Being the sole cross country competitor from LQHS to make it to the CIF finals, Akemi Von Scherr ‘20 was unable to place at the meet despite her best efforts. On Nov. 18, she finished off her final race of the 2017 season in the 3 Miles Division 1 section with a time of 18:04.1.

Following their triumph at the DVL Finals on Nov. 1, the LQ girls’ cross country champs advanced to the first rounds of CIF. The team placed ninth overall in the Division 1 Preliminaries. Led by DVL champion Von Scherr, the girls began with the CIF-SS Division Preliminaries on Nov. 10, held at the Riverside City Cross Country Course. Of the seven LQ veteran runners and rookie student-athletes who qualified for state, only Von Scherr proceeded to the finals. She qualified for the state finals with a sixth-place finish in her race with a time of 17:46.9.

Despite losing DVL, the LQ boys cross country team qualified for CIF and competed at the CIF-SS Division Preliminaries. In a race against hundreds of the best high school student-athletes in California, the LQ underclassmen and upperclassmen runners were unable to place high enough to continue to CIF Finals on Nov. 18.

Among the boys’ achievements, they had the highest reported GPAs for the entire Riverside County during the fall season. “We want to thank our coach and feel honored,” stated Dulch Ruiz ‘18, who held one of the best grade point averages on the team and placed third in DVL.

“We work hard on running and our academics all year long. It is nice to see recognition for the team,” Ruiz added.