DANA HILLS CROSS-COUNTRY INVITATIONAL : Niednagel Makes His Annual Trek to Victory

Daniel Niednagel, who had the fastest time for the second consecutive year, won the Dana Hills Cross-Country Invitational Saturday for the third year in a row.

Niednagel, a senior at Dana Hills High School, led 116 senior boys from 22 Division I schools, finishing the three-mile course in 14 minutes 51 seconds.

Brendan Sullivan of Dana Hills was second, and Saddleback’s Eddie Salinas, who ran neck and neck with Niednagel in last year’s race until Niednagel pulled away at the end, finished fourth. Blake Rothschild of El Toro was third.

“I was hoping to go a little faster,” Niednagel said. “He (Salinas) was there for only about a mile. Last year, we were totally pushing each other. This year, the pace wasn’t as fast.”

In the Division I junior/senior girls’ race, Shelley Taylor of Edison won in 17:02, 52 seconds ahead of Susan Scott of Mt. Carmel.

James Pendergraph of Riverside Norte Vista edged Escondido’s Cesar Lopez in the Division II senior boys’ race, winning in 15:05.

Valencia’s Heather Killeen (17:42) and University’s Tanja Brix (17:54) were the only two Division II junior/senior girls to finish in less than 18 minutes.

The top two senior boys in Division III were from San Marino: Peter Nichols finished in 15:14 and Carlos DeQuando came in at 15:27.

Costa Mesa’s Denisha Bendz (18:14) edged San Marino’s Marjorie Hsu (18:16) in the Division III junior/senior girls’ group.