PREP ROUNDUP : Balderas Sprints to First, Leads Garden Grove to Fourth Place

Senior Mike Balderas of Garden Grove led all runners, with his time of 16 minutes 46 seconds Saturday at the sixth Brea-Olinda Invitational. Balderas led his team to a surprising fourth-place finish in a meet that featured some of the top teams in the Southern Section.

The meet returned to Carbon Canyon Park, where a hantavirus scare forced the meet to move to Craig Park last year. The race covered a tough 3.1-mile course designed by Brea-Olinda Coach Dan King, who served as meet director.

Each team ran its top two runners in one race, followed by a race that pitted the the next three runners on each team. The top five times from each team were added together to determine the top team times.

Alta Loma, the sixth-ranked team in Division I, was the top team in the boys’ races with a time of 88:07, followed closely by Upland (88:30).

Shelby Horgan led Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon to first place with a time of 20:04, which helped her team finish with 105:38. Temescal Canyon began the meet as the No. 1 girls’ team in Division III.

Annie Ebiner of Glendora St. Lucy’s ran the fastest time for the girls (19:52). Kim Bates of Los Alamitos was second in 19:58.

In the Stanford Invitational girls’ cross-country meet

In Division I:

Courtney Pugmire finished fifth in 19:29 to lead Esperanza to a third-place finish. Carrie Caulkins, also of Esperanza, finished 17th in 20:15. Anna Niemi of Irvine was 18th in 20:18, and Jessica Corbin, also of Irvine, was 19th in 20:22.

Irvine’s Erin Livermore was 21st in 20:40. Esperanza’s Jenny Titus was 22nd in 20:45.

In Division II:

Edison wins--Elyse Homberger finished 12th in 20:43 to lead Edison to a first-place finish. Ocean View’s Taryn Lawson finished 14th in 20:51. Canyon’s Alison Bunton was 17th in 20:58. Edison’s Keri Wright was 18th in 21:05, and Kenna Masuda of Ocean View was 20th in 21:08.

In Division III:

Corona del Mar’s Clarke wins--Tracy Clarke finished first in 19:34, leading the Sea Kings to a fourth-place finish. Sonora’s Maggie Hurst was ninth in 20:21.

In Division IV:

Orange Lutheran fourth--Kristin Gronzy finished fourth in 21:13 to lead Orange Lutheran. Laurie Guranek finished 14th in 21:39. Meg Ferrell was 18th in 21:58, and Katie Peters was 24th in 22:23.

In the finals of the Challenge Cup tennis tournament:

Newport Harbor wins--Lindsay Olson won a tiebreaker, 7-5, at No. 1 singles to give Newport the victory over Santa Margarita, 4-2. The doubles team of Katie Hawkins and Brooke Taylor defeated Santa Margarita’s No. 2 team in a tiebreaker, 8-6.

In the championship of the Canyon water polo tournament:

Sonora 9, Palos Verdes Peninsula 7--Jason Bollin scored three goals and Tim Stanton had 12 saves to lead Sonora (10-4) to the tournament title.

In the championship game of the Magnolia water polo tournament:

Bell Gardens 12, Saddleback 7--Bret Trezise scored four goals for Saddleback (11-3), which trailed, 9-2, at halftime. Trezise also scored eight goals in a semifinal victory over Magnolia. Bell Gardens is 14-2.

In the championship game of the San Luis Obispo water polo tournament:

Brea-Olinda 9, Tustin 8 (OT)--Eric Matthews’ goal with 1:53 left in overtime gave Brea-Olinda, the top-ranked team in Division VI, the victory over Tustin (8-4). Matthews, who tied the score with seven seconds left, had six goals in two games as Brea-Olinda (11-1) came away with the tournament title after a day of round-robin competition.

In the Villa Park Classic water polo tournament:

El Toro 11, Esperanza 7--Greg Stoll stopped 14 shots as El Toro defeated Esperanza to reach the finals against San Clemente. Mark Titon led El Toro with five goals.

Jason Mericle had four goals for the Aztecs (7-4).

Esperanza 9, Villa Park 4--Brian Mericle and Mike Stanley each scored three goals to lead Esperanza (8-4) past tournament host Villa Park.

With the victory, the Aztecs finished third in the tournament.

Trabuco Hills 15, Buena Park 12--Jayson Gatzke scored five goals for Trabuco Hills (7-6) in the consolation final.

In eight-man football:

California Lutheran 32, Heritage Christian 16--Jay Williams was the leading rusher (93 yards) and passer (95 yards) in the Patroits’ 32-16 league-opening loss.

Capistrano Valley Christian 18, L.A. Ribet 14--Wayland Williams scored on a 70-yard kickoff return and rushed for 84 yards in 13 carries to lead visiting Capistrano Valley Christian (2-2).

Bryant Wolfsburger added 79 yards in 20 carries, including a six-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead. Capistrano Valley Christian held Ribet (1-3) to zero yards passing.

Joe Corey led Ribet with 128 yards rushing in 28 carries.