Cross Country All CIF (CIF Southern Section and CIF State)
The Pre-Qualifying Era: From 1925 up until 1945 the CIF Southern Section (at inception known as the Southern California Championship) was divided into Large, Medium and/or Small School Divisions. Cross Country was designated as a “minor” sport. During the pre-1960’s era one did not need to qualify for CIF let alone there being CIF preliminary heats. It was basically an invitational that any team could enter without qualification, and many teams in the southland in fact did not enter the competition. The Qualifying Era: In 1962 the CIF Section went to A, AA and AAA Divisions, with preliminary heats in each division to accommodate the boom in distance running in California. Races were anywhere from 1.7 to 2.0 miles. The distance running boom was evident when in 1965 the CIF added the 2 mile event in track, the mile being the longest distance prior to that time. In 1972 the field expanded to A, AA, AAA and AAAA Divisions. In 1977 the races were lengthened to 3 miles. Divisions were changed to 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A, and today we have Divisions I, II, III, IV and V. Beverly is currently in Division II. Prior to 1987 there was no CIF State Meet. Post 1987 no Beverly athlete has qualified for State. However, Competitors that finished in the top 8 in the past prior to 1987, as seen below, would have qualified for State under today’s standards.
All CIF State:
The Pre-Qualifying Era:
Walter Porter 1935
Les Hilliard 1935
Melville Barry 1936
Egon Kafka 1939
Sterry Fagan 1942
Jim Berger 1948
The Qualifying Era:
Simon Langer 1969
Links to Boys and Girls All CIF Southern Section is set forth below:
