The De Anza League cross-country finals took place at Snow Summit at 7,000 feet Saturday afternoon. Twentynine Palms High School Coach Jay Stepp said the event was dominated by Big Bear. The Big Bear girls kicked off defeating Yucca Valley by 7 and Shadow Hills by 56. Going into the last half mile, the teams were separated by two points and only a few seconds between key scorers. Huge races by the Bears, who ran off with the race and the League title for 2013. Jennifer Schick repeated as the individual champion, besting Katelyn Wood of Yucca Valley by 32 seconds.
The boys’ race provided little drama except for individual placing. A 1-2 finish gave the Bears a comfortable 17-point win over the second place Trojans; Twentynine Palms was third. Jeff Larson of Yucca Valley was third overall and Zach Kanlong of Twentynine Palms was fourth. Big Bear regained a league title that had eluded them the past two years.
The junior varsity boys’ team race was all Big Bear as they swept the league with a perfect 15 points. For the JV Girls, Chenoa Bumpus of Yucca Valley won in a time of 23:59.
Jeff Larson, Saul Tamayo, Katelyn Wood, Aaliyah Williams, and Mariah Muchtar earned First Team All-League Honors. Khaleel LeForce, Dakota Wrigley, Evelyn Angeles, Rosie Lemm, and Hunter Stepp earn Second Team All-League Honors.
