Laguna Hills’ Lynch Finally Takes Control : Cross-country: Known as relentless and reckless, senior learns to restrain himself and is winning races with new tactic.

Hey, ho, let’s go.

With those words ringing in their ears for inspiration, the boys’ cross-country team at Laguna Hills High School became No. 1 in Orange County this past week.

It shouldn’t have been a big shock that Laguna Hills won the boys’ seeded race at last week’s Orange County championships, but the Hawks were still surprised. Sure, they were ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section and state Division III, but they didn’t expect to defeat Division I schools such as Santa Ana Valley and Esperanza. And when their fifth man came down with the flu days before the meet, a victory seemed out of the question.

On race day, the doubts were many as Coach Kevin Dempsey stood by the finish line with clipboard in hand and tried as best as he could to guess the team’s finish.

“It looks like we’re at least third, but I’m not sure,” Dempsey told the runners.

“Third? That’s nice,” they said. “Maybe on a better day we could have won it.”

Some thirty minutes later, the results were official: Laguna Hills had won, defeating Santa Ana Valley, the former No. 1, by a point.

“I didn’t believe it until I saw it myself,” Dempsey said.

It’s true, Laguna Hills is No. 1. Even the rain that pelted Irvine Park during the race couldn’t wash away that fact.

The Ramones, the punk rock band whose words the runners have adopted as their team motto, would be proud. The team chants, “Hey, ho, let’s go,” in its pre-race huddle, and they wear the words on T-shirts.

It’s the perfect music for Chris Lynch, Laguna Hills’ top runner--upbeat, relentless and reckless. It’s a lot like the runner himself.

In the past, Lynch has taken the words a little too close to his heart and faded badly in the closing mile of important races. At last year’s Southern Section finals, Lynch collapsed with 200 meters to go, dropping from the top 10 to 62nd, and Laguna Hills missed a trip to the state meet.

“It’s happened twice at (the section finals) and once at the Laguna Hills Invitational,” said Jeff Zettel, Laguna Hills’ No. 3 runner. “I saw him staggering and I didn’t know what I should do. I tried to stop and help him, but then I kept running.”

Lynch has since stopped throwing a scare into his teammates by running with more restraint early, no matter how tempting it is to put the hammer down. His victory in the county championships was further testimony to his new tactical approach.

He ran a controlled race, surging at three designated spots on the three-mile course. The final surge, in the last 800 meters, brought him to the finish line in 15 minutes 16 seconds, a full five seconds ahead of second-place Mike Love of Katella.

“He knows what he wants, he’s willing to pay the price and he has talent, of course,” Dempsey said of Lynch. “I really enjoy watching him race. He’s grown physically. Mentally, he’s much better. He’s more relaxed and that’s had a big effect on him.”

Dempsey said he began to notice major changes in Lynch early last month.

With hopes of making a big impression outside Orange County, the Hawks took their act on the, ah, subway, winning the Manhattan College Invitational. The team took the subway uptown to Van Cortland Park in Bronx, N.Y., then with Lynch leading them, blitzed some of the best competition on the East Coast.

Actually, Laguna Hills has had good teams before this one, even advancing to the state meet when seniors Lynch and Zettel were freshmen. That team had dreams of a top-five finish, but fell short.

Returning to the state meet--which will be held Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno--has been the top priority since. The current team would seem to have it made, with experienced seniors Lynch, Zettel, Dave Burnette (No. 2 man) and Aaron Winger (No. 6) and juniors Rick Stevens (No. 4), Swingler (No. 5) and John McGlone (No. 7).

The Ramones’ music aside, Laguna Hills’ strength lies in its depth. There are 32 boys in the program. Some of them are good enough to run on the varsity at other schools but can’t crack the top seven at Laguna Hills. So while the varsity was preparing to win the seeded race last week, the junior varsity was finishing seventh in the varsity Division I race.

Dempsey always could count on the numbers, but there were big questions facing him when the season began. Lynch hardly ran a step all summer, recovering from a stress fracture, and Hiroki Kawanishi, last year’s No. 2 man, returned to his native Japan after his father’s company transferred him.

As it turned out, there has been little to slow the Hawks.

The victories in New York and at the county championships have given their confidence a big boost, but two big goals remain.

“Our season is CIF and state,” Lynch said. “Anything else is just a bonus, like Manhattan and Orange County.”