Prep Roundup : Dana Hills, El Toro Win in Meet : Dolphin Boys, Charger Girls Earn Cross-Country Titles

The Dana Hills High School boys’ cross-country team and the El Toro girls’ team came away with victories Friday at the South Coast League cross-country championships at Irvine Park in Orange.

For Dana Hills, the victory elicited a great sigh of relief from Dolphin Coach Tim Butler. Although the Dolphins were the league’s defending champions--starting the season with a No. 1 ranking in the Southern Section 4-A Division--the team had suffered all season from illness and injury and this week had dropped out of the top 10 poll.

Friday’s meet was the first race since Sept. 9 in which the Dolphins competed at full strength. Led by Mike Tansley (fourth in 15 minutes 40 seconds), Dana Hills placed 5 runners in the top 25 to win with 42 points. Capistrano Valley, led by race winner Bill Gould (15:21), was second with 58, followed by Mission Viejo (76), El Toro (83), San Clemente (91) and Irvine (144).

“The thing I’m most glad about is we came out of this healthy,” Butler said. “Our goal was to win by 20 points, and we came close to that. This was a good test for us, but I think the kids realize how much more we need to work.”

For the El Toro girls, Friday’s victory was one to savor. The Chargers had shared the league championship the last 2 seasons (with Irvine last year and Dana Hills in 1986), making this the first title they had claimed outright.

Still, it was very close. El Toro and Irvine both finished with 39 points. But the Chargers won it on their sixth runner, Kara Rehwoldt, who outran Irvine’s sixth, sophomore Heather Gilchrist, by 13 seconds.

“They all came through today, that’s basically the story,” Charger Coach Mike Del Rio said.

San Clemente was third with 65 points, followed by Dana Hills (94), Capistrano Valley (118) and Mission Viejo (140).

In the race for the individual title, San Clemente sophomore Terri Smythers, who didn’t consider herself a threat to the league’s top runners earlier in the season, pulled away from Irvine’s Andrea Caminiti on a short downgrade in the last mile to win in 18:43.

“My coach said ‘Go down the hill and grind it in,’ so I did,” said Smythers, who remained undefeated in league competition. “But it was really scary in the end. I kept hearing people scream ‘C’mon Andrea!’ I just tried to hang on.”

In Orange League water polo:

Valencia 9, Savanna 3--The Tigers used a balanced attack in defeating host Savanna. Gin Muraki, Todd Denning, Van Troung and Mickey Doi each scored 2 goals for Valencia (15-5, 7-1).

Brea-Olinda 11, Anahiem 8--Kyle Kilpatrick and Jason Oxley scored 3 goals each to lead host Brea-Olinda (11-13, 4-4).

In Del Rey League water polo:

Servite 6, Mater Dei 3--Matt Catanzaro and David Gusseck scored 2 goals each for host Servite (9-5, 3-3).