Mt. San Antonio College, infamous for its winding and hilly course, hosted thousands of runners for its 2025 invitational meet. Westview brought 14 runners to it, seven from boys and seven from girls. Girls cross country placed fourth in the three mile D-I and D-II Individual Sweepstakes at the meet, and boys cross country placed ninth in the three mile D-I and D-II Individual Sweepstakes.
Captain Parker McDevitt (12) said that the course’s two major hills, Switchbacks and Reservoir Hill, posed large obstacles.
“[The course is] really long,” he said. “I could see most of the [Reservoir] hill, but at the first crest, it blocked the view of where I had to go, and I had to go even further up the hill. After that, the downhill portion was really hard, because the downhill for Reservoir is very steep, and at the bottom of the downhill, there was a 90-degree left turn.”
However, according to McDevitt, their specialized training helped the team stay strong going over the hills.
“Leading up to it, on Mondays we’d have long runs where we’d go out and just try to run as fast as we could,” McDevitt said. “That really helped us to be able to push when it’s hard, because a lot of times, there’s a hill during a run, and especially during this week, the route we chose’s second half was practically all uphill. Being able to run fast there really helped on this hilly course. On Wednesday, we had our speed workout, where we had 1,000-meter repeats on the track with active recovery. That helped us with being able to keep our fast pace.”
McDevitt said that the team’s plan was to conserve their energy and for the six of them to stick together in the beginning to push each other forward. Then, they would accelerate after the first hill.
“It’s a lot easier when you have someone running with you than when you’re running by yourself,” he said. “That was also a big thing with my teammates, going out conservatively, but also together, so then they would be able to keep pushing each other during the race. They executed that really well.”
McDevitt said he tried a different strategy for this race that he will use during CIFs: starting quickly and maintaining speed, then exerting a burst of speed after the first downhill to pass the people in front of him. With this tactic, he ran the three miles in 15:19 and placed eighth among the 125 contestants.
“I was in the back of the top 20 for the first mile,” McDevitt said. “We went up the hill, and some people sped up at the bottom of the hill, but I just kept my place and stayed with the people I was with. Then, once we were about to crest the hill, I started to push. We had a very long downhill after the first hill, so I took it to catch up to as many people as I could that were in front of me. The moment I started passing people, I just thought about the person in front of me, how I would catch up to them, eventually pass them, and then move on to the next person.”
Sophie Sagi (9), the girls team’s fastest runner, with a three-mile record of 17:04, faced a problem while she tackled the hills: she was sick.
“I had a choice not to run, but I chose not to take it,” she said. “I told myself that I had a commitment to the team, and I wasn’t going to let my team down by not running. I knew it wasn’t going to go as well as it would’ve if I was in optimal condition, but I just had to accept it and know that my best for each day was going to vary. Doing my best is all I can do.”
Still, she raced an 18:20, placing eighth.
“I just kept pushing through it, because [running is] super mental, and you just have to tell yourself to keep going even if it hurts or if it’s really hard,” Sagi said. “After the first hill, I moved from top 20 to top ten. It was really rewarding to see that I can run up hills well even if I’m sick.”
Sagi said that the support and spirit from her teammates and coaches contributed to a positive environment that helped her perform well.
“Because my team and coaches have been so supportive of me, that’s really allowed me to excel,” she said. “It’s really nice, especially at this race, where we had ribbons in our hair, and that showed that we were unified as one team. The guys from our team who were already done with their race would go to certain parts of the course and cheer us on when we ran up the hill or were near the finish line or especially when we passed other people. It made our team feel even more like a team, and it was really motivating.”
McDevitt and Sagi both said that the teams’ performances made them all more confident for CIFs, as they outraced their major rivals.
“We have to be in the top three of the teams to get to states,” Sagi said. “[Our placement at Mt. San Antonio College] was a good sign, because we [are closer] to beating out the other teams and our cross country team as a whole getting to go to states. I think that it is within reach.”
