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Burbank, Burroughs Will Be Well Represented in College

Graduation season is always one with mixed emotions, as a new group of graduates are sent out into the world.

Burbank and Burroughs Highs will both miss a number of graduates who will be tough to replace as leaders in sports.

The following summarizes where student athletes from the two schools will continue their education and athletic careers.

Burbank

With two teams that reached CIF Championship contests, the Bulldogs will certainly have some representation at the college level.

Burbank’s football team has at least six that will continue their careers, all in separate directions.

Burbank High’s Joey Miller will be playing for UC Davis. ( Photo by © Ross A. Benson)

Receiver Joey Miller is headed to the University of California, Davis. Linebacker Jake Kelley is headed to the University of La Verne. Quarterback Guy Gibbs will move on to Glendale Community College. Receiver Forrest Fajardo will play at Pasadena City College. Offensive lineman Scott Breslin will continue at Ventura College and defensive end Matthew Villagran will play at Los Angeles Valley College.

From the basketball team, Michael Woods is headed to UC Merced. Thomas Clark is headed to Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. Point guard Cameron Sweeten is going to play at Compton Community College. Faraz Khandaker plans to play, but has yet to make a decision.

Michael Woods will continue at UC Merced. (Photo by © Ross A. Benson)

From the Burbank baseball team, Danny Porras is headed to Claremont McKenna. Matt Lungaro will attend the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Lungaro will have a teammate nearby, as Henry Leake is continuing his career at Babson College in Massachusetts.

Girls’ soccer and track star Kira Bochard will compete in both sports at the University of Montevallo in Alabama. Her soccer teammate Dani Yanez is moving on to play at Chico State University. Track star Haleigh Cusumano will continue her career at UC San Diego.

Kira Bochard (left) and Haleigh Cusumano (right) will both run in college. Photo By: Edaward Tovmassian

Boys’ track star Vedavit Shetty will move on to Glendale Community College. GCC will also get a boost from distance runner Angel Flores. Burbank girls’ distance runner Jamie Giammichele will move on to Cal State Northridge, where she will make an attempt to compete with the cross country team.

From the girls’ volleyball team, Rachel Wiley will continue her career at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Burroughs

The Indians’ class of 2017 is headlined by football players Chance Bell and Jesse Chamberlain. Bell, a running back, is headed to San Diego State. Chamberlain, an offensive lineman, signed a letter of intent with San Jose State University.

Jesse Chamberlain (left) and Chance Bell (right) will both be playing major college football. Photo By: Edward Tovmassian

Burroughs boys’ basketball star Tristen Hull will continue his career at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

Diego Galaviz, a left-sided defender on Burroughs’ Pacific League champion boys’ soccer team, has signed with Cal State Dominguez Hill. Cameron Kelly and Jake Lasso-Spell are both planning on playing at Los Angeles Mission College.

Goalkeeper Jordan Morgan is uncommitted, but will play in college. Defender Richard Alonzo is also considering the idea of continuing his career, but is undecided.

From the girls’ soccer team, Mireya Gonzalez and Alondra Solis will both move on to Alcorn State University. Golfer Maddie Riggs, who also played soccer, will bring her clubs to UC Irvine.

Also from the girls’ golf team, Ashley Phelps will play at Cal State Northridge and Raelinn Arnold will play at Buena Vista University.

Ashley Phelps will play golf at Cal State Northridge.

From the boys’ golf team, Louis D’Aquila will play at College of the Canyons.

Boys’ volleyball star Connor Ludlum is planning on playing at Santa Barbara Community College.

Distance runners Patrick and Timothy Wells will continue their cross country and track careers at Pepperdine University.

Timothy Wells is moving on to Pepperdine University. Photo By: Edaward Tovmassian

Middle distance star Daniel Fendrich is still undecided between Glendale Community College and Cal State Northridge.

Distance runner Heidi Eligio will continue at Northridge. Izzy Funes, a jumper and sprinter, will continue her career at Occidental College. Sprinter Megan Wade will continue at the University of La Verne.

Burroughs’ softball team will continue have a few more players moving on. Lauren Lopez will continue at Wilmington College in Delaware next year. Brianna Johnson will be playing at Bloomfield College in New Jersey and Amanda Flores will be at Pasadena City College.

From the girls’ basketball team Haley Wilson and Caitlyn Pentland are expected to play at Glendale Community College.

Burroughs baseball players Justin Palafox and Riley Hooper are also expected to play at Glendale Community College.

Burroughs swimmer Nathan Armstrong will continue his career at Beloit College in Wisconsin.

Burroughs Boys’ Cross Country Team Edged Out in League Final

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The Burroughs High boys’ cross country team had won the past two Pacific League titles and won the first two league meets of this season.

But with Arcadia and Crescenta Valley close behind, nothing less than a stellar performance would help the Indians win again in the Pacific League final at Crescenta Valley Park.

Thursday afternoon, Burroughs found out how close every second and every man counts.

Unlike in the first two league meets, which were scored as head-to-head matchups, the league final is scored invitational style.

Either way, the Indians fell short against Arcadia. Under the invitational style scoring Burroughs lost to the Apaches on a sixth-man tie-breaker after both teams scored 44 points. Crescenta Valley, which returns its entire top five next season, was close behind with 49 points. Burbank High was fourth with 104.

Burroughs and Arcadia now share the league title, but Arcadia will head to CIF competition as the league’s top representative.

“I think we’re a little mad at ourselves for not doing what we could do,” Burroughs Jacob Calderon said. “We didn’t execute our game plan. Now we need to get ready for CIF.”

Had the meet been scored head-to-head Burroughs would have lost to Arcadia 27-28.

“We lost to a good team. Arcadia has a good group of runners,” Burroughs coach John Peebles said. “They beat us today. Hats off to them.”

Daniel Fendrich has the finish line in sight. (Photo by © Ross A. Benson)

Alexander Hirsch once again led the Indians and finished second to Crescenta Valley’s Colin FitzGerald, who won in 15 minutes, 33 seconds. Hirsch was second in 15:34.Also for Burroughs were Timothy Wells (fifth, 15:54), Jagdeep Chahal (seventh, 16:00), Calderon (13^th, 16:20), Daniel Fendrich (17^th, 16:28), Patrick Wells (22^nd, 16:59) and Ethan Brown (26^th, 17:42).

Burbank was led by Elijah Parrott, who took 10^th in 16:08. Angel Flores (14^th, 16:21), Jahir Olvera (25^th, 17:33), Nick Glover (27^th, 17:45), Tadeh Shanazari (28^th, 17:56), Mario Avendano (31^st, 18:23) and Peter Al-Hasani (40^th, 19:36) round out the Bulldogs.

Jahir Olvera puts in his final kick. (Photo by © Ross A. Benson)

In the girls’ competition, Burbank finished second with 53 points. Arcadia easily won with 23 points. Burroughs finished fourth by way of losing a sixth runner tie-breaker with Crescenta Valley. The Indians had 84 points.

Emily Virtue easily repeated as league champion, winning in 18:18.

Burbank seniors Gabby Collins and Kira Bochard came up big, taking fifth and seventh place overall.

“I’m really proud of my team. Arcadia is one of the better teams in the state,” Collins said. “To be second to them in our league, which is a really good league, is really impressive.”

Collins finished in 19:15. Bochard finished in 19:19. Freshman Sol Fernandez (10^th, 19:49), Noemi Apreza (13^th, 20:27), Jamie Giammichele (18^th, 20:59), Natalie Danao (20^th, 21:11) and Jordan Delgado (25^th, 22:19) round out the Bulldogs.

For Burroughs, Heidi Eligio finished 11^th in 20:24. Sapphire Sandoval (19^th, 21:07), Catrina Villalpando (26^th, 22:23), Kenna Guzman (27^th, 22:32), Ana Villalpando (36^th, 24:10) and Molly Stapelfeldt (38^th, 24:48) round out the Indians.

Burroughs Cross Country Still On Top

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Burroughs High junior Emily Virtue is generally heads and shoulders above the rest of the Pacific League when it comes to distance running.

Thursday afternoon in the second Pacific League cross country meet, Virtue faced a tough challenge on the Arcadia County Park course.

That challenge came in the form of Arcadia senior Cindy Liang, who ran relatively even with Virtue for about two miles before the Burroughs star broke loose and completed the 3-mile course in 17 minutes, 15 seconds.

Liang finished second in 17:26.

“I was kind of expecting it. It wasn’t much of a surprise,” Virtue said of Liang.

A national finalist last year, Virtue said she was not running her best Thursday.

“Last year in every race I would just try to go all out 100 percent,” Virtue said. “This year I’m trying to be a little more sparing with my races because by the end of last season I was kind of burned out.”

Burroughs won the boys’ varsity competition despite an unfortunate incident that saw senior Daniel Fendrich withdraw after accidentally bumping his leg into a utility pole. Fendrich, who was Burroughs’ fifth man in the first Pacific League meet, was icing his leg afterwards and said he did not break any bones and expects to be back soon.

Burroughs junior Alexander Hirsch finished second to Crescenta Valley’s Colin FitzGerald. FitzGerald won in 14:41 and Hirsch ran 14:44.

Junior Jagdeep Chahal (fourth, 14:49), senior Timothy Wells (14:49),junior Jacob Calderon (15:05), junior Andrew Hoxsie (17^th, 15:34) and senior Patrick Wells (23^rd, 16:02) round out the Indians.

Burbank, which finished fourth in the boys’ varsity team standings, had a fine effort from senior Angel Flores, who finished 11^th overall.

“I felt more ready for this race,” Flores said in comparison to the first league meet, in which he finished 19^th. “I was in the zone.”

Also for Burbank, senior Elijah Parrott took 15^th in 15:26. Rounding the Bulldogs were sophomore Jahir Olvera (25^th, 16:05), sophomore Mario Avendano (29^th, 17:01), sophomore Sergio Bernal (32^nd, 17:21), sophomore Nick Glover (33^rd, 17:28) and sophomore Peter Al-Hasani (36^th, 17:54).

In the girls’ team competition, Burbank finished second behind Arcadia and ahead of Crescenta Valley and Burroughs, which finished fourth.

Burbank senior Gabby Collins took fourth in 17:56 and fellow senior Kira Bochard was 10^th in 18:34.

Also for Burbank were junior Noemi Aprez (12^th, 19:09), freshman Sol Fernandez (13^th, 19:10), senior Jamie Giammichele (20^th, 19:44), sophomore Natalie Danao (22^nd, 19:46), freshman Jordan Delgado (20:19).

Rounding out for Burroughs were junior Kenna Guzman (21^st, 19:46), junior Saphire Sandoval (23^rd, 19:51), junior Catrina Villalpando (26^th, 20:54), senior Izzy Funez (32^nd, 22:13), senior Dru Kim (33^rd, 22:14) and senior Jailene Diaz (43^rd, 25:34).

Burroughs Wins First Pacific League Cross Country Meet

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The Burroughs High boys’ cross country may be one of the best teams in the CIF Southern Section.

But the Indians know they have to be their best in league meets because the Pacific League competition is tough.

Burroughs won the boys completion in the first league meet Wednesday at Crescenta Valley Park followed by Arcadia and Crescenta Valley.

Burbank High finished second in the girls team competition, trailing just Arcadia.

Crescenta Valley High junior Colin Fitzgerald won the boys’ varsity race, covering the 3-mile course in 15 minutes, 32 seconds.

Burroughs junior Alexander Hirsch, who was running in his first meet of the season, took second in 15:43.

“For a first race I felt it went well,” Hirsch said. “I didn’t want to overdo it on my first race. The pack ran very well. I hope to see more of this later in the season.”

While Arcadia finished closest to Burroughs in the standings, it was Crescenta Valley that opened some eyes as the Falcons appear to have created a great showdown with Burroughs for the next couple of years.

Burroughs, which had four underclassmen in its top seven, saw all seven of its runners finish under 17 minutes.

CV, which has no seniors in its top seven, also had all seven under 17 minutes.

Junior Jagdeep Chaahal (fourth, 15:50), senior Timothy Wells (fifth, 15:58), junior Jacob Calderon (eighth, 16:15), senior Daniel Fendrich (10^th 16:18), junior Andrew Hoxsie (17^th, 16:33) and senior Patrick Wells (22^nd, 16:46) round out Burroughs top seven.

Burbank, which finished fourth in the league standings, got some solid performances from seniors Angel Flores and Elijah Parrott. They finished 19^th and 20^th in 16:39 and 16:40, respectively.

Burbank had four sophomore take the team’s third and through sixth spots with Jahir Olvera (27^th, 17:48) leading the charge. He was followed Nick Glover (28^th, 17:53), Peter Al-Hasani (30^th, 18:28), Sergio Bernal (34^th, 18:42) and senior Samir Malhotra (36^th, 19:16).

“We’re still training hard. Some of our varsity boys have run faster through two miles in route than they did in track,” Burbank coach Kathryn Nelson said. “We’re seeing a big improvement. This league is full of incredible teams.

On the girls’ side Burroughs Emily Virtue won by over a minute, winning in 18:18. Arcadia then had a pack of six runners, which helped the Apaches easily win the team title.

“I didn’t have a plan since this was my first race of the season,” said Virtue, who was battling tendinitis last spring. “It was just like I wanted to see what I could do.”

Burbank was led by senior Gabby Collins (eighth, 19:45). Freshman Sol Fernandez (11^th, 20:39), sophomore Natalie Danao (13^th, 20:46), senior Kira Bochard (14^th, 20:47), senior Jamie Giammichele (18^th, 21:13), freshman Jordan Delgado (26^th, 22:13) and freshman Sofya Arakelyan (33^rd, 23:40) round out the Bulldogs.

“Our goal was to get second,” Nelson said.

Senior Heidi Eligio (ninth, 20:02), junior Sapphire Sandoval (15^th, 21:02), junior Kenna Guzman (22^nd, 21:32), sophomore Lakely Nealis (25^th, 21:53), junior Ana Villalpando (27^th, 22:24) and junior Catrina Villalpando (31^st, 22:57) round out the Indians.

Burroughs, Burbank Cross Country Ready to Go

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Success in long distance running is not something new to Burbank or Burroughs high. Burroughs, which won a CIF Southern Section boys’ Division I title in 2014, is a strong contender to return to the podium in 2016. Burroughs Emily Virtue looks to remain as one of the best in the nation. Burbank looks to have a strong girls’ team and has a young boys’ team.

Burroughs

If the Indians stay healthy, they may be the team to beat in the CIF Southern Section. With a strong pack of four elite runners, Burroughs will be tough to top. Senior Timothy Wells and juniors Jacob Calderon, Jagdeep Chahal and Alexander Hirsch have all gone under 4 minutes, 30 seconds in the 1,600.

Wells has also gone 9:28 in the 3,200. Calderon also has run 1:57.8 in the 800. Chahal has gone 9:39.15 in the 3,200 and Hirsch went 9:39.6 in track last spring.

Senior Patrick Wells could be the leader of Burroughs’ next pack that makes up the fifth through seventh runners.

He went 10:00.48 in the 3,200 last spring in track and field. Senior Daniel Fendrich (2:03.64 in 800), juniors Andrew Hoxsie (10:10.35 in 3,200) and Chris Hoxsie, figure to fill out the rest of the varsity.

“Our goal is to have all of our kids running their best at the end of the season and, at that time, know who our top seven are,” coach John Peebles said.

On the girls’ side, junior Emily Virtue will look to remain as one of the best in the nation.

The defending Pacific League champion took second in the CIF championships and was sixth in the state. She finished eighth in the Foot Locker Western Regionals and 38^th in the national championships at Balboa Park in San Diego.

After Virtue, Burroughs has senior Heidi Eligio, who finished eighth in league finals last year.

Junior Sapphire Sandoval, sophomore Lakely Nealis figure to hold down the next two spots. Rounding out the top seven are senior Dru Kim, junior Kenna Guzman and junior Catrina Villalpando.

Burbank

The Bulldogs are not as deep as in the past. But this is a program that has produced many elite runners dating back all the way to the 1960s.

Burbank has co-coaches in Robert Hammell and Kathryn Nelson. Nelson is the wife of Bulldlegend Jeff Nelson, who is arguably the greatest American high school distance runner of all time.

The Bulldogs have a stronger girls’ team this season, even though they lost star Candela Fernandez to graduation.

Burbank is led by a group of seniors.

Gabby Collins and Jamie Giammichele both had solid junior years. Collins ran 11:45 in the 3,200 last spring in track. Giammichele ran 19:51 at Mt. Sac last season.

Kira Bochard, who finished 10^th last season in league finals, could also challenge for the top spot.

Sophomore Natalie Danao, who ran 20:12 at league finals a year ago, figures to be in the top five.

Junior Noemi Apreza (12:59 in 3,200 in track) will probably hold down the fifth spot.

Freshmen Sol Fernandez and Sofya Arakelyan have been impressive in practice and could be future stars.

Burbank’s boys’ team is led by senior co-captains Angel Flores and Elijah Parrott. Flores ran 10:09 in the 3,200 in track and Parrott ran 16:39 at Mt. Sac last season.

Sophomore Jahir Olvera is coming off a solid season in track in which he ran 10:37 in the 3,200.

Sophomores Nick Glover, Sergio Bernal and Peter Al-Hasani are all moving up the varsity.

Senior Samir Malhotra is another newcomer.

“Both the girls’ and boys’ teams are very young this season with many new faces at the varsity level. We graduated three girls and six boys from last year’s varsity team. We will look to our underclassmen to gain valuable experience for future years,” Nelson said.