SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY : Saddleback Is Second in 4-A Final

After a nerve-wracking week, Mel Silva looked refreshed, rejuvenated and very much relieved after watching his Saddleback High School boys’ team run to a second-place finish at the Southern Section 4-A cross-country championships Saturday at Mt. SAC.

Although Camarillo, the 4-A’s top-ranked team, came away with the title after placing five runners in the top 16, good for 56 points, Saddleback defended its No. 1 ranking among Orange County teams. The Roadrunners had 103 points; San Clemente was third with 118.

Fountain Valley finished sixth (166), Santa Ana seventh (168), two-time defending champion Dana Hills ninth (189) and Villa Park (263) 12th.

“I was very nervous, very, very nervous,” Silva said. “I told the kids, ‘Maintain on the hills, and just attack on the downhills.’ That’s what they did.”

Last Friday in the Southern Section preliminaries, San Clemente, the county’s No. 2-ranked team, edged Saddleback, 62-96, to win its heat. But Saddleback was running at that time without one of its top five, sophomore Joey Heredia, whose father died last week.

Saturday, Heredia rejoined the team, placing 32nd overall after teammates Eddie Salinas (10th, 15:32), Rob Price (15th, 15:45) and Albert Ochoa (25th, 16:21. Elias Gil (34th, 16:32) rounded out the Roadrunner top five.

“Joey wanted to run this race real well for his dad, and the whole team wanted to help him out that way,” Silva said.

“Our kids . . . they’re . . . they’re . . . they’re so tough.”

And they’re not finished yet. Saddleback, which before Saturday had never run in a Southern Section final, qualified for Saturday’s state championships at Frenso, as did San Clemente. The two schools will represent the Southern Section along with Camarillo, Hart and Agoura in the large schools division.

In the race for the best county individual, Dana Hills’ Daniel Niednagel and San Clemente’s Mike Farrell again staged their one-on-one duel, with Saddleback’s Salinas trying to keep them both in check.

Going into the race, Niednagel had a 2-1 edge on Farrell this season. Saturday, Niednagel placed seventh overall in 15:24, two places ahead of Farrell (15:30).

Unfortunately for Niednagel, it wasn’t quite fast enough for a berth at the state meet, which he could have earned as an individual had he been among the five fastest overall runners in the state’s large schools division (enrollment 1,600 and up).

“Of course I want to go to state, but the season’s been so long,” Niednagel, a junior, said.

Said Farrell who, unlike most of the top 10 finishers, started the race conservatively, at mid-pack: “I was trying to work my way up. I had my eye on him (Niednagel). I should’ve beat him, but he just got away from me today. . . . I’m not disappointed, though. He just had a better race than me.”

And besides, Farrell’s going to Fresno.

Notes

Laguna Beach, led by David Crain (ninth, 16:05), placed fourth in the 2-A division and will advance to the state meet in the small schools (under 700 enrollment) division. . . . Trabuco Hills’ Mike Cowdrey (sixth in 16:00) also qualified, as did Mark Gonzales of La Habra, 10th in the 3-A race in 16:07. Gonzales’ teammate, Tim Mahon, placed 11th, narrowly missing a state qualifying berth. . . . In the 1-A, Whittier Christian was third and Santa Margarita seventh.