Rylee Blade & Great Oak Boys Look To Extend Streaks At ASICS Cool Breeze Invitational

Rylee Blade began her journey toward winning a California Division 1 state title last season with her remarkable performance at the ASICS Cool Breeze Invitational.

Blade, a senior at Corona Santiago High, has an opportunity Saturday to make additional history at the Pomona Fairplex by winning the Sundown Showdown girls race for a third consecutive year.

But an even more impressive streak could be extended by the Great Oak boys, who are seeking a fifth straight victory in the boys Sundown Showdown competition, which could be the first step for the Wolfpack in the quest to capture the program’s first Southern Section Division 1 championship since 2019.

The 10th edition of the meet begins at 2 p.m. PDT, with the Sundown Showdown girls race scheduled for 8:14 p.m. and the boys competition at 8:40 p.m.

Blade lowered her own 3-mile record last year at the Pomona Fairplex by clocking 16:30.0, a 43-second improvement from her sophomore performance at the same venue.

Santiago is also seeking its first Sundown Showdown victory after being edged in 2022 by Great Oak and placing runner-up last season to JSerra.

The Sharks are expected to showcase Braelyn Combe, Taylor Davis, Audrey Buckley, Kinsley Whitecavage and Jaela Jaffe, along with Blade, against a field that is scheduled to include host Claremont, plus Murrieta Valley, Great Oak, and Tesoro.

Claremont, which won three consecutive Sundown Showdown girls titles from 2016-18 when the event was held at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, boasts a lineup that is expected to include junior Isla Bulmer and promising freshmen Grace Smith and Camila Trevino-Davila.

Although JSerra is not returning to defend its Sundown Showdown girls championship from last year, senior Brynn Garcia is scheduled to compete for the three-time Division 4 state champion Lions, in addition to Vista Murrieta’s Erika Kirk and Etiwanda’s Alyssa Wyatt.

Westin Brown (Great Oak). Photo courtesy of Ken Martinez.

Westin Brown, Jacob Brown, Jack Paradise, Carson Lynch, and Marco Franco are returning competitors from Great Oak’s lineup last season, which produced a 118-139 victory against Newbury Park.

Martin Luther King, led by last year’s runner-up Maximo Zavaleta (14:53.8), is looking to improve on a fourth-place performance and challenge the Wolfpack, with support from returning athletes Brayden Lunetta, Bradley Quezada, Logan Carlson, Alex Wesolowski, Frank Stewart and Zachary Halama.

Maximo Zavaleta (Martin Luther King). Photo courtesy of Ken Martinez.

Glendora, Tesoro, Corona Santiago, Hart, and Yosemite add depth to the Sundown Showdown boys’ field, which is also expected to include La Serna’s Grant Miller, South Torrance’s Liam Miller and Sacramento Country Day’s Andrew Burr.

Cathedral’s Emmanuel Perez produced the fastest all-time boys 3-mile performance last year at the Pomona Fairplex by running 14:23.5. Zavaleta and Westin Brown are the only two returning competitors who have eclipsed the 15-minute barrier at the venue.