THE PREPS : Southern Section Cross-Country Preliminaries : Dana Hills Coach Is Happy but Cautious After Victory

After watching his team outrun the top-ranked boys’ team in California, Dana Hills High School Coach Tim Butler had this to say about the Dolphins’ performance at the Southern Section cross-country preliminaries Friday at Mt. San Antonio College:

“It doesn’t mean a thing. . . . Not a cotton-pickin’ thing.”

Now don’t get Butler wrong. He was pleased that his team had just won its heat of the 4-A preliminaries, defeating 12 teams, including Camarillo, the top-ranked team in the state and Southern Section 4-A.

And he was happy that, as with all teams that finished fourth or better in their heats, the Dolphins automatically qualified for next Saturday’s Southern Section championships.

But Butler, an ever-worrisome sort, knows what can happen to those who expect too much--or too little. Last year, all eyes and expectations rested on Palos Verdes and Corona del Mar, expected to battle for the 4-A title. But Dana Hills, a dark horse throughout the season, responded with the surprise victory.

Butler doesn’t want any of that pressure now. But like it or not, the Dolphins, who suffered from injury and illness all season, are back to full strength, and everybody knows it.

“I knew once Dana Hills got healthy, they’d be there,” Corona del Mar Coach Bill Sumner said. “For my money, it’s us, them, or Camarillo next week.”

Corona del Mar, ranked second in 4-A, put together a winning performance of its own Friday. Though the Sea Kings ran conservatively, going out as a pack through the first mile, they won their heat with 56 points.

Fourth-ranked Santa Ana had its worst race of the year, according to Saint Coach Jeff Davis, but still managed to place second in its heat, giving the Saints their first trip to the Southern Section championships in school history.

Other Orange County boys’ teams qualifying for next week’s finals were El Modena, Villa Park, Fountain Valley and Saddleback.

Jimmy Rodriguez of Santa Ana Valley led the county’s individual qualifiers (those who qualified without a team). Rodriguez won his heat in 15 minutes 28 seconds. Other individual qualifiers were Bill Gould of Capistrano Valley (15:43), Mike Farrell of San Clemente (15:48) and Erin Vali of University (15:36).

In the 2-A division, Laguna Hills, led by Steve Frisone (16:16) and Tony Gibney (16:18), placed second in its heat. The Hawks, along with qualifiers Brea-Olinda and Woodbridge, will meet top-ranked Walnut in the 2-A final next Saturday.

Orange County will be well-represented in the girls’ 4-A final. Nine of the 12 teams that qualified are county teams: Newport Harbor, Villa Park, Irvine, Huntington Beach, San Clemente, El Toro, Foothill, Tustin and Mater Dei, which was previously unranked.

Newport Harbor, second-ranked to powerful Palos Verdes, had little trouble winning its heat despite having one of its top runners, junior Kim Robinson, at half-strength from the flu. Shelly Taylor of Edison, who recorded the fastest time for county girls at 18:54, will join Tanja Brix of University (19:07), Martha Pinto of Katella (19:08) and Maria Vargas (19:09) and Teresa Beltran (19:14) of Santa Ana Valley in the chase for the individual 4-A title.

Woodbridge, the state Division II runner-up last season, was the only county team to qualify for the girls’ 2-A final. Costa Mesa freshman Danisha Bendz (19:56) qualified as an individual.

In the 1-A division, Orange Lutheran’s Mary McKiernan and Eric Strand qualified as individuals for the final meet.