LAKE BALBOA- Come rain or shine, there was nothing stopping neither the San Pedro, nor Port Of Los Angeles High girls cross-country teams in their quest for glory in the CIF-Los Angeles City Section.

Behind strong performances from several star runners, even in the muddy terrain at Pierce College in Woodland Hills that was so horrible, forced most of the championship meet to move to Birmingham High School in Lake Balboa, the result was pretty amazing, as the Pirates repeated as City Division I champions, claiming their ninth championship overall in 14 seasons under head coach Bruce Thompson.

Not only that, the Polar Bears also captured their first Small Schools Division title.

How about that, a double championship party for all of San Pedro in the San Fernando Valley.

San Pedro and POLA were able to overcome fierce rainy conditions, which started pouring mightily by the end of the Small Schools Division girls race, forcing the competition to switch from Pierce College to Birmingham High.

Seniors Lorena Garcia and Ashley Carrera would help San Pedro claim their third title in four years with individual second and third place finishes, powering the Pirates to an overall time of 1 hour, 34 minutes, 13.91 seconds which was just enough to power them to next weekend's CIF State Championships in Fresno.

Garcia finished with a time of 18.12, with Carrera just trailing her with a time of 18.20. Marissa Williams of Palisades Charter won the individual City title, with a time of 16.48.45.

Danielle Nunez also finished strong for San Pedro with a time of 18:41, and Bronwyn Brunell with a 19:19 finish.

Meanwhile, Kendra Moran, a freshman and a Ohio native, won the individual City Small Schools title for POLA with a 21.14.60 time finish, which powered the Polar Bears to an overall time finish of 1:52:30.86. For POLA High, it was their third City Section title, but their first outside of softball, who has won the other two section crowns.

For the boys, San Pedro placed third with 93 points, two behind second place El Camino Real of Woodland Hills with 95, narrowly missing a team spot in the CIF State Championships, but Charlie Nettles placed fourth individually, which qualifies him for the State Championships. Nettles finished with a 16:48.40 time frame.

Congratulations to all the runners from both San Pedro and POLA.

(Note: Photo by Lee Berg.)