COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : ‘Courageous’ Davis Leads Irvine Valley

The Irvine Valley women qualified for the state cross-country championship by finishing second to Mt. San Antonio College in the Southern California Regional meet Saturday at Morley Field in San Diego.

Irvine Valley was led by fifth-place finisher Sue Davis, who raced three days after the sudden death by heart attack of her father, Harry Corea.

“That’s the way he would have wanted it, and that’s why she did it,” said Irvine Valley Coach Bill Leach. “He would have been here today.

“It was a really courageous thing for her to do. It brought a lot of honor to her family and her father.

“It was a very emotional day.”

Irvine Valley, which was expected to challenge for the title, scored 69 points to 61 for Mt. SAC. Davis, who moved up from 15th place at the half-mile mark, covered the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes 57 seconds, 1:09 behind winner Jean Harvey of Antelope Valley.

Karrie Ferguson was Irvine Valley’s second-best finisher, 11th in 19:26.

The top five teams advanced to next Saturday’s state finals at Sierra College in Rockland.

In the men’s meet, Rancho Santiago was the top Orange County team, eighth with 244 points. Riverside won with 28 points.

At the Southern California water polo regionals:

Golden West Wins--Golden West, the top-ranked team in the state, defeated Long Beach, 9-6, in the championship game at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Morgan Courtney had three goals for Golden West (30-1), which has won five of its six meetings with second-ranked Long Beach (29-5).

Orange Coast Takes Third--Orange Coast, the third-ranked team in the state, defeated Grossmont, 9-4, for third place.

Goalie Erik Terwilliger had 16 saves for the Pirates (27-7), who open the state tournament against College of the Sequoias Friday at West Valley College in Cupertino. Golden West opens the state tournament against Modesto (20-10-1). Grossmont is (25-10).