The Long Beach Poly boys’ cross country team is opening up the season ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 1 poll, and the Jackrabbits backed up that lofty ranking with a championship performance over the weekend in their first race of the year.
Poly was missing three of their top five runners but still won the UCSB Gaucho Invitational, with senior WIll Frankenfeld winning the individual title with a time of 15:34. The Jackrabbits got strong runs by junior Zane Witter (16:01), Chris Yontz (16:28), Alex Matos (16:31), and Aldo Khiev (16:42). All five finished in the top 13.
The Jackrabbits’ next race is the Woodbridge XC Invitational on Sept. 15.