Indian boys' team finishes second

LA CRESCENTA — There was a red uniform in a sea of maroon in the boys' race at Thursday's Pacific League cross-country finals.

Running against a talented Arcadia High team, Burroughs' Anthony Monroy did all he could to break up the Apaches pack at the event at Crescenta Valley Park.

In contrast to the ultra-close girls' meet, was the boys' meet, one in which Arcadia flexed its might at an alarming rate, taking five of the top six slots and seven of the first eight. The Apaches won with 18 points, while Burroughs took second with 59, followed by Crescenta Valley (87) edging Burbank (91) for third for the first time this season.

"They just keep improving every year," said Burroughs' Anthony Monroy, the reigning All-Area Boys' Runner of the Year, who was the only non-Arcadia runner in the top eight, taking third in 15 minutes 32.05 seconds.

The Apaches, ranked second in the nation by ESPN RISE and first in CIF Southern Section Division I, were led by league champion Ammar Moussa (15:26.11), who cruised across the finish line right next to teammate Sergio Gonzalez (second; 15:26.32).

Monroy came in shortly thereafter, more than 25 seconds in front of the fourth-place finisher.

"I'm happy," said Monroy of his performance. "I was just trying to keep it under control. It's kinda hot today, I didn't want to go out too fast."

In the shadows of Arcadia's dominance, Burroughs was once more impressive in firmly entrenching itself as the No. 2 team in league, with Charlie Camacho running an impressive race, taking 10th in 16:42.60. A pack of Indians soon followed with Alex Quispe (14th; 17:00.15) and Kamal Chahal (15th; 17:06.89) finishing just in front of CV's Bob Anderson (16th; 17:10.77) before Burroughs' scoring five was closed out by Alex Martinez (17th; 17:15.91).

"We're doing really great," said Monroy of the Indians, who are striving to advance as a team to the CIF finals after falling short a season ago. "We just keep improving. We just keep practicing and we're hoping to make it even farther than we did last year."