CROSS-COUNTRY ROUNDUP : Nelson Wins League Title for 4th Time

Kim Nelson of Canyon and Jaime Martinez of Orange each won individual titles and led their teams to titles on Saturday in the Century League cross-country meet at Yorba Regional Park.

Nelson, who won the league title for the fourth consecutive year, edged Santa Ana Valley’s Eliaser Estrada by 11 seconds, winning in 17 minutes 32 seconds.

For Nelson, the victory was a big relief.

“It’s nice to finally get to the end and have four years without a loss in the Century League,” said Nelson, who was second to Carrie Garritson of Buena Park in the recent Orange County championships.

Nelson has dominated the league since first lacing up her racing shoes as a freshman, never losing to a Century League rival in cross-country or track and field.

Her victory enabled Canyon, ranked sixth in the latest Orange County sportswriters’ poll, to run away with the team title. The Comanches scored 37 points, ahead of El Modena (50) and Santa Ana Valley (60).

Nelson and Estrada dueled in the early going, but a wrong turn by the Santa Ana Valley junior just after the one-mile mark enabled Nelson to gain a sizable cushion.

“We were supposed to make a left, and I guess she thought we were going right,” Nelson said, who won the league title as a freshman in much the same manner.

Estrada, who estimated her mistake cost her only five seconds, ran a personal best 17:44.

Maribel Delgado (18:34) finished third for the Falcons, just ahead of the El Modena duo of Tara Whitfield (18:42) and Katie Kennedy (18:43).

A team title was about the only league honor Martinez had enjoyed in his short career at Orange. The Panthers, who breezed through the league dual-meet competition with a 5-0 record, placed five runners among the top eleven places to secure the victory with 32 points to 45 for Villa Park.

“Nothing could have been better than the way my senior year has come together,” Martinez said, who dominated the three-mile race from start to finish, running a course-record 14:29, bettering his own mark from last year.

“The individual win is nice, but the team banner will always be up on the wall at school.”

Santa Ana Valley junior Joel Orozco finished second in 15:04, edging Villa Park’s Phil Sitner (15:08) and Jeremy Mordock (15:13).