Cross-Country Preview: Strong returning class has Fountain Valley girls’ squad eyeing another league title

The track record of the cross-country program at Fountain Valley High indicates that success in the sport is rarely a one-year phenomenon.

On the boys’ side, the Barons have authored four runs that resulted in at least a three-peat of Sunset League titles.

The girls waited far longer to put a similar streak together. After their first league title in 1980, it would be another 20 years before Fountain Valley’s girls tasted those waters again. Then, they won four straight from 2004 to 2007.

Fountain Valley’s girls’ cross-country program is in position to take a second bite at the dynasty apple, as last year’s league title-winning squad lost just one senior. Juniors Ashley Faller, Sara Feitz, Isabella Guerra and sophomore Maddie Jahshan return from the scoring quintet, which helped the Barons defeat Los Alamitos 30-44 last October.

“The challenge with high school girls is always getting them to come together as a team as opposed to being individuals,” Barons coach Jerry Palazzo said. “It’s great to have individual rivalries, one gets faster than the other one. Ultimately, they don’t do well unless they come together.”

Palazzo suggests that the sustainability of the Barons’ success is dependent on the team running together. They did it remarkably well in the Sunset League finals a year ago, pushing all of their scoring five across with just a seven-second gap.

Although the team lost Kristen Prado to graduation, the Barons should be able to replace that production with Julia Svartstrom. A member of Palazzo’s Equalizers club running program, Svartstrom won the freshman race of the Great Cow Run in the team’s first meet by 32 seconds in 19 minutes, 1 second.

Fountain Valley placed second to Whittier California 82-135 in the Great Cow Run. That was without Svartstrom’s performance factoring into the varsity race.

Transfers change the landscape of high school sports every year. Fountain Valley is set to welcome Bolsa Grande transfer Esteban Prado. After he completes the mandatory 30-day sit-out period (eligible Oct. 2), Prado will slot in alongside Marc Tadros, who currently stands as the clear ace for the Barons’ boys’ team.

Newcomers of the more traditional variety have made an impact too. Last year, Julia Tung arrived at Corona del Mar as a freshman and became the Sea Kings’ No. 2 runner behind Raquel Powers.

With Powers moving on to the University of Michigan, another may emerge as CdM’s top runner. Incoming freshman Annabelle Boudreau enters with a career-best time of 17:53 in 5K runs. She was fifth (17:56) among female runners in the Cypress 5K, which is a flat course held on city streets.

The Mitchel family has been a big player in Huntington Beach’s cross-country and track programs. Alekos, now at Fresno State, qualified for CIF as a senior last year. The youngest of four Mitchel kids, Elin, will join the Oilers this year. Lars Mitchel is a rising junior.

Ocean View’s boys’ team was one of the great stories of the previous campaign. The Seahawks won their first league title since 1983. Five of the starting seven from that team are gone, but Ocean View has received a vote of confidence by opening the season ranked ninth in the CIF Southern Section’s Division 3.

“I think it is good for them to see that the expectations are still there,” Seahawks coach Daniel Hurtado said. “The team from last year created these expectations. We’ve been told many times this season that we were a one-hit wonder.”

Those comments have added fuel to the fire. Three of the five additions to Ocean View’s varsity numbers traveled with the team as alternates for all long-distance events.

“I know they’re anxious,” Hurtado said. “I know they’re really encouraged to not be an alternate anymore, to be racing. The fact that they got to experience all of this from the sideline, it’s official now that they are the ones that are going to be on the starting line.”

Hurtado also credited the competition in the Golden West League, especially perennial contenders Santa Ana and Segerstrom, for the rise of the Seahawks. The Ocean View coach said those schools provided a target to shoot for, and they felt as if they were in direct competition with those teams at all common meets.

A similar circumstance is playing out with the Seahawks’ girls. Hurtado says the team seems motivated to emulate the success of the boys’ team.

“I think them seeing it allowed them to believe that it is possible,” he said of the girls choosing their own act to follow. “The guys came from nothing to being the team that they are. I think that was a big wake-up call that if the guys can do it, there’s no reason why they can’t make it to the same level.”

Adriana Gill is the top returner for Ocean View’s girls. Incoming freshmen Bella Brannon and Natalie Miller are expected to contribute too.

Newport Harbor (Division 2), Ocean View (Division 3) and Laguna Beach (Division 4) are ranked ninth in their respective divisions in the initial CIF-SS boys’ cross-country rankings.

Corona del Mar (8^th in Division 3), Laguna Beach (10^th in Division 4) and Sage Hill (5^th in Division 5) have received early season rankings nods on the girls’ side.

Top Returning Boys

Alexis Garcia, Newport Harbor, Jr.: The Sailors want their younger runners to close down their significant gap, but some things are unavoidable. Garcia was the Orange County Championships runner-up, behind only returning Dana Hills senior Jack Landgraf. Newport Harbor coach Nowell Kay expects the reigning Sunset League champion to receive college attention this year.

Edwin Montes, Ocean View, Jr.: Montes came on strong at the end of last season. Then the No. 2 runner for the Seahawks, he now leads an Ocean View team that opens the fall inside the CIF-SS Division 3 top 10. He has gained entry into next week’s Woodbridge Invitational Sweepstakes race.

Luc LaMontagne, Laguna Beach, Sr.: The Breakers got a preseason rankings selection, having lost just one senior. LaMontagne was their frontrunner, saving his best for last. He finished the season with back-to-back personal-best performances, posting a time of 15:51 at the CIF-SS Division 4 Finals.

Top Returning Girls

Mia Matsunami, Newport Harbor, Jr.: The defending Sunset League individual champion posted a number of brilliant performances early last season. She ran sub-18-minute times at the Dana Hills Invitational, the Orange County Championships, and the CIF-SS Preliminaries. Matsunami is a candidate to extend her season to the state meet as an individual.

Ashley Faller, Fountain Valley, Jr.: Faller led the Barons’ pack-style running attack that delivered the girls’ first team league title since 2007 last year. If her opening race is any indication, she is getting faster. She finished fifth in 18:04 at the Great Cow Run, which was 44 seconds better than her time at the meet last year.

Julia Tung, Corona del Mar, So.: Sea Kings coach Bill Sumner paced Tung as a freshman, but she was consistent down the stretch. Tung ran 18:29 in both CIF Southern Section postseason races. Her experience running varsity as a freshman could help newcomer Annabelle Boudreau make the adjustment to high school.

Key dates for cross-country season

Sept. 9 – Laguna Hills Invitational

Sept. 15 – Woodbridge Invitational

Sept. 19 – Academy League Meet, Cerritos Sports Park

Sept. 20 – Sunset League Preview

Sept. 21 – Ocean View vs. Segerstrom at Mason Park

Sept. 22 – Sunny Hills/Wayne Walker Invitational, Craig Park, Fullerton

Sept. 23 – Dana Hills Invitational

Sept. 26 – Orange Coast League Preview Meet, Irvine Regional Park

Sept. 30 – Brea Invitational

Oct. 3 – Academy League Meet, Central Park

Oct. 5 – Ocean View vs. Santa Ana at Central Park; Pacific Coast League Cluster

Oct. 7 – Clovis Invitational; Central Park Invitational

Oct. 13 – Orange County Championships Day One

Oct. 14 – Orange County Championships Day Two

Oct. 20 – Mt. SAC Invitational

Oct. 21 – Mt. SAC Invitational

Oct. 28 – Sunset League Finals

Oct. 30 – Orange Coast League Finals, Irvine Regional Park

Oct. 31 – Academy League Finals, Irvine Regional Park

Nov. 1 – Golden West League Finals at Central Park; Pacific Coast League Finals, Irvine Regional Park

Nov. 10 – CIF-SS Preliminaries at Riverside City Cross-Country Course

Nov. 11 – CIF-SS Preliminaries at Riverside City Cross-Country Course

Nov. 18 – CIF-SS Finals at Riverside City Cross-Country Course

Nov. 25 – CIF State Meet at Woodward Park, Fresno

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner