ROUNDUP : El Toro Girls Edge Irvine at Woodbridge Invitational

Mike Del Rio, coach of the El Toro High School girls’ cross-country team, wasn’t ecstatic Saturday after the Chargers narrowly defeated Irvine at the Woodbridge Invitational. But maybe he should have been.

The early-season coup against Irvine, which placed fourth among Division I schools in the State meet last season, warranted a few smiles from Del Rio. Especially considering El Toro’s results in the South Coast League last year.

El Toro finished third at the league meet--which Irvine won--but failed to qualify for the Southern Section prelims because Mission Viejo and Dana Hills had better overall season records. It was like getting a birthday cake and then having it snatched away.

“Last year, we came on strong at the end,” said Del Rio, who has coached the girls’ team six years. He said Saturday’s invitational was the first time the Chargers had won a title during that span. “We had a good team, but some of the girls were off (their form) during the season.”

Saturday, the Chargers were in good form, scoring 112 points to Irvine’s 113 in the large schools’ varsity race. Capistrano Valley was third with 134 points. El Toro placed two runners in front of Irvine’s strong duo of sophomore Jennifer Gillis and junior Kelly Roda.

El Toro’s Julie Focht, who placed eighth behind large schools’ varsity race-winner Christina Blackmer of Upland, ran 18 minutes 38 seconds on the three-mile course that wound around Woodbridge High School and the Alton Park fields. Blackmer ran 17:41. Focht’s teammate, freshman Bree Frigo, was ninth in 18:38.

Irvine Coach Randy Rossi said he wasn’t surprised the Chargers upset his team.

“I think El Toro ran real well,” Rossi said. “It’s status quo among South Coast League teams, they are always tough. You expect that on a yearly basis and you take each race week by week.”

In other races, Katella’s Mike Love and Esperanza’s Shawn Frack turned in the top Orange County time, each running 15:33. Newport Harbor placed second in the medium schools’ junior race, and Laguna Hills also took second in the small schools’ senior race. In the small schools’ girls’ race, Corona del Mar’s Dresden Howell led her team to the title.

At the Clovis Cross-Country Invitational:

Orange Lutheran and Tustin Win--The Orange Lutheran girls’ cross-country team won the small schools meet with 37 points. Amber Parkinson finished second for Orange Lutheran, running the 5,000-meter course at Woodward Park in Fresno in 20 minutes, 29 seconds. Tustin’s Liza Alexander won the medium schools race, finishing in 19 minutes and 52 seconds. Tustin won the team event with 76 points.

In the Millikan water polo tournament:

Harvard 17, Villa Park 13--Randy Larson scored six goals for Villa Park (4-2) in the championship game and was named to the all-tournament team.

Capistrano Valley 17, Los Alamitos 4--Jeff Moloughney, Mark Geiger, and Alex Lesser each scored three goals for the Cougars (5-1) in the third-place game. Randy Wright, who earned all-tournament honors, and Kyle Pagett each had two goals for Los Alamitos (6-4). Capistrano Valley’s Jeremy Braxton-Brown was named most valuable player of the tournament.

Long Beach Wilson 10, Marina 9 (OT)--Wilson’s Tim Bostrom scored the game-winner with 1:42 remaining in sudden death overtime in the fifth-place game. Jon Kenyon had put Marina (3-2) up, 9-8, with his third goal on a penalty shot with 20 seconds left, but Jeff Phair tied it 15 seconds later on a man-up situation.