Palisades’ Max Fields wins City Section Division I cross-country title

There was morning fog and cool weather Saturday for the City Section cross-country finals at Pierce College, but that’s not the reason sophomore Max Fields of Palisades was the only runner out of 75 in the Division I final wearing gloves.

“My good luck charm,” he said.

Fields went out and ran a personal-best time of 15 minutes 22.5 seconds to capture the title and lead Palisades to the Division I team championship. He finished second last spring as a freshman in the 3,200 during track season. He qualifies for next weekend’s state championships in Clovis.

In Division I girls, Granada Hills’ Isabel Castagnola continued her rapid improvement and won the title with a time of 18:18.9. She came into this season having never broken 19 minutes. Teammate Jocelyn Pacheco was second. Granada Hills ran away with the team championship.

In Division II boys, James Jimenez of Venice won in 15:59.4. Monroe won the team title. In Division II girls, Lidia Prokopovych of Venice won in 19:07.3. Eagle Rock took the team crown.

The Franklin High duo of Francisco Rodriguez and David Martinez finished one-two in Division III boys. Rodriguez ran 15:48.1 and Martinez finished in 15:50.4. Right behind in third was sophomore Jude Sandridge of Reseda in 15:56. Verdugo Hills won the team title. Dulce Gonzalez of Canoga Park took the girls title in 18:52 and the Hunters won the team title.

Here’s the link for complete results.