LIONS TAME THE FIELD AT THE ORANGE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS (PHOTOS): The @jserra.tfxc Girls and Boys Cross Country teams took on their county rivals at the 2025 Orange County Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado.
Contributing photographer Dylan Stewart brought his lens course side for Saturday’s racing action and shares some of his snaps of the Lions battling for county superiority.
LIONS POSTRACE: The @jserra.tfxc Girls Cross Country team is once again Orange County’s standard of excellence, as the Lions won their third county title in the last four years at the Orange County Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado.
The team talks about confidently executing their racing strategy amongst their county rivals and looking ahead to the second half of the season and preparing for their big goals in the postseason.
LIONS RECLAIM ORANGE COUNTY TITLE: The @jserra.tfxc Girls Cross Country team re-captured their spot atop the Orange County hierarchy on Saturday, as the Lions won the Sweepstakes team title at the 2025 Orange County Cross Country Championships at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado.
JSerra has now won the county title three times in the last four years and is undefeated in team competitions this fall.
The Lions’ pack racing once again provided the pathway to victory, as JSerra produced a 48-second scoring gap amongst their scoring five runners, tops among all teams that placed in the top 13. That effort was fronted by junior Reese Holley, who placed third overall in a time of 16:32.9 and was the fastest junior runner of the invitational.
Freshman Maya Pawlowicz was the next Lions’ runner to stride across the finish line, as she finished fifth in a time of 16:39.2 and earned the title of the county’s fastest freshman.
Senior Chloe Elbaz (17:12.8), freshman Brooklyn Tennant (17:17.4), and freshman Sierra Harden (17:20.8) capped the Lions scoring effort by finishing amongst the top 18 runners in the field.
JSerra tallied 49 points, outpacing runner-up Santa Margarita (75 points) and defending champion Trabuco Hills (103 points.)
In the Boys sweepstakes race, JSerra finished in fourth place overall with a score of 117 points.
Senior Alden Morales set the path for the Lions, finishing in the 13th overall in a time of 14:35.
Senior Jack Burnett (14:42.7), junior Zac O’Leary (14:51.8), senior Cole Carlson (14:54.4), and senior Luke Friedl (15:08.9) all placed in the top 40 overall.
LIONS SPLIT ON FINAL DAY OF NORTH VS SOUTH: The @jserra_boys_water_polo team concluded its run in the North vs South Challenge on Saturday at Sacred Heart Prep School in Atherton.
The Lions dropped their opening game of the day to De La Salle by a score of 15-10.
JSerra battled Oaks Christian for seventh place in their final game of the tournament and produced a strong 12-10 victory.
Sophomore Ronan Keane powered the scoring attack with three goals for the Lions, while senior Connor Colman and sophomores Lars Knepper and Dylan Park each scored twice.
Freshman Sasha Bjelica and sophomore Andrew Schneider also found the back of the net with individual goals.
Senior goalie Jonas Ransford added eight saves and scored the final goal of the game (his second goal of the season).
JSerra won three of its five games in the tournament and is now 18-9 overall.
