Vista Murrieta Runner Takes Division Title

Vista Murrieta High School senior Erika Reddish ran a personal best and took home the Girls Cross Country CIF Southern Section Division 1 title Saturday.

Reddish finished the three-mile course at Mt. San Antonio College in 17:12, 13 seconds ahead of the No. 2 runner, according to Espn.com.

The title qualified Reddish to represent Division 1 on Saturday at the CIF State Cross Country Championships in Fresno.

Six other Vista Murrieta girls qualified to run in the state meet, according to a CIF roster. They are freshman Alexis Santhaonam, juniors Bethany Baladay, Sarah Benson and Brooke Evans, and seniors Nicaela Hernandez and Maria Hurtado.

Another Reddish will also be running in the state meet: Porter Reddish, Erika's brother, who ran the three-mile course Saturday in 15:01. He was the lone Vista Murrieta boy to qualify for this year's state championships, according to the roster.

Vista Murrieta girls placed fourth overall in Division 1; the boys placed eighth.

The Murrieta runners will be joined by boys and girls from Temecula's Great Oak High School in the state championships. Great Oak girls and boys teams each took third overall for Division 1.

Donal Pearce contributed to this report.