By Ed Piper
Freshman Chiara Dailey, who only took up competitive racing only a year ago, ran the 3.11-mile cross country course at Morley Field in 18:26.46, and Dailey and junior teammate Kirra Fisk led La Jolla's girls to a dominant team win in the Eastern League finals Wed., Nov. 2 by 34 points over second-place Clairemont.
Dailey came into CIF San Diego Section competition as a ninth-grader this fall like a comet, taking over races and recording course times that excelled in all grade levels. As a result, she was named top runner of the year on the girls' side for Coach Mandy Benham's La Jolla squad.
Fisk was no slouch, running near Dailey as she continued her outstanding performances from the past two years to finish second in the girls race in 18:33.65, over seven seconds behind her teammate.
The Viking girls, in accumulating the minimum number of team points at 22, piled on competitors not only from Clairemont but also Our Lady of Peace, always a strong school in girls athletics, which finished back at third place with 57 points.
La Jolla's Daphne Mayer, a junior, placed fifth in 19;38.43, and freshman Sophia O'Brien finished sixth with a time of 20:17.28.
Senior Scarlett Slagter timed out at 20:31.62 across the hills and through the trees at Morley for ninth place.
Fisk was named the top junior, while O'Brien took home top freshman honors.
On the boys' side, Viking Owen O'Keefe was awarded top freshman as he finished the boys' race in 17:47.26 for 13th place. The La Jolla boys team placed third with 75 points, behind St. Augustine in first and San Diego in second place.
A week earlier, at the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut, California, Dailey broke the 17-minute mark over a revamped 2.93-mile course for the first time in five years, as she led La Jolla to a second-place finish in the Division 3, 4, and 5 Sweepstakes Blue race Oct. 21-22 with 117 points. Cathedral Catholic was the only team to finish faster, with 63 points.
While Dailey ran in 16:58, Fisk wasn't far back in 18:16, sixth place. Mayer clocked 19:26 for 25th place. O'Brien was 32nd in 19:46. Slagter completed the course, newly re-built to be more hilly, in 20:36, 53rd place. There were over 3,000 girls running.
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