Roundup : O’Neill, Jorgensen Run to 1st in Region

Francis O’Neill of San Pasqual High School and Rancho Buena Vista’s Kira Jorgensen won their divisions of the Kinney Western Regional Cross-Country Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Jorgensen, a senior, is undefeated in the past two cross-country seasons and the defending Kinney national champion. She covered the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes 28 seconds. Monte Bello’s Rayna Cervantes challenged at the 2-mile mark, but Jorgensen pulled away in the last 100 meters, finishing 3 seconds ahead.

O’Neill, also a senior, was a surprise winner in the boys’ race, running 14:56, 2 seconds ahead of Agoura’s Bryan Dameworth. At the 2 1/2 miles, 15 runners clustered for the lead, but O’Neill, with good half-mile speed, pulled away and won in the fastest qualifying time nationally. Andre Williams ran a 15:10 in the Southern Regionals; cross-country times are difficult to compare as each course is different.

“Before the race I just got so fired up that today I didn’t feel any pain,” O’Neill said after improving his personal record at the distance by 12 seconds.

Dameworth had won last week’s Division I state championship race, in which O’Neill finished fourth.

The top eight in each race qualified for next Saturday’s national championship race at Morley Field in Balboa Park.

Mira Hornbacher, also of Rancho Buena Vista, finished 34th in the girls’ race. Kelly Young of Grossmont was 39th, and Michelle Keim of San Pasqual finished 46th.

Jorge Rodriguez of Fallbrook finished 33rd in the boys’ race.

Boys’ basketball

Warhawk/Norsemen tournament

Madison 84, Clairemont 70--Robby Robinson scored 36 points and Bread Eaddy added 15 for Madison. The Warhawks trailed, 17-16, but then outscored Clairemont, 26-15, in the second quarter. Ray McDavid led Claremont (1-2) with 25 points.

Foothiller tournament

Santana 58, Grossmont 55--Santana held off a late Grossmont rally to win the round-robin tournament at Grossmont. Matt Panebianco had 22 points and Dean Thrall added 10 for Santana (3-0). Tom Liles scored 12 points to lead Grossmont.

Christian 88, Bonita Vista 63--Darrell White, a 6-5 center, scored 36 points and had 12 rebounds for Christian in the Grossmont Tournament. Christian (2-1) outscored Bonita Vista 45-20 in the second half.

Hilltop tournament

Point Loma 64, Kearny 43--Point Loma led, 35-17, at the half and cruised to the victory behind Beau Pack’s 20 points. Jon Price added 13 for Point Loma, and Andre White had 11 for Kearny.

Mira Mesa 77, Hilltop 51--J.J. Rowlett scored 28 points to lead Mira Mesa, which outscored Hilltop, 16-6, in the second quarter. Donal Hardin led Hilltop with 20 points.

La Jolla 72, Chula Vista 56--Adam Kleid scored 22 points, and Kyle Kupiec added 18 to lead La Jolla. Sean Desmond scored 17 points to lead Hilltop.

Torrey Pines tournament

El Capitan 73, Ramona 68--Brad Smith led El Capitan with 28 points at Torrey Pines. Jeremy McGarity added 11 for El Capitan. For Ramona, Tony Newman had 23 points and Nate Hollingsworth added 15. Ramona fell to 1-1, El Capitan improved to 2-0. El Capitan led 36-35 at the half.