WALNUT, Calif. – - The St. Francis cross country team competed at the Mt. Sac Invitational on Saturday, participating in three races and the SF girls recorded four Top 10s, won an individual title and tied for a team title.

Sophomore Sydney Vandegrift won the Sophomore Girls Sweeps race in 18:55, clearing the field by more than one and half minutes.

“It felt pretty good,” said Vandegrift. “It was hot conditions and probably one of the harder courses. Ariane (Arndt) told me to stay consistent the first two loops and attack the hills from there.”

Vandegrift was joined by teammate Aka Nkadi in the Top 10. Nkadi finished ninth in 21:49.

“It was mentally and physically tough because it was really hot to try and push up the hills did not make it any easier,” said Nkadi.

St. Francis finished tied for first in the team standings with Davis but lost the tiebreaker by virtue of their sixth finisher.

“We did well as a team,” said Nkadi. “We all were positive and we all there for each other at the end. It was hard and amazing all being close to each other.”

The Troubies placed their first time in the Top 20 and Top 7 in the first 36 finishers. Cassidy Lourim was 17^th (22:37) followed by Meg Casale in 19^th and Samantha Tram in 20^th.

The varsity unit finished ninth with senior Ariane Arndt third overall (18:47) and Chase Worthen finishing 10th (19:36).

“I was really excited,” said Arndt. “I remember everything from the last time but it was not as hard as I remembered. I started picking it up as I was running and getting my momentum. I felt pretty confident.”

“Our team did really well as a whole,” said Worthen. “We were not stressed out about the race. We went and gave it our all. We did not go out to fast and we stuck together.”

The Mt. Sac course features several famous hills in the course that make it one of the harder races in the country.

“They are pretty scary,” said Worthen of the hills on the Mt. Sac course. “They were not as bad as I remember them. My biggest strategy was to maintain position and push the down hills and flat parts at the part of the hills.”

Jessica Danens was the third finisher for the varsity (21:00) followed by Allie Lourim (66th, 21:45) and Juliet Batturaro (88th, 22:34).

After the races, the team spent the afternoon at Disneyland, adding more fun to the weekend experience.

“”It is very fun,” said Worthen. Not only is this a super-famous race that we get to compete in as a team but we get the whole bonding experience driving down and spending the day at Disneyland together. It is a really fun race for our team.”