Girls cross country makes CIF-prelims

Cross country head coach Nathan Meier started by giving a pep-talk about the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) preliminary competition on Nov. 14 2025 at Mt. SAC encouraging cross country girls to try their best and never give up. The team put their summer, early morning and countless miles to work and commitment into qualifying their first CIF preliminaries in the new league for Palomares League. 

Seniors Ava Razo and Bonny Li, juniors Rachel Peiten, Julianna Laurel and Taryn Schilz and freshmen Diana Dira and Audrey Lin competed in the race. They placed 6th in division 2 heat 3.The uncertainty of the outcome made the achievement much more significant. They were third in their league, which allowed them to qualify for CIF prelims. It was their first-time qualifying for CIF and it showed how much effort, discipline and preparation were required for this achievement throughout the season. 

“It was surreal because we weren’t expecting to get into prelims because there was a lot of competitions,” co-captain senior Li said, “We weren’t sure that we would get in, but when we did it felt like all our hard work was paying off.”

The runners were determined to make California Interscholastic Federation(CIF) and took great pride when they achieved their goal. According to senior Ava Razo,the team felt they have improved a lot and built strong communication within their group, which has led to a good outcome. 

“I thought that we were going to make it because we did really well at league preliminary and I believed in our team,” co-captain senior Razo said. “I thought with how much improvement there was this season, I thought I could’ve pushed harder throughout the second mile. I felt that we definitely had a really good chance to go to CIF. I was very proud of my teammates.”

Coach Meier hoped that the girls were able to run hard and faster than normal. He was very encouraging throughout the race with repetitive statements such as “embrace the uncomfortable.” His words of encouragement reminded the runners that they were capable of finishing the race. 

“I was filled with pride for sure, and a little bit of nerves. I usually don’t get that nervous for races, I have full confidence in the team, but with this being a bigger stage than any other race, nerves are to be expected,” Meier said. “I just wanted them to be proud of their race, no matter the outcome.”

Even with the weather a little gloomy and drizzling, the cross country girls made an effort to try their best and keep running. There were lots of changes because of the rain, such as changing their course, instead of a trail, they ran on the parking lots. During the race, lots of mental preparation and toughness throughout their competition and they strived to encourage each other. They were saying encouraging things and every time they passed a competitor, they gave each other a high-five. The team worked together during the race to help maintain the pace and worked collectively to make good progress when running. 

“Honestly, I loved [running in the rain] a lot. I think that was one of my favorite courses overall throughout the cross country season,” freshman Dira said. “When working together with my teammates, we try to motivate each other to pass each person as we were moving up along the course.” 

Everyone was really proud of the outcome, especially the coach. Meier has put in the commitment and the work toward this team and he has seen the results that he was expecting as this was his first season as head coach. He has seen huge amounts of improvement throughout the season and growth throughout the girls. Coach Meier was confident that they will have a better executed plan to qualify for CIF again next year. 

“They got out hard and competed, but as the race went on the other teams started catching up and eventually passed us,” Meier said. “As much as I’d love to take credit for what the girls’ accomplished, it was all them. But I was extremely happy and proud of how each and every girl raced that day and all season.”