Southern Section Cross-Country Finals : Saugus Gets Title, Not Mt. SAC Record

Coach Steve Spraker and the Saugus High boys’ cross-country team didn’t get the course record they wanted, but the Centurions set a local standard and won the Southern Section 3-A championship for the second year in a row Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.

“I’ve had CIF championship teams before, even last year, but they were nowhere near as fast as this one today,” Spraker said. “We’re talking about the top seven or eight team times ever at Mt. SAC.”

Top four times, actually. Saugus’ combined effort of 78 minutes 36 seconds for its five fastest runners, with Daren and Kirk Stonerock finishing 1-2, has been surpassed on the Walnut course only by Sacramento Jesuit (77:58, last month), La Mesa Helix (78:08) and South Eugene, Ore. (78:23). The Centurions became No. 1 all-time among Southern Section teams, and Daren Stonerock’s individual time of 14:54 was the sixth fastest all-time among all runners.

Sophomore Tracey Williams of El Monte Mountain View and the Loyola boys’ team also won titles for the second straight year. Williams already had the 13th-best time on the course among preps, and she moved up to No. 9 Saturday with a 17:35. The Cubs beat out second-place finisher Placentia Valencia, which had the individual champion in Chris Lugo, in the team championship by taking third, fourth and ninth with Michael McCracken, Joe Brink and John Sloan, respectively.

Simi Valley, led by Jim Zimmer’s fourth-place finish, took the boys’ 4-A title, while Palos Verdes won the girls’ competition. Melissa Sutton of Newbury Park won the individual title in the course’s seventh-fastest clocking ever on the high school level, 17:32. Glendale’s Richard Erbes was No. 1 among boys in the division with a 15:20.

Walnut’s Sandra Acosta, just a freshman, won the individual championship in the girls’ 3-A Division with a time of 18:14, while Arroyo Grande took the team title. Hesperia claimed the 2-A championship in the girls’ division.

In the boys’ 1-A, Atascadero finished six points better than Sherman Indian, which was looking for its fourth straight championship and fifth in the last six years. John Trafecanty of Cathedral, runner up in 1984, took individual honors.

Morro Bay and Paraclete’s Jenny Keever were the winners in the girls’ 1-A.