WOODLAND HILLS - It was redemption time for San Pedro High boys cross-country.

In the 2018 CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division 1 final meet, the Pirates finished a unsatisfying tenth place, but legendary head coach Bruce Thomson told the returning Pirates that 2019 was going to be something special, and on Saturday, he was proven true.

The boys edged Marshall in a wide open race to capture the program's seventh CIF-LACS Division 1 championship in the cross-country finals at Pierce College in Woodland Hills, qualifying for next Saturday's CIF State finals meet in Fresno. Also the girls team overachieved as well, edging El Camino Real in a tiebreaker for second place behind eventual three-time champion Granada Hills Charter, as they also qualified for the CIF State meet.

Thomson has now led the Pirates' cross-country program as coach to eight of their nine overall girls CIF championships (he was an assistant on the 1999 girls championship team), and six of the boys' seven overall titles (first boys championship was 1981).

Junior Max Arroyo was the first place finisher overall for both San Pedro and the CIF-LACS Division 1 with a 15:36 finishing time, and not too far behind him was fellow senior teammate Anthony Martinez, who finished third place with a time of 15:41. On the girls side, senior Riley Cameron, who's older sister Dana was on the 2012 girls' CIF championship team, finished highest with a 19:35 time. Sophomore Kaylee Vargas barely edged El Camino Real's sixth place runner by 12 spots to give the Pirates' the second place tiebreaker edge.

Alfred Maldonado, a senior, also finished in the top ten for the boys team with a finishing time of 15:55 at ninth place, while the second highest finisher for the girls is junior Evelyn Gaspar at 20:18, good for 15th place.

San Pedro's boys & girls cross-country teams also captured the Marine League title an astonishing 19th time in their last 20 seasons.

In Division 4, Port Of Los Angeles' Emilia Pirir finished twelfth with a 23:12 time. Pirir was the only individiual preliminary qualifier for the Polar Bears, who as a team won the Imperial League championship.

(Note: Photo by Alfred Maldonado)

CIF-LACS Division 1 Boys Cross-Country Team Scores
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Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
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Results
1 San Pedro 53 1 3 9 17 23 32 37
Total Time: 1:19:36.28
Average: 15:55.26

2 Marshall 55 6 7 8 12 22 35 61
Total Time: 1:19:52.73

Average: 15:58.55

3 Palisades Charter 66 2 10 16 18 20 47 54
Total Time: 1:20:06.71
Average: 16:01.35

CIF-LACS Division 1 Girls Cross-Country Team Scores =================================================================================
Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 *9
=================================================================================
Results - Women
1 Granada Hills 30 1 5 6 7 11 12 13
Total Time: 1:34:58.48
Average: 18:59.70

2 San Pedro 86 9 14 19 21 23 31 38
Total Time: 1:41:41.46
Average: 20:20.30

3 El Camino Real 86 2 4 20 24 36 42 60
Total Time: 1:39:53.38
Average: 19:58.68