WOODBRIDGE CROSS-COUNTRY INVITATIONAL : Pinto Finishes a SurprisingThird

When Martha Pinto of Katella High School arrived at the Woodbridge Cross-Country Invitational Saturday, she didn’t expect to see so many top runners in her race.

Sure, Pinto knew Deena Drossin of Agoura, a two-time state cross-country champion, would be there, but she didn’t realize the rest of the field would be so competitive.

But Pinto discovered after the race started that Westlake’s Jeannie Rothman, last year’s Southern Section 4-A runner-up, would push her. And to her surprise, Valencia’s Heather Killeen would nearly upset her.

Pinto, racing in the girls’ medium schools’ race (1,501-1,900 enrollment), finished third on the three-mile course at Woodbridge High School in 17 minutes 34 seconds. Drossin finished in 17:04 to break the 3-year-old course record set by Newbury Park’s Melissa Sutton (17:05). Rothman was second (17:23) and Killeen was fourth (17:36).

Pinto, a three-time Orange County cross-country champion, took an early lead, but Drossin overtook her at the one-mile mark, passing at 5:34. Pinto followed at 5:36, with Rothman and Killeen close behind. A hard-charging Rothman overtook Pinto after two miles.

Pinto and Killeen rounded the corner together to the finish, which went from asphalt to grass in the last 100 yards, but Pinto kicked away from Killeen.

“I didn’t know who it was beside me,” Pinto said. “But my coach was telling me that she was catching me.”

Killeen, a senior who finished last year’s race in 18:45, has had health problems the past two years after running well her freshman year.

“Pinto sort of slowed down on the backstretch of the course (after the two-mile mark) and I figured that I might as well go with her,” Killeen said. “I had my eyes on her and I tried to catch her, but I don’t have a lot of speed and she does.”

In the medium schools girls’ team results, Agoura edged three-time state champion Palos Verdes, 61-62, followed by Tustin (147) and Corona del Mar (172).

Eddie Salinas of Saddleback won the boys’ senior large schools’ race, but the Roadrunners finished second to El Toro, 78-155. Though neither team was at full strength--some squad members ran in other grade divisions--El Toro’s victory over Saddleback was surprising as the Roadrunners were top-ranked among large schools in the Southern Section preseason poll.

“I’m not concerned because we usually try to work towards a season-end goal,” Saddleback Coach Mel Silva said. “El Toro beat us today--they worked hard and they deserve it--but we can’t press the panic button because it’s a long season.”

El Toro Coach Rick Hagin didn’t put too much stock in the victory, either.

“We just came here to run well and have a good time,” Hagin said. “The guys put a lot of pressure on themselves and this was just a fun introduction to see how we could do.”

Mark Gonzales of La Habra, who was named athlete of the meet, ran the fastest boys’ time of the day, winning the senior small schools’ race in 15:09. Gonzales, who placed second in the Division II race at the state championships last season, said he has had stomach flu the past two weeks but felt better Saturday.

Notes

The Irvine girls’ team won the large schools’ race with 92 points to Rubidoux’s 132. Freshman Jennifer Gillis was second (18:03) and sophomore Kelly Roda was third (18:05) for the Vaqueros. Four of Irvine’s top five runners finished under 20 minutes. . . . Woodbridge, one of the county’s top girls’ teams, competed in the medium schools’ race without Amy Robles, the Warriors’ No. 1 runner. Robles visited her doctor a week ago complaining of stomach cramps and was diagnosed with a spleen infection and mononucleosis. She is expected to return for the Sea View League finals. . . . Foothill won the girls’ small schools’ race with 68 points over Santa Margarita (132) and Newport Harbor (143). Costa Mesa’s Denisha Bendz finished first (18:45) and Newport Harbor’s Eva Mattson third (19:17). . . . Sixteen athletes were treated for heat injuries at the meet; three were treated and released from Irvine Medical Center Hospital.