Valencia Boys Appear to Have Orange County’s Best Chances

Which Orange County team has the best chance to capture a Southern Section cross-country title today at Mt. San Antonio College?

The Valencia High School boys’ team.

Which Orange County runner has the best shot at winning individual honors?

Senior Chris Lugo of Valencia.

It’s no surprise the Valencia runners have the best chances today. Last year, the Tigers finished second in the 2-A Division as one of their top runners got sick and couldn’t finish. Lugo won the race by four seconds, finishing in 15:32.

In today’s championship, his toughest competition could come from Brian Dameworth of Agoura, who set a course record for freshmen with his time of 15:32 last week in the preliminaries. Roger Nava of Santa Ana dealt Lugo his only loss of the season, but Nava didn’t qualify for the final.

Valencia’s main competition will come from No. 1-ranked Walnut and No. 2 Agoura. The Tigers were ranked No. 3 in the final Southern Section poll.

Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa and Laguna Hills also qualified in the boys’ 2-A. In the boys’ 4-A, Dana Hills (ranked No. 3) Corona del Mar (No. 4), Capistrano Valley, Mission Viejo and Huntington Beach all qualified. La Habra and Buena Park will compete in boys’ 3-A.

In the girls’ competition, No. 5-ranked Ocean View, Newport Harbor, Dana Hills, Canyon and Irvine will compete in 4-A. Fourth-ranked La Habra qualified in 3-A and Laguna Beach, La Quinta and Woodbridge are in 2-A.