CROSS-COUNTRY ROUNDUP : Saddleback Bounces Back With a Victory

Mel Silva, the coach of the Saddleback boys’ cross-country team, was slightly taken back by the news Saturday at the Central Park Invitational in Huntington Beach.

“We won? Really?” said Silva, when he learned Saddleback had defeated Fair Oaks Del Campo, 58-68, for the Division I varsity championship. “I’m surprised because we ran so hard Thursday.”

Silva was referring to Thursday’s two-point loss to Newport Harbor in a Sea View League dual meet. The Sailors came into the meet ranked third in Orange County; the Roadrunners were second.

Del Campo Coach Bob King came to Saturday’s meet looking for some different competition for his team, which placed third in Division II at the State meet last season. Del Campo, located on the outskirts of Sacramento, found such competition in Saddleback.

Although Del Campo runners took second and third behind winner Jim Cera of Upland, Saddleback squeezed its first five runners among the top 25. Del Campo’s fifth runner was 31st.

“Saddleback ran well--they’re good,” King said. “I was pleased to be within 10 points of them today.”

Silva also was looking pleased, more so because Johnny Ochoa and Danny Garro returned to the team only this week. Ochoa was the top runner against Newport Harbor, battling the Sailors’ Jared Overton throughout the race.

Saturday, Ochoa placed fourth in 15 minutes 33 seconds, over a winding, hilly three-mile course run mostly on grass and dirt. Teammates Raphael Santa Maria (seventh, 15:58), Hector Ochoa (eighth, 16:01), Mario Vela (14th, 16:17) and Garro (25th, 16:34) rounded out Saddleback’s top five.

It was only the second race of the season for Johnny Ochoa and Garro, who have been battling injuries. Johnny Ochoa, a senior, has missed six weeks of running since injuring his left Achilles’ tendon when he stepped into a hole while training. Garro was out three weeks because of bronchitis.

“Oh, yeah, I couldn’t wait to come back,” said Johnny Ochoa, who was Saddleback’s top runner last year. “I think my coming back has really brought their (the team’s) confidence back.

“When I was the first Saddleback runner to finish Thursday, it only (served) to make them work harder because now every single person on varsity wants to beat me.”

Johnny Ochoa, who said he kept in shape by riding a 10-speed bike, said his teammates were a little surprised he could come back and place so well after being out a long time.

Silva said he wasn’t too concerned about how the Roadrunners did Saturday or how they will perform at next week’s Orange County Championships, where they will most likely run against Newport Harbor and top-ranked Katella.

“If I concentrate on Orange County, I’m going to cheat them,” he said. “We’re going to target for CIF (Southern Section) prelims and finals even if we have to jeopardize Orange County.”

That might sit well with 10th-ranked Santa Ana, which finished fourth (84) behind third-place Upland (71), and Brea-Olinda, which was fifth (205).

In other races, Huntington Beach was second in the Division II race with 85 points to Thousand Oaks’ 20. Senior Ben Flamm was fourth (15:38).

In girls’ competition, Santa Margarita (Division II) and Laguna Beach (Division III) won titles.

Meet notes

Fountain Valley’s Kim Foster won the Division III girls’ varsity race, finishing in 18:58 . . . Laguna Beach’s Jamie Donnely was fourth in the same race (20:36). . . . Amber Parkinson of Orange Lutheran, one of the county’s top runners as a sophomore, has returned to competition after sitting out a year with injuries. She finished seventh in Division I race in 19:32. . . . Mission Bay’s Devin Elizondo ran a boys’ course record 14:57 in Division III, breaking the 1985 course record of 15:03 set by Saugus’ Darren Stonerock.

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At the Manhattan College Interscholastic girls’ meet:

Irvine places fourth--Although No. 3 runner, Jessica Corbin, did not compete because of the flu, four Irvine runners placed among the top 30 in a race featuring 154 runners from 10 states in New York City’s Van Cortlandt Park.

Irvine had 161 points, finishing behind third-place Essex Junction (Vt.), which had 152 points. Manchester (N.H.) Central won the team competition with 107 points, and Auburn (N.Y.) was second with 143. Emily Hodgson of Manchester Central won in 14:49.

Irvine’s Kelly Roda finished the 2.5-mile course in 15:34, and teammate Erin Livermore finished in 16:41.

In a nonleague girls’ meet:

Esperanza 26, Canyon 29--The Aztecs, ranked eighth in the county, upset seventh-ranked Canyon to give the Comanches their first dual-meet loss in three years.

Kim Nelson of Canyon won the three-mile race at Yorba Regional Park in 18:12, after trailing the leaders with 400 meters remaining. The first five runners finished within six seconds of each other.

Also, Esperanza and Canyon defeated Livermore Granada Hills, 15-50, in the tri-meet team scoring.

In a nonleague boys’ meet:

Esperanza 17, Canyon 45--Shawn Frack won the race in 15:15 for Esperanza, the seventh-ranked team in the county. Esperanza and Canyon both defeated Livermore Granada Hills, 15-50, in the tri-meet team scoring.