CROSS-COUNTRY ROUNDUP : El Toro Girls Continue to Prove There’s Strength in Their Numbers

For the second consecutive week, the El Toro girls’ cross-country team used depth to outlast the competition, stealing the show Saturday at the Dana Hills Invitational.

The Chargers, ranked second in the county, edged top-ranked Irvine, 63-73, to win the Division I junior/senior girls’ race on the Dana Hills campus.

Three Vaquero runners finished among the top four. Jessica Corbin (18 minutes 12 seconds), Anna Kaisa-Niemi (18:16) and Erin Livermore (18:22) cruised to a 1-2-4 finish, with only Ocean View senior Taryn Lawson (18:18) breaking up the trio.

Stacey Roberson led the Chargers, whose team leader, Briana Frigo, skipped the race to rest sore shins. Roberson was El Toro’s top finisher, running 18:29 for fifth place.

What separated the two was the Chargers’ ability to place each of its next five runners among the top 20. Only five Vaqueros finished among the race’s top 49.

“We ran easy on Thursday (a 20-43 Sea View League victory over Newport Harbor) because we knew this was a big meet,” Charger Coach Diane Hale said.

“But we’ve got a gigantic race this Thursday (when the Chargers duel Irvine).”

Corbin’s time was the fastest of the Division I competition, with Santa Ana Valley’s Eliaser Estrada posting the fastest overall time of the afternoon in 17:49.

“I thought that I wasn’t even going to run because my knee has been hurting,” Estrada said. “But once I started running, it was fine.”

Corona del Mar emerged victorious in the Division III girls’ race, led by senior Tracy Clark, who ran away from the competition to win in 17:54.

The day’s most exciting individual battle came early in the meet, when Capistrano Valley senior Adalberto Sanchez held a slight lead over Vista’s Trevor Sybert entering the race’s final 400 meters.

Sanchez lost the lead down the backstretch of the track facility, where the race concluded, then regained on the final turn, 120 meters from the finish. But for the 5-foot-2 Sanchez it was not to be, as the taller San Diegan outdueled him to the finish line. Both finished in 14:37, the fastest time of the day for the boys.

Newport Harbor edged Santa Ana Valley, 75-89, to win the Division II boys’ team title. Joel Orozco (15:10) finished second for the Falcons. Newport Harbor’s Shahram DeZahd (15:18) finished third.

In the Sonora Invitational:

Garden Grove, led by Mike Balderas, who was first in a time of 15:18, finished in the top spot in the Division I boys’ race. Buena Park’s Jarrod Garritson finished second.

El Modena’s Ryan Emanaker finished second (14:54) and Amos Zach was third (14:55) to lead the Vanguards to first place in the Division II boys’ race. Anaheim finished second and Troy finished third.

Sonora’s Remigio Garcia took first (15:04) in the Division II-A boys’ race, helping the Knights to a second-place finish behind Covina Northview.

Erin Nelson’s third-place finish (19:54) helped Garden Grove take first in the Division I girls’ race. Heather Garritson took first place (17:39), leading Buena Park to a second-place finish.

El Modena, led by Jessica Dahlberg’s run of 18:13 and Tara Whitfield’s 18:14, captured first in the Division II girls’ race. Troy’s Elizabeth Sinclair finished first (18:03), leading the Warriors to a second-place finish.

In the Division II-A girls’ race, Fullerton, led by Melissa Mendoza’s run (20:00), won the team competition. Sonora was second.