Two qualify for state

WALNUT — Lancaster senior Issaiah McCorvey and Desert Christian junior Mehari Winheim both advanced to the CIF State Cross Country Championships after placing in the CIF-Southern Section Finals on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College. McCorvey became just the third Lancaster runner to reach the state meet by finishing third in the Division 1 Finals.

He fell short in qualifying for the state meet last year when he placed 58th in the CIF-SS Finals. “It means a lot to me that I (qualified),” McCorvey said. “When I started running, I never thought that it would take me this far.



So, it really means the world to me that I was able to qualify to state and represent the AV at the state level.” The previous Lancaster athletes that competed at CIF State were Jace Kellog in 2003 and Pedro Zaragoza in 2008. Lancaster coach Brett Smithley said McCorvey qualified this season because of his “renewed focus to his training, nutrition and sleep.

” The Golden League champion finished Saturday’s race in 15 minutes, 4.4 seconds, four seconds better than his previous best on the Mt. SAC 3-mile course.

“I’m not happy about taking third in the race,” McCorvey said. “I went in the race wanting to win, but I fell short. Time-wise isn’t too important to me, I just wanted to win.

” McCorvey said he started towards the back and worked his way up to the front of the pack. He was in second before getting passed near the end to end up in third. His goal this weekend is again to win the race and to qualify for the Nike Cross Country Nationals (NXN) on Dec.

7. “This week, I’m just trying to keep my legs fresh for the race on Saturday,” McCorvey said. “There’s not much else I can do to gain more fitness, but I just wanted to feel as relaxed as possible going into state.

“I’m going to give it my all to win state.” McCorvey’s junior teammate Dalton Burke finished 28th overall for the Eagles in Division 1, which field 118 runners. It was the first time Lancaster fielded multiple athletes in the CIF Finals.

Burke posted an 11-second PR on the course with a time of 15:37.9. “Dalton ran an excellent race, but narrowly missed qualifying for the State Meet by 14 seconds,” Smithley said.

“He had a phenomenal season considering he missed last Track & Field season with an injury. Dalton is definitely someone to watch in the 2025 Cross Country season.” Winheim finished sixth in the Division 5 boys race with a time of 15:55.

4, which helped him qualify for state. It was one of his goals after winning the Heritage League championship. “My personal goal is to go to state and get (in the top) 10,” he said after the Heritage League race.

Winheim competed at state in 2022 and finished 20th overall (16:12.9). Winheim’s other goal was to have his entire team qualify for state.

Unfortunately for him, the Desert Christian boys team finished 14th overall. Only the top six teams qualified for state. Desert Christian sophomore Josiah Schroeder was 66th (17:57.

9) in the field of 120 runners, while junior Robert Marquez finished 83rd (18:19.5), sophomore. Elias Schroeder took 98th (18:56.

4), junior Chase Metter followed in 100th (19:15.3), senior Kai Desko was 102nd (19:35.2) and freshman Jax Dandurand placed 118th (21:33.

8). The Knights are a young team and will only lose Desko to graduation. “I think next year we’ll be an even better team,” Winheim said.

Desert Christian freshman Leah Williams also competed in the Division 5 girls race. The Heritage League champion finished 27th in the field of 117 runners with a time of 20:46.1.

The CIF State Cross Country Championships will be on Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. The Division 1 boys race will begin at 9:30 a.m.

, while the Division 5 boys race will be at 1 p.m., the final race of the day.

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