The Varsity Boys' Cross Country team finished the 1989 season as Rio Hondo League Champs, 5th in CIF, and tied for 4th in State.

By capturing the 1989 Rio Hondo League Championship the Tigers made this the 2nd consecutive year they have topped the League. It was the senior trio of Larry Beach, David Maxwell and Jason Turner that made this repeat a reality. David Maxwell and Larry Beach made history with a first ever one-two finish at League Finals. Turner completed the trio's domination in 6th place.

The Tigers compiled a 5-2 overall dual meet record with wins over Pasadena, Temple City, Blair, Monrovia and La Canada. En route to the league championship, they captured the Clovis Invitational, and the Sweepstakes Title at the prestigious Mt. SAC Invitational (DIV III). Other season highlights included the home course record of 15:42 by Larry Beach (Maxwell ran the 2nd and 3rd fastest times of 15:43 and 15:46). Maxwell and Beach finished 2nd and 5th at the Clovis Invitational, 3rd and 13th at the Woodbridge Invitational, 2nd and 3rd at the Dana Hills Invitational, and 6th and 4th at the Mt. SAC Invitational. Both athletes were unbeaten in league.

Turner, who posted faster times than both Beach and Maxwell in 1988, spent this year recovering from mononucleosis. He still managed to challenge the top runners in the league and was an inspirational leader as the co-captain with Maxwell.

Filling out the varsity team were juniors Andy Thorne-Lyman, Sean Dirk, George Chen, Eric Jorgenson, and Dennis Wang. Easily the most improved athlete on the team, Thorne-Lyman, 3rd on last year's Frosh-Soph team developed into one the better runners in the league and a strong CIF competitor for the team.

In CIF Prelims Beach and Maxwell dominated the field by placing 2nd and 3rd. Turner finished a strong 13th and Thorne-Lyman moved from 40th to 20th in the last two miles to bring the team a 2nd place finish in their heat and a berth into CIF Finals.

At CIF Finals the Tigers improved on last year's 6th place finish by taking 5th and qualified for the State Championships in Fresno. Beach and Maxwell led the team again with 6th and 13th place finishes. Turner and Thorne-Lyman held tough as usual but the surprise of the day was George Chen who improved over 30 seconds and moved into the 5th team spot.

Going into State ranked 7th, the Tigers put together some of the best performances of the year to move into a tie for 4th. Larry Beach led again with a remarkable 14th place finish, the best ever for a South Pasadena runner. Maxwell wasn't far behind and Turner posted another excellent race. The clutch performance of the day, however, belonged to Sean Dirk who ran his best race of the season and moved into the 4th team place. Thorne-Lyman filled out the 5th team position with his best time on the challenging 5K Woodward Park course.