CROSS-COUNTRY / ORANGE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS : Mater Dei, Irvine Prove the Value of Learning

The Mater Dei boys’ and Irvine girls’ cross-country teams proved something while winning the Orange County Championship sweepstakes races Saturday at Irvine Regional Park.

The Monarchs learned to be patient. The Vaqueros got a strong understanding of how to handle the pressure of being the favorite.

Mater Dei, ranked second in The Times preseason county poll, had slipped out of the top 10 and appeared headed downward because of injuries. The Monarchs (99 points) outlasted Orange (105) for top honors on the three-mile course.

Katella, the county’s top-ranked cross-country team, was third with 125 points.

Irvine, ranked third in the State large-school coaches poll, turned back Sea View League-rival El Toro, 103-109. Edison, the defending champion, was third with 118 points.

In the boys’ race, Adalberto Sanchez of Capistrano Valley put aside any questions about the individual title within the race’s first 400 meters.

“That is how I always start,” said Sanchez, runner-up in this race last year.

“I did start out a little bit faster than usual today,” said Sanchez of his eagerness for his first county title.

Sanchez won the race in 15 minutes 13 seconds. He was followed by Orange senior Glen Busch (15:28), Woodbridge junior Ross Venook (15:36) and Mission Viejo senior Andy Morgan (15:38).

But it was the tight pack of Matt Wickersham, Daniel Gonzalez and Brian Mitzel, who crossed the line in 18th, 19th and 20th place, that secured the team title for the Monarchs.

“You would have every reason to,” said third-year Coach Rick Martinez when asked if he doubted his team’s chances.

“At the beginning of the season, we were taking it on the chin real badly with all the injuries.”

The return of Dan Kozak from a stress fracture in his shin and Gonzalez from a groin strain proved to be the right combination for Mater Dei.

“The last two weeks we have just been focusing in on this day,” Martinez said.

The girls’ race unfolded much differently, as Esperanza’s Courtney Pugmire and Buena Park’s Heather Garritson led the pack through the first two miles. Corona del Mar senior Tracy Clark slowly edged to the front, moving past Pugmire with a half-mile left before pulling away to victory in 17:36.

“You never know what people are going to do, so I just ran my own race and played it by ear,” said Clark, who has won invitational races at Laguna Hills, Woodbridge, Dana Hills and Stanford in addition to the county title this season.

“I didn’t know I had it won until the end,” said Clark, who held off one of the state’s finest 800 meter runners in Pugmire.

Pugmire (17:44) held off Garritson (17:54) for second place. Santa Ana Valley senior Eliaser Estrada (18:01) and Irvine junior Jessica Corbin (18:08) rounded out the top five.

The Vaqueros were the only team to place three runners among the top 20 individual finishers.

“I was very pleased with the way they responded to the pressure and ran aggressively,” Irvine Coach Randy Rossi said.

Irvine’s Erin Livermore (18:53) and Anna Kaisa-Niemi (18:57) finished 12th and 13th.

“They were all very nervous before the race, but you could see the intensity was there,” said Rossi, whose team is the defending State Division I champion.

The Vaqueros avenged an eighth-place team finish in last season’s county race as well as shaking off a 23-32 league loss to Corona del Mar last week with the victory.