Taylor Paces Edison Girls to Division II Title : Cross-country: Laguna Hills boys and Newport Harbor girls also win State championships.

Shelley Taylor always seemed to be running alone when she came to Woodward Park for past CIF State cross-country meets. This year, she had the company of her Edison High School teammates--not that they saw much of her until after the girls’ Division II race was over.

Taylor buried the field Saturday, running the 5,000-meter course in 17 minutes 28 seconds to beat Carrie Garritson of Sunny Hills by 38 seconds and lead Edison to the team title over Escondido San Pasqual.

There were two other Orange County team champions--Laguna Hills won the boys’ Division III and Newport Harbor won the girls’ Division III--but Edison’s title was particularly surprising because San Pasqual had been ranked fourth nationally most of the season. But thanks to Taylor and three others in the top 25, Edison slipped past San Pasqual for a 52-55 victory.

“This was the first time with the whole team here,” Taylor said. “It’s so great. It means so much more.”

Right from the starting gun, Taylor was determined to run at the front of the pack. At the mile mark, reached in 5:20, she led Garritson by three seconds. Over the rolling hills of the second mile, Taylor extended her lead to 23 seconds and looked relaxed and confident, passing two miles in 11:03.

“I really wanted to lead the whole way,” she said. “I wanted to get away so I could relax and keep opening the lead.”

Behind Taylor, Jennifer Formosa was 12th in 18:57, Jeannie Formosa was 18th in 19:13, Janna Evans was 23rd in 19:21 and Janndee Evans was 34th in 19:39.

In the girls’ Division III race, Donna Mills of Newport Harbor wasn’t entirely sure where she took the lead, but somewhere in the final mile, she moved from third to first. Her victory in 18:45 led Newport Harbor to a 96-109 victory over Laguna Hills. Teammate Mary Crane was seventh in 19:04. Heidi Sickler was Laguna Hills’ top finisher, placing 16th in 19:33.

Mills lost the Sea View League championship Nov. 7 by 46 seconds to Tanja Brix of University but has improved dramatically since then.

“I wasn’t sure about running,” Mills said. “I had to decide what I wanted. I finally decided running was the best thing for me.”

The victory by the Laguna Hills boys’ team was the final chapter in a near-perfect season.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Laguna Hills Coach Kevin Dempsey said after the Hawks (91 points) defeated San Marino (97) and Corona del Mar (113). “. . . Well, I guess it does get better because the girls came up and took second.”

The Laguna Hills boys lost only to San Pasqual and La Habra, two Division II teams, at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in October. They won titles at the Orange County championships, the Pacific Coast League meet and the Southern Section III-AA final heading into the State meet.

Chris Lynch, the county champion, was fifth in 15:46, Dave Burnett was 19th in 16:20, Aaron Winger was 24th in 16:29, Jeff Zettel was 31st in 16:38 and John McGlone was 61st in 17:04.

Lynch’s time was the second-fastest by a county runner Saturday. Mike Love of Katella had the fastest, finishing second in 15:41 in the Division II race.

A few minutes before the start, Dempsey asked Lynch if he was nervous.

“Not for me,” Lynch said. “But for the team.”

It was close, but Laguna Hills won with a six-point cushion.

Notes

Irvine finished fourth in the girls’ Division I race. . . . La Habra was sixth and Mission Viejo eighth in the boys’ Division II race. . . . Woodbridge was fourth and El Modena seventh in the girls’ Division II. . . . Ryan Wilkinson of Santa Margarita capped a fine freshman season with a 12th-place finish in 16:06 in the Division III boys’ race. . . . Katy Eklof and Denisha Bendz of Costa Mesa each placed in the top 15 of the girls’ Division III race. Eklof was second in 18:51 and Bendz was 13th in 19:15. . . . Led by Barbara Boisvert, a freshman who was third in 19:10, Orange Lutheran placed third in the girls’ Division IV race. . . . Adam Ripley of Laguna Beach was 11th in the boys’ Division IV race.