The562’s cross country and track & field coverage is sponsored by Joe Carlson & Debbie Hughes.
The schedule will be different in Moore League cross country this season, but will that lead to a change in the league standings? No longer will the Moore League season open at El Dorado Park, and the Signal Hill meet is gone due to concerns over runners’ footing along the hill course.
That means two races at Heartwell Park this fall: one to open the league season on Sept. 30 and then the customary Moore League finals on Nov. 4.
The Millikan Rams continued their dominance in boys’ cross country with a third consecutive league title in 2025, and they’ve got the chance to make school history if they can make it four in a row.
Not since the early days of Moore League cross country–when Millikan won six of the first 10 league championships in the 1950s and 60s–have the Rams enjoyed this much success in distance running.
Head coach Pedro Ramirez has guided his alma mater through this latest golden era, and has a roster that will compete for the top spot once again.
“Again, I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Ramirez of his team’s chances this year. “The guys look pretty good. “It’s a fun group of guys. They get along pretty well, and practices are pretty joyful, so it’s just nice to be around this group of kids.”
The Rams have a good mix of experience and young talent, with four seniors leading the way, including the defending Moore League individual champion, Jack Walsh. Fellow senior Hector Diaz was fifth at league finals last season and should help lead the Rams’ varsity squad once again.
The other seniors in the top seven will be Brandon Hinojosa-Garcia and Alonzo De La Cruz, who Coach Ramirez said has worked really hard during his high school career to earn his spot on varsity.
“I think when the guys see (De La Cruz), it pushes them, because they see a guy who hasn’t been on varsity, maybe wasn’t expected to be varsity, but he’s there because of hard work,” Ramirez said. “I think the younger kids are stepping up because they see that it is hard to be on varsity, and they work hard to earn that spot.”
That group of youngsters includes a pair of sophomores in Sebastian McKiernan and Jessie Hinojosa-Garcia, Brandon’s younger brother. Freshman Michael Joyce has also impressed early on and will be in the Millikan lineup.
Long Beach Poly will look to dethrone the Rams after finishing second last season, but it’s a very new team for the Jackrabbits. Senior Graham Deeble is back on varsity, but that’s the only returner for the green & gold.
“Apart from (Deeble), literally everyone else who ran varsity for us at our season opener, that was their first varsity race,” said Poly head coach Eric Riehl of this year’s group. “So we’re brand new, but it’s been a super dedicated group. They’ve been extremely motivated. They’ve bought into the training, worked super hard, been consistent all summer, and so a lot of those runners are making the jump that we hoped and expected to see from that, which is great.”
One of those runners who’s made a big leap is sophomore Sawyer Chesnin, who has been Poly’s top runner at this stage of the season. Riehl has also seen major improvement from juniors Oscar Sican and Antonio Ramirez, who have each shaved nearly two minutes off their best times from last season.
Senior Stephen Duran-Cuevas joins Deeble as the only 12th graders in the varsity lineup at this stage. Sophomores Anthony Almeida and Sean Kelly round out the projected top seven for the Jackrabbits. Riehl says that he’s got a strong sophomore class that will continue to push for varsity spots as the Jackrabbits look to rebuild after graduating 17 seniors from the program in the spring.
Over at Wilson, there are no seniors for head coach CJ Brewer on this year’s roster, but he’s excited to see what his young Bruins can accomplish with no expectations on them.
The top returning runner for the Bruins looks to be sophomore David Nader and he’ll have a big group of juniors running along with him.
The top of that 11th grade class is a trio of Arthur Nickerson, Nicholas Hamory, and Ethan Irvin. Nickerson has already improved by over 90 seconds from last season to post a sub-16 early on this season, as has Hamory who is looking to roll his progress from track season into distance running. Irvin is also a soccer player who is seeing steady improvement as a runner.
Juniors Nico Swanson, Paxton Kubitz, Dante Cuevas, Dexter Mendez and sophomore Rico Hollister will also compete for varsity spots.
“It’s going to be a dog fight for league, and we know that we aren’t the big dogs this year, but the boys are going to get their bites in,” said Brewer of his team. “I’m excited to watch this group race with no pressure, just excitement to challenge themselves to do their best. We have no clue how good we can be, but I see a bright future for this deep group of runners that are all going to return next year.”
The Lakewood Lancers entered last season with a young roster. That youth is now stepping into positions of leadership, serving as the team’s top upperclassmen looking to play a big role in Lakewood’s 2026 season.
The top returner for the Lancers is junior Matthew Rangel, who emerged as Lakewood’s top competitor in his sophomore campaign last season. He’ll look to build off his past success, which was highlighted by a 7th place finish in a time of 15:43 at El Dorado last year.
In the spring, Rangel continued to work on his run game during Track season. Rangel dropped both his personal best times in the 1600 down to 4:38.97 and the 3200 to 9:48.85 to give him some momentum heading into the fall cross country season.
The Lancers have already hit the ground running this fall, and Rangel has emerged as their top finisher once again. In the Pat Hadley Memorial Invitational on Sept. 5, Rangel was the first Lakewood runner to cross the finish line with a time of 16:39.
Behind Rangel is senior William Chmiel. Head Coach Daniel Sorenson highlighted Chmiel’s dedication to improving on both strength and speed—emphasizing the focus on lowering personal times to improve upon team results.
Chmiel was the second Lancer to cross the finish line at the Pat Hadley Memorial Invitational with a time of 18:04. Not too far behind him was fellow senior Evan Vong, who finished with a time of 18:49.
On the West Side, the Cabrillo Jaguars are focused on growth. The roster is boosted with young talent, paving the way for constant improvement on the course.
“Every year we grow a little more,” Jags head coach Sandra Castillo said. “We teach our athletes to fall in love with running from an early age, and we are finally starting to see the results of the foundation we have built.”
Freshmen Elisandro Mendoza and Juan Ramirez will lead the Jaguars this year as two emerging stars. Castillo said both Mendoza and Ramirez bring an incredible level of talent and potential to the program, shining a bright light in the years to come.
Cabrillo also has two seniors returning for the squad, bringing their experience to the course as they work with Mendoza and Ramirez to produce team results. Fidel Perez and Jose “JJ” Miramontez are the veteran runners representing the West Side as they try to climb the Moore League standings.
Miramontez finished with a season-best time of 19:03 at Signal Hill. Both Perez and Miramontez were the team’s top runners at last year’s Palos Verdes Invitational, finishing with respective times of 12:54 and 12:37 on the two-mile course.
Bridging the gap between the strong freshmen and seniors is sophomore Anthony Ponce. In his freshman season, Ponce posted a time of 20:54 at the Signal Hill meet and 13:05 at the two-mile Palos Verdes Invitational. With a year of experience under his belt, Ponce will look to continue improving on these times as he works with the rest of the Jags to produce team results.
“I have seen so much growth from our athletes over the last few seasons, and I truly believe we are building something special,” Castillo said.
There will be more young Jags competing for a spot on Cabrillo’s cross country team, including freshmen Bruno Mosqueda, Jose Espinoza and Jonathan Loza.
St. Anthony is in a rebuild as they work under new leadership. Head coach Michael Canas has departed for Marina, and there is no official word on who will be leading the Saints this year.
Moore League cross country season will begin on Sept. 30 at Heartwell Park, where the schools will get an early look at the league finals course. While that does bring the number of courses hosting league cluster meets down to two, it will allow for runners to make a one-to-one comparison of their times at Heartwell from the first race until league finals on Nov. 4.
