Great photos courtesy of Kirby Lee
Warren High's Robyn Guggiana (left) and Birmingham's Marina Santana were among the top standouts here!

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee
Girls varsity action gets underway, with Kirby Lee on the spot!

Girls

Team

1. Warren 49; 2. Birmingham 72; 3. Lakewood 127; 4. La Serna 155; 5. Bonita 158.

Freshman

1. Samantha Rodriguez (South El Monte) 18:03; 2. Justine Diaz (La Serna) 18:07; 3. Laura Heuring (Bonita) 18:41; 4. Marian Damian (Lakewood) 19:19.

Sophomore

1. Emmaline Hartel (Birmingham) 18:52; 2. Jocelyn Oviedo (Birmingham) 19:02; 3. Jennifer Hernandez (Birmingham) 19:08; 4. China Fleming (Warren) 19:16; 5. Miriam Cortez (Lakewood) 19:21.1

Junior

1. Robyn Guggiana (Warren) 17:37; 2. Stephany Guzman (Warren) 18:49; 3. Evelyn Navarro (Warren) 18:50; 4. Yessena Cortez ( 18:51; 5. Paige Tsosie (Redondo Beach) 19:00.

Senior

1. Marina Santana (Birmingham) 18:41; 2. Caria Castro (Garfield) 18:45; 3. Amanda Stephens (La Mirada) 18:52; 4. Brittany McClellan (Bonita) 18:58; 5. Rebecca Godinez (Warren) 19:04.

Boys

Team

1. Lakewood 54; 2. Birmingham 142; 3. Garfield 161; 4. Warren 177; 5. Glenn 177.

Sophomore

1. Daniel Clifford (Lakewood) 15:17; 2. Luis Aguilar (Birmingham) 16:14; 3. Josh Stockton (Lakewood) 16:20; 4. Javier Ceja (Montebello) 16;30; 5. Ryan Holash (La Mirada) 16:38.

Junior

1. Josh Castaneda (Bonita) 15:27; 2. Andrew IBarra (Bonita) 15:41; 3. Alex Ramirez (Lakewood) 15:42; 4. Jared Byrd (La Mirada) 15:50; 5. Roberto Hernandez (Garfield) 16:01.

Senior

1. Mehdi Taieb-Brahim (Birmingham) 15:23; 2. Francisco Manzo (Norte Vista) 15:34; 3. Vikash Desai (Schurr) 15:41; 4. Joseph Casas (Schurr) 15:44; 5. Valentin Jimenez (Garfield) 15:48; 6. Henry Meza (Lakewood) 15:50.

GUGGIANA SETS COURSE RECORD IN WARREN-STAUFFER INVITATIONAL

The recipe for Robyn Guggiana's success in cross country has been dedication, training..and ice cream.
"I eat it almost every day," Guggiana said.
Last season, the Warren High junior vowed not to eat ice cream during the season after she was unable to compete in a meet because she ate too much the night before a race. This season, Guggiana has resumed eating ice cream without hesitation.
Guggiana had a large sundae on Friday night but it didn't seem to be a detriment in the Warren Stauffer Invitational at Hollydale Park in South Gate on Saturday. [ep
Guggiana won the junior race with a meet record of 17 minutes, 37 seconds over the 3-mile course to become the first girls runner to break 18 minutes.
An hour earlier, Samantha Rodriguez of South El Monte and Justine Diaz of La Serna had run 18:03 and 18:07 in the freshman race to break Guggiana's record of 18:19 set in last year's meet over the predominately flat layout over asphalt and grass.
Guggiana also had motivation on Saturday from her father Paul, who suffered swollen knees while running along the course at the Woodbridge Invitational to watch her daughter. He was still running on Saturday despite doctor's order and his knees heavily bandaged.[ep
"Every time my dad is here, I want to do well for him," Guggiana said. "He tries so hard to get to my races. That means a lot to me."
So did the meet record. Warren coach Jay Waldron tried to keep the news a secret from Guggiana but a teammate accidently let the word slip because she thought that Guggiana had already known.
"I am very, very nervous before a race," said Guggiana, the defending San Gabriel Valley League champion. "I made my self so nervous because I wanted to get into the 17s that I didn't think that I would do that well. This is my home course. It's like my turf and if don't do well what's the point?"
Guggiana and the Warren girls solidified their No. 10 position in the CIF-Southern Section Division I rankings and a contender for a finals berth. Warren has won the last three SGVL titles but the Bears have yet to advance to the section championships.
"It was not a good ending last year and I hope that I can redeem myself," Guggiana said. " If I don't there is always next year. If you don't do it the first time, you can always try it the second time.''
That could change based on Warren's showing on Saturday Guggiana led a sweep of the first three places in the junior race with Stephany Guzman (18:49) and Evelyn Navarro (18:50) for the Bears, who won the overall team title based on combined races, 49-72 over L.A. City Section title contender Birmingham of Lake Balboa.
Rebecca Godinez, who was fifth in the senior race in 19:04, and China Fleming, who finished fourth in 19:16 in the sophomore race, rounded out Warren's scoring.
Lakewood won the boys title, 54-142, over Birmingham, led by sophomore Daniel Clifford, winner in the sophomore race in 15:17 for the fastest time of the day.