PREP CROSS-COUNTRY ROUNDUP : Little Pinto Runs Away From Favored Taylor to Win

After senior Martha Pinto of Katella High School won the Division II girls’ race Saturday at the Central Park Cross-Country Invitational, Katella Coach Dave Wilson gave her a big hug.

It was well deserved. Pinto had run one of the best races of her life, defeating unbeaten Shelley Taylor of Edison in 17 minutes 28 seconds over the somewhat hilly three-mile course.

Taylor, a junior, finished second in 17:54.

The race was close throughout, as the 4-foot-11, 102-pound Pinto pushed the pace, passing the one-mile mark at 5:31 with Taylor right behind. Taylor went ahead of Pinto twice after the two-mile mark, but Pinto caught her coming down the last set of hills.

“She (Taylor) was the favorite, but I didn’t let her go,” Pinto said. “My coach, my dad, all my friends were yelling not to let her go, and I knew if I let her pass me (and get too far ahead) that she would have too much speed for me.”

Said Taylor: “I was telling myself that I should be ahead of her, but I didn’t have the strength to pull away from her.”

Pinto, a three-time Orange County champion, had never beaten Taylor. The two last competed at last year’s state meet with Taylor, the girls’ 1989 cross-country runner of the year, finishing seventh and Pinto 14th.

“With Martha you never know, every time you turn around, she’s doing something phenomenal,” Wilson said. “I expected it to be a great race, but I didn’t expect her to leave her like that.

“She’s tough--she’s the toughest person I have met in a long time.”

In the boys’ competition, the Saddleback boys’ team, top-ranked in the Southern Section, swept the first three places in Division I. Senior Eddie Salinas won in 15:39. Los Amigos’ Lihn Le won the Division III race (15:53).

In the Orange Lutheran invitational:

Brady Sinclair of St. Margaret’s and Amber Parkinson of Orange Lutheran won the boys’ and girls’ titles at Irvine Regional Park.

Sinclair finished the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes 51 seconds, edging second-place finisher Travis Haynes of Orange Lutheran by five seconds.

Parkinson won in 19:44, 16 seconds faster than teammate and second-place finisher Heather Tuomala.

Orange Lutheran won the boys’ and girls’ team titles.