Michael Love

School: Katella High

Sport: Cross-country

Class: Senior

Before the start of his race at the Orange County Cross-Country Championships Saturday at Irvine Park in Orange, Love planned his finish. He went to a spot about 200 meters from the finish line from which he would start his kick. When Love reached the spot during the race, he trailed only Orange’s Jamie Martinez. Not for long. “When he got to that point, he took off,” Katella assistant Mike Cochrane said. “He had too much leg speed for Martinez. I really credit him with the intelligence to go over there and figure it out himself.” Love, who hasn’t been beaten by a county runner this season, won the three-mile seeded race in 15 minutes 4 seconds, two seconds ahead of Martinez. His victory helped Katella win the team title by 29 points over Newport Harbor. Katella had three runners in the top five--Love, Mike Moreno (third) and Delfino Resendiz (fifth). The Knights’ next two runners were Steve Phan (21st) and Danny Calleros (24th).

Other top performers:

Jeff Moloughney, whose four goals helped Capistrano Valley’s water polo team defeat El Toro, ranked No. 1 in the county and the Southern Section Division I, for the championship of the North Orange County tournament. He also scored four in the No. 2 Cougars’ 8-7 South Coast League victory over Dana Hills.

Bram Slipakoff, who rushed for 487 yards and scored seven touchdowns in Huntington Beach Claremont’s 74-56 victory over Pioneer Baptist in an eight-man football game. Slipakoff also was in on 15 tackles and recovered a fumble.

Binh Tran, who rushed for 333 yards in 33 carries and scored three touchdowns in Costa Mesa’s 65-19 victory over Laguna Beach. It was the second consecutive game in which Tran has gained more than 300 yards. He now has the fifth- and ninth-best single-game rushing performances in county history.

Jamie Worthem, who rushed for 246 yards and scored the game’s only touchdown with 1:14 left in Orange’s 6-0 victory over Foothill.