SOUTHERN SECTION CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS : Sea View Girls Lead County’s Qualifiers

The faces were all the same; the scenery just changed a little bit.

The Southern Section Division III girls’ cross-country championships looked like nothing new to Sea View League powerhouses Corona del Mar, Santa Margarita and Newport Harbor Saturday morning at Mt. San Antonio College.

Corona del Mar avenged a loss to the Eagles in the league finals, running away with the Division III overall championship and the top seeding heading into next weekend’s State Championships in Fresno.

The Sea Kings, who won dual meets against the Eagles and Sailors during the year, raced to the III-A title behind a 1-2 finish by juniors Dresden Howell and Tracy Clark.

“I’m not putting my guard down yet,” Sea Kings Coach Bill Sumner said. “I still think Santa Margarita is the team to beat next weekend.”

Newport Harbor edged Santa Margarita to win Division III-AA, 39-45, as both teams earned State berths.

The Division II girls’ race was almost a page out of who’s who in Orange County cross-country, with top-ranked Edison leading four area teams advancing to State: Canyon, Ocean View and El Modena.

The Chargers easily outdistanced second-place Canyon, 34-49, to win the II-AA title, and El Modena, the Century League runner-up, edged Trabuco Hills, 51-62, in II-A.

Buena Park senior Carrie Garritson posted the day’s second-fastest time, running 18:11 to top Canyon’s Kim Nelson (18:35).

The Irvine girls, plagued by a midseason injury to senior Allison Livermore, returned to form and finished second to Thousand Oaks, 54-56, in the Division I-A race.

“I am really proud of the girls,” Vaquero Coach Randy Rossi said.

“We knew we would come around if we were patient.”

Three Esperanza juniors--Carrie Caulkins, Courtney Pugmire and Jenny Titus--and Santa Ana Valley junior Eliaser Estrada earned individual qualifying berths for the State meet.

Both the Santa Ana and Katella boys’ teams, ranked 1-2 in the latest Times county poll, won their divisions.

The Saints, paced by seniors Federico Duran and Juan Zaragoza who placed fourth and fifth, scored 29 points to win the Division I-AA race, and the Knights turned back second-place Villa Park, 33-67, in II-A.

“We are definitely getting there,” Katella Coach Dave Wilson said.

Orange senior Jaime Martinez, fourth in the I-A race with the fastest county time of the day (15:17) and Capistrano Valley junior Adalberto Sanchez, winner of the I-AA race in 15:37, both advanced as individuals to Fresno.

Southern Section notes

Newport Harbor senior Trent Bryson won the Division III-AA individual title in 16:11. . . . The Santa Margarita and Estancia boys finished 1-2 to advance to State in III-AA. . . . Katella seniors Mike Moreno (15:24) and Delphino Resendiz (16:03) placed first and third for the Knights in II-A. . . . Jessica Corbin ran the second-fastest county girls’ time of the day (18:25) to finish as the runner-up in I-A. . . . Laguna Hills senior Heather McGlone (19:02) and San Clemente’s Nancy Dollar (19:06) both advanced to the Division II State meet. . . . Santa Margarita freshman Katie Nuanes (19:02) placed second in the III-A race. . . . Orange Lutheran’s Laurie Juranek (20:11) advanced by finishing second in the IV-A.