Orange County Cross-Country Championships : Lavelle Edges Nava; Pinto Beats Brix

Eddie Lavelle of Corona del Mar High School recorded the fastest boys’ time Saturday and Martha Pinto of Katella had the fastest girls’ time at the Orange County Cross-Country Championships at Irvine Park in Orange.

Lavelle, a senior, outdueled longtime rival Roger Nava of Santa Ana in the final stretch to win the boys’ seeded team race in 15 minutes 2 seconds. Lavelle’s victory helped the Sea Kings to their second consecutive county title.

“We wanted to come here and have no doubt about who’s the county champion,” Lavelle said. “We wanted to set things straight.”

Lavelle’s personal race strategy wasn’t quite as direct. Though he forced the pace through the first 1 1/2 miles, Lavelle dropped back slightly after the 2-mile mark and allowed Nava and Capistrano Valley’s Bill Gould to pass him.

While Nava and Gould surged up the hill, Lavelle stayed relaxed about 15 yards behind. When the leaders topped the crest of the hill, Lavelle made his move, passing Gould and then Nava on the long, downhill run to the finish.

Nava, who outran Lavelle to win the freshman title in 1985, lost the sophomore title to Lavelle in 1986, and outkicked Lavelle to win the junior title last year, said his rival’s final move caught him by surprise.

“When he dropped back on the hill, I thought, ‘That’s it, I don’t have to worry about this guy,’ ” Nava said. “But at the bottom of the hill, he snuck up on me and just took off.”

Nava was second in 15:08, followed by Gould (15:17), San Clemente’s Mike Farrell (15:30) and Laguna Hills’ Steve Frisone (15:36). University’s Erin Vali recorded the fourth-fastest time of the day in winning an unseeded varsity race in 15:26.

Corona del Mar, the Southern Section 4-A’s second-ranked team, won the seeded division with 80 points, followed by impressive performances by sixth-ranked Santa Ana (102) and unranked Tustin (144), Villa Park (149), Dana Hills (150) and El Modena (154).

Along with Lavelle, Corona del Mar received help from Greg Shryock (11th, 15:48), Paul Scott (16th, 16:03), Jay Lightburn (24th, 16:11) and Hunter Pierce (28th, 16:48).

Pinto held off University freshman sensation Tanja Brix to win the girls’ seeded individual race in 18:11. Pinto had recorded the girls’ fastest time (18:24) at last year’s county meet as a freshman.

Brix, who outkicked Pinto last Saturday in the final 300 yards to win the Central Park Invitational, followed a few steps behind through most of the race. Though Pinto threw in several surges between the first and second mile marks, Brix looked strong, staying in contact and keeping the tactical advantage.

But Pinto’s strength and tenacity paid off. She hit the final hill and surged, leaving Brix 10 yards back. When Pinto surged again at the crest, Brix could no longer respond and faded to finish second, 9 seconds back in 18:20.

“She passed me in the final stretch last week and I thought she’d pass me today,” Pinto said. “But I kept thinking, if she could run that fast, I could run that fast too. I just tried to do my best and put it in my heart that I would beat her.”

Danisha Bendz, a freshman from Costa Mesa, was third in 18:35, followed by Andrea Caminiti (19:10) of Irvine.

In the girls’ seeded team race, Newport Harbor’s Kim Robinson led the Sailors, the defending Division II state champions, to the county title with 56 points.

Robinson, known for her strength rather than her speed, utilized her talents in breaking away from the pack--which included Villa Park’s Laura Doering, El Toro’s Shannon Liddy, Woodbridge’s Cathi Peck and San Clemente’s Terri Smythers--at the mile mark.

Robinson forced the pace, increasing her lead through 2 miles. But Doering, with years of race experience from her days of age-group competition, snuck up and passed Robinson at the final turn to the finish.

The two began sprinting the final 100 yards shoulder to shoulder, but Robinson prevailed, winning in 18:22, the third-fastest girls’ time of the day.

“I don’t think I ever tried so hard in my whole life,” said Robinson, the two-time defending Sea View League cross-country champion. “I just wanted to win really bad.”

Doering, who was second in 18:26, said: “I was kicking all out, I was pushing as hard as I could, but all of a sudden my leg went kind of uuuuuuh .”

Newport Harbor, the Southern Section 4-A’s second-ranked team, placed five runners in the top 18. Along with Robinson, they were: Stacy Pando (7th, 18:58), Sandra Ruffini (14th, 19:43), Maggie Steinhauser (16th, 19:50) and Lena Dahbour (18th, 19:51).