Columbus' and Lourdes' cross-country teams ran their final races before next week's state championships.

And each hopes it will finish that race the same way it did Thursday afternoon at Larry and Penny Thompson Park.

Defending Class 4A state champion Columbus secured the Region 4-4A boys' championship crown as its top two runners -- Armando Del Valle and Mark Gulesian -- each ran under 16 minutes.

Del Valle won the individual title with a time of 15:54.22, following up victories at GMAC and districts. Gulesian, who won the Youth Fair meet earlier this year, ran a time of 15:59.73 to help the Explorers edge runner-up Ferguson by 26 points.

Lourdes won the girls' team title and showed off its depth, finishing with the top three runners and placing six in the top nine. The Bobcats scored 19 points to finish 67 points ahead of South Dade. Sophomore Victoria Villarnovo secured the individual title with a time of 18:59.76 to finish ahead of freshman teammate Courtney Filliben (19:09.29) and junior Alessandra Valdes (19:22.41), who won the individual title at last week's district meet.

UM SIGNS SANTOS

Killian's baseball team continued its pipeline to the University of Miami Thursday when outfielder Julian Santos signed his letter of intent to play for the Hurricanes.

Santos hit .358 with five home runs and 36 RBI last season, and would join pitchers Danny Miranda, Sam Robinson, Michael Rudman and infielder Zach Robinson on UM's roster, giving the Hurricanes five Killian players for the 2011 season barring any early departures.

The Cougars also had catcher Ryan Arrick sign with Illinois, outfielder Noah Soven sign with Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, and shortstop Mark Armenteros sign with Indian River Community College. Killian, which also has four players on FIU's roster, has had 21 players sign baseball scholarships in the past three-plus seasons.

SIGNINGS

• Ferguson had two signees Thursday. Shortstop/pitcher Alex Diaz signed with Florida Gulf Coast, and pitcher Ronnie Lozada signed with Bethune-Cookman.

• Columbus boys' golfer Marcelo Huarte signed with Barry University Thursday. Huarte was the county's top finisher at the Class 2A state championships last week, shooting a two-day total of 145.

• Hialeah girls' basketball standout Chandler Merkerson signed with North Florida.

• Varela right-handed pitcher John Barbato, signed a letter of intent Thursday with the University of Florida. Barbato was selected as an Under Armour All-American and played in their annual game at Wrigley Field in Chicago recently.

• Palmetto right-handed pitcher Adam Sargent signed with Florida Gulf Coast.

• Coral Park catcher P.J. Torres signed with Austin Peay after batting .363 with five home runs and 17 RBI as a junior.

OFFICIALS

The Greater Miami Athletic Conference is looking for track officials for the upcoming season. The GMAC will hold a meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at South Miami High in the cafeteria. For more information, contact Ralph Lewis at (305) 995-1250.

REGION 4-4A

CROSS-COUNTRY

• Boys' team scores: 1. Columbus 36; 2. Ferguson 62; 3. Hialeah-Miami Lakes 71; 4. Sunset 130; 5. Coral Reef 130; 6. Varela 153.

• Boys' individual qualifiers: 1. Armando Del Valle (COL) 15:54.22; 2. Mark Gulesian (COL) 15:59.73; 3. Raul Montoya (FER) 16:13.78; 4. Dylan Cook (CR) 16:14.72; 5. Jose Estevez (FER) 16:19.73; 6. Dominick Cabrera (COL) 16:21.03; 7. David Ramirez (CR) 16:23.44; 8. Wesley George (CG) 16:23.70; 9. Jesus Rivas (HML) 16:31.25; 10. Gary Pierre-Louis (CEN) 16:34.86; 11. Osdaniel Hernandez (HML) 16:35.54; 12. Joshua Estrada (FER) 16:40.27; 13. Jermaine Thompson (HML) 16:49.24; 14. Eduard Arechebala (COL) 16:50.20; 15. Andrew Shaheen (COL) 16:51.24.