Prep Cross-Country : Disqualification Costs Canyon the Preliminaries

A disqualification in the boys’ individual race in the Century League cross-country finals Saturday at Anaheim’s Yorba Regional Park cost Canyon High School a chance to advance to the Southern Section preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College.

Canyon’s Brett Schultz was disqualified for elbowing Santa Ana’s Roger Nava at least four times, nearly causing Nava to stumble, according to league official Dave White.

Century League coaches voted, 5-1, to disqualify Schultz. It was a costly decision for Canyon, as the Comanches dropped from second to fifth place in the league standings without Schultz’s first-place finish. Canyon Coach Don Pycior filed a protest after the meet, and the league’s principals and athletic directors will meet Monday morning.

Villa Park won the boys’ title with 41 points after placing three runners in the top 10. Foothill (62) was second, Santa Ana (72) third, El Modena (88) fourth and Canyon (92) fifth. Santa Ana Valley did not score.

Villa Park, Foothill and El Modena advance to the preliminaries.

Nava won the three-mile race in a time of 15:16. Foothill’s Billy Davenport (15:27) was second, David Garcia (15:48) of El Modena third and Aaron Hickman (15:49) of Villa Park fourth. Villa Park’s Eric Sach (15:57) was sixth and Paul Walther (16:00) seventh.

Canyon (5-0, 10-0) won the girls’ title with 37 points. Santa Ana (44) finished second and Santa Ana Valley (85) was third.

Villa Park’s Karen Longyear (18:36) won the individual title. Canyon’s Janaell Dovalina (18:38) was second, Shelly Everett (18:38) third and Sandy Clark (18:51) fifth. Maria Vargas of Santa ana Valley (18:50) was fourth.

In the Orange League finals:

Valencia, with three of the top four finishers, won the boys’ competition with 20 points.

Magnolia (60) was second, Anaheim (66) third, Brea-Olinda (95) fourth, Savanna (139) fifth and Western (182) sixth.

Chris Lugo of Valencia won the three-mile race in 15:59. Teammate Bill Emmel finished second (15:37), Brent Jones (15:40) of Brea third and Igor Daza (15:40) of Valencia fourth.

The Savanna girls’ team placed four runners in the top 10 to win the title with 38 points.

Valencia (53) was second, Anaheim (76) third, Magnolia (93) fourth and Brea (104) fifth.

Valencia’s Kathleen Woie won in 19:12. Erika Lovett (19:43) of Savanna was second and Nellie Valenzuela (19:52) of Anaheim third.