Cross-Country Roundup : Rodriguez, Lavelle Win at Dana Hills

Jimmy Rodriguez of Santa Ana Valley High School and Eddie Lavelle of Corona del Mar posted the day’s fastest times at the Dana Hills Invitational cross-country meet Saturday at Dana Hills High School.

Rodriguez, running in the senior Division I (large schools) race, pulled away from Dean Cortez of Poway and Mike Tansley of Dana Hills at the mile mark.

Rodriguez finished the slightly downhill, 3-mile race in the day’s fastest time--14 minutes 33 seconds. Cortez edged Tansley at the finish for second, though both were timed at 14:45.

Bill Gould of Capistrano Valley was fourth (14:46) and Jose Brito of Santa Ana Valley fifth (14:47).

“I wasn’t looking for any time in particular,” said Rodriguez, who is undefeated this season. “I felt pretty good out there, and running in the cool weather really helped me.”

Lavelle, who lost a close race to Rodriguez at the Woodbridge Invitational two weeks ago, opened a big lead in the Division II (medium schools) race and ran unchallenged to finish in 14:35. That time broke the Division II course record of 14:39 set by Valencia’s Chris Lugo in 1986.

Corona del Mar’s Greg Shryock was second in 15:12, and Troy Collins of Hemet was third (15:18).

In team standings, Poway won the Division I senior race with 57 points, followed by Santa Ana Valley (111) and Upland (113). Corona del Mar won Division II with 34 points, followed by Hemet (110) and Tustin (134). Yucaipa won Division III with 72 points, followed by Woodbridge (114) and St. Francis (125).

In the girls’ competition, Kira Jorgensen of San Diego Vista ran away from the field in the Division II race as she broke her own Dana Hills course record with a time of 16:36.

Jorgensen, who set the former record of 16:37 last year, was followed by Reyna Cervantes of Montebello (17:32), and Valencia’s Heather Killeen, the county’s fastest finisher, in 17:39.

Kim Robinson of Newport Harbor was fourth (18:15), and Laura Doering of Villa Park was fifth (18:21).

Other top county finishers included: Traci Skeen of Capistrano Valley (18:18) and Regena Schudlich of Dana Hills (18:19), second and third, respectively, in the Division I girls’ race, which was won by DeDe Gigstad of Poway (18:10).

In girls’ team standings, Redlands won Division I with 106 points, Villa Park was the Division II winner with 95, and Woodbridge won Division III with 31.

At the Pacifica Invitational--Staci Carrington of Cypress finished second in 19:32 to lead the Centurions to victory in the girls’ division at Central Park in Huntington Beach.

Lakewood’s Lucinda Reyes, who broke away from Carrington with a mile to go, won the race in 18:20. Norma Martin of Magnolia was third in 20:08.

Cypress won the 16-team meet with 44 points, followed by Saddleback (64) and Estancia (90).

In the boys’ division, T.J. Reyes and Danny Maldonado placed 1-2 to lead Lakewood to victory with 28 points. Loara--led by Miguel Galando (third in 17:52)--finished second with 84, Westminster third (113) and Cypress fourth (115).