For the first time ever, both the Riordan’s boys and girls Cross Country team qualified for CIF State Cross Country championship after an extraordinary performance in the Division IV race at the Central Coast Section Championship.

     Over Thanksgiving break, the team traveled to Fresno, the host city of the highly anticipated meet. Ultimately, the girls and boys teams each secured 21st place at State.

     Head Coach Benny Willers ’08 hypothesized the girls’ success with them ranked 3rd among the teams, but the boys qualifying for state, top three at CCS, was definitely a surprise.

    “[The boys] had everything stacked against them and they did everything they had to do that day to execute. Eventually they were able to pull it together, ” said Willers. “[Qualifying] was our goal at the start of the season, but it was something with so much adversity [because] our top runner Brendan Grogan[’26] got hurt.

     Girls team’s top runner, Freddie Michalchuk ’26, also suffered a hip injury. Despite the adversities, the rest of the team still managed to exceed their limits, making Riordan history.

    In a milestone moment for the program, Joseph Olsen ’26 surpassed the school record of 16:14.9 for the Woodward Park course. The record had stood since the era of alumnus and current cross country coach Brian Kosewic ’16.

     Despite the win, Olsen felt melancholy. “One of my closest friends Brendan Grogan …probably would have been faster than me if not for a stress fracture.”

     The runners cared deeply for each other, and qualifying together was emotional, a testament to the family-like bond they’ve built through months and years of shared workouts and challenges.

     Placing top 10 individually, runner Georgie Michalchuck ’26 recalled the moment vividly. “I finished the CCS race knowing l’d place well enough to qualify as an individual, but when I turned around and saw that the whole team had qualified it was super emotional.”

      Placing top 10 individually, runner Georgie Michalchuck ’26 recalled the moment vividly. “I finished the CCS race knowing l’d place well enough to qualify as an individual, but when I turned around and saw that the whole team had qualified it was super emotional.”

     Team love is always evident, and this very love pushed the runners to success.

     Freddie Michalchuck concluded, “I hope people remember our team as one that really worked from the ground up.”