WALNUT — The Division 1 championship race is rarely easy, and Santiago senior Braelyn Combe already knew that.
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Santiago’s Braelyn Combe nears the finish line in first place in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Girls Cross Country Championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on November 22, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
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Santiago’s Braelyn Combe nears the finish line in first place in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Girls Cross Country Championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on November 22, 2025. (Photo by Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
But she experienced it first hand Saturday.
Combe’s comeback win in the final 300 meters, and Claremont’s team title in Division 2 were two of the many highlights for Inland girls at the CIF Southern Section cross country championships at Mt. San Antonio College.
It was the first CIF-SS title for the senior Arkansas-bound Combe, and the second individual title for Santiago in the last three years, following Rylee Blade’s win in 2023.
It looked like Combe was well on her way as she took the lead from the outset and led by 3.8 seconds over Trabuco Hills senior Millie Bayles at the end of the first mile, but Bayles overtook her in the second mile and led by 3.5 seconds after two miles.
Bayles still led as the duo entered the stadium with about 300 meters to go on the Mt. SAC rain course, which is flatter than the regular course and its use was necessitated by rain earlier in the week.
But Combe passed Bayles shortly after they entered the track and pulled away to win with a time of 16:07.0, beating out Bayles, who was second in 16:12.5.
“I felt really good yesterday and during the warmup,” Combe said. “I think I get nervous when it comes to races like this. … I think about maybe 2K into the race, it hit me really hard. I don’t know what it was about. Hopefully, we’ll get it figured out by next week.
“Because track is so important to me, I said, ‘if I can’t close the gap on this track, then what am I going to do on a real track (race)?”
It was somewhat of a mixed bag of results for Santiago. Combe excelled, as did freshman Addyson Johns, who finished third (16:39.4) to barely edge out King’s Elizabeth Jacklin (16:39.5). Combe hurried back to the finish line to help Johns, as she struggled in crossing the line.
The Sharks settled for third place with 107 points, trailing Mira Costa (61) and Trabuco Hills (82). Santiago had been in the top two for each of the last three years.
“We ran good up front,” Santiago coach Rick Etheridge said. “Nicole (Samson, 47th) and Taylor (Davis, 50th) usually run with Sofia (Ramirez, 23rd) and they had an off-day today. If they run with Sofia like they normally do, it’s a much closer score between us and Mira Costa.”
Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Pete Marshall, Correspondent)
In Division 2, it was an outstanding day for Claremont, which won its first CIF team title since winning three straight from 2016-18. In a very tight and deep race, the Wolfpack (103) edged out Westlake (111), Tesoro (116), Ventura (117), Saugus (124) and Murrieta Valley (131).
“I thought we were in second or third the whole time,” Claremont coach Mark Batres said. “Then I saw the 2-mile splits and I saw we were in first, but by like five points. I knew us and Westlake were going to be really close. I knew our 4-5 was a little stronger than their 4-5. So I was pretty confident we would have a chance to win.”
Claremont was led by senior Isla Bulmer, who finished third in 16:25.2).
“I had a lot of really good workouts, and I thought it was possible,” Bulmer said.
Another standout team girls performance was turned in by Big Bear in Division 4. The Bears were second (112) behind runaway winner JSerra (28).
“I thought it (second) was possible, but us not being on the hills (of the regular Mt SAC course) was a detriment. It was all visualization. I hypnotized them.” Big Bear coach Jonathan Stiles said with a laugh. “And they’re wonderful girls.”
Big Bear ran as a tight pack, with all five scoring girls finishing between 17th and 30th place.
Other sub-17-minute finishers among Inland runners, included Murrieta Valley senior Arielle Avina (8th in Division 2, 16:56.8), Ontario junior Isabella Ruiz (10th in Division 2, 16:59.7), Hemet senior Gabriella Loza (7th in Division 1, 16:43.9), and Riverside Poly senior Olivia Bollenbach (11th in Division 1, 16:55.6). All four of those girls qualified for state: Avina as part of a team and the other three as individuals.
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