Hemet) 16:40.5.

Sophomore: Team:  1. Westview 97, 2. El Camino 106, 3. Del Norte 149. Ind: 1. Garcia )Cbad) 16:10.6, 2. Espinoza (Os) 16:11.7, 3. Escobar (DN) 16:30.6.

Freshman: Team: 1. Mt. Carmel 74, 2. Poway 142, 3. La Costa Canyon 147. Ind: 1. LePeau (Catalina Foothills) 16:47.3, 2. Beierschmitt (LCC) 16:52.0, 3. Rhoades (DN) 16:55.4.

Division 2

Senior/Invitational: Team: 1. Brea-Olinda 46, Crawford 49, 3. Mission Vista 74. Ind: 1. Lorenzano (Craw) 15:47.4, 2. Nielson (B-O) 15:59, 3. Aragon (B-O) 15:59.3, 4. Pike (Canyon Hills), 16:10.5, 5. Boyd (FP) 16:12.9.

Junior: Team: 1. West Hils, 2. Saguaro 60, 3. Salpointe 68. Ind: 1. Fernandez (Salpointe) 16:23.1, 2. Rohde (Salpointe) 16:25.2, 3. Morelock (Salpointe) 16:31.6.

Sophomore: Team: 1. Salpointe 70, 2. Bea-Olinda 71, 3. SD High Tech 81. Ind: 1. Maurer (Parker) 16:27.0, 2. Gudino (Pacifica Chr) 16:57.8, 3. Lazcon (Gahr) 17:04.6.

Freshman: 1. Mt. Carmel 74, 2. Poway 142, 3. La Costa Canyon 147. Ind: 1. LePeau (Catalina Foothills) 16:47.3, 2. Beierschmitt (LCC) 16:52.0, 3. Rhoades (DN) 16:55.4.

GIRLS RESULTS

Division 1

Senior/Invitational: Team: 1. Canyon Crest 49, 2. Poway 67, 3. Cathedral Catholic 68. Ind: 1. Campos (MC) 17:11.8, 2. Williams (East) 19:19.4, 3. Hickey (Bi) 17L25,9, 4. Mayer (MC) 17:33.3, 5. Diaz (Santana) 17:49.0.

Junior: Team: 1. San Dieguito 38, 2. Corona del Sol 53, 3. Cathedral Catholic 61. Ind: 1. Sanchez (Vista) 18:49.7, 2. Telliard (Gross) 19:15.0, 3. Unrein (San Dieguito) 19:22.9.

Sophomore: Team: 1. Westview 37, 2. Catalina Foothills 68, 3. Point Loma 73. Ind: 1. Cooper (LCC) 19:04.8, 2. Koenig (MC) 19:53.5, 3. Rascon (East) 19:54.0.

Freshman: Team: 1. Cathedral Catholic 96, 2. Westview 103, 3. Helix 120. Ind: 1. Sagi (WV) 18:18.8, 2. Romero Pigliacelli (TP) 19:10.3, 3. Pham (WV) 19:12.0.

Division 2

Senior/Invitational: Team: 1. Mission Vista 30, 2. Brea-Olinda 36, 3. Hilltop 64.  Ind: 1. Llorens (FP) 17:47.9, 2. Natale (Ironwood Ridge) 18:50.6, 3. Pendergraph (Ram) 18:56, 4. Nichols (Esco) 18:56.1, 5. Giron (VC) 19:14.3.

Junior: Team: (No score), Ind: 1. Richardson (Ironwood) 19:44.6, 2. Koontz (Salpointe) 20:06.6, 3. Sawyer (Ironwood) 20:28.9.

Sophomore: Team: 1. SD High Tech 17, 2. Salpointe 42. Ind: 1. Zhou (LJCD) 19:25.7, 2. Vines (LJCD) 19:25.7, 3. Simmons (Ironwood) 19:41.9.

Freshman: 1. Mission Vista 45 (best 6th runner), 2. Calvin 45, 3. Salpointe 53. Ind: 1. Parise (Salpointe 19:53.2, 2. Zuluaga (Salpointe) 20:00.3, 3. Hickey (Bi) 20:54.8.