Melina Hernandez continued her domination of the Desert Valley League cross country season Wednesday, finishing first for the seasonal hat trick.

The Indio High junior finished in 18 minutes, 58 seconds, more than a minute and a half ahead of second-place Hayley Musashi of La Quinta.

“I got ahead of her in the first mile. I knew I could take the race,” Hernandez said. “I started at a medium pace this time.”

Although Hernandez is by far the fastest runner in the league, the rest of her team fell a point short and will not head to the postseason. Hernandez alone will represent the Indio girls in the postseason at Mt. SAC on Nov. 14.

“It's my second time there, I think I can do better than the last time when I got sixth place overall,” Hernandez said.

The La Quinta team finished first for the 12th DVL race in a row and won the league for the fourth consecutive year. They were followed in the final standings by Palm Springs and Cathedral City, all of which will be headed to the postseason.

Musashi, the Blackhawks' top runner, finished in 20:33 but had finished just seconds behind Hernandez in the first two meets and did not finish behind a runner from any other school the last two seasons.

“(Hernandez) looked comfortable the last couple of weeks,” Indio head coach Becky Baker said. “She was running with (Musashi) for maybe the first mile and a half, then she picked her point and didn't look back. I thought she had it in her. it's nice to see an athlete peak at the right time.”