SOUTHERN SECTION CHAMPIONSHIPS : CROSS-COUNTRY / BOYS’ FINAL : Wickersham Surprises All With I-A Victory

Matt Wickersham surprised even himself by winning the Division I-A race Saturday at the Southern Section cross-country finals.

Wickersham, a Mater Dei senior who was third in the Orange County Championships last month, assumed the lead with less than a mile remaining.

Wickersham surged ahead of eventual runner-up Todd Disney of Thousand Oaks as the race entered the final hill, outkicking the Lancer senior by three seconds in 15 minutes 32 seconds for the victory.

“When I passed [Disney] it was almost by mistake,” said Wickersham, the South Coast League champion.

“I was in eighth or ninth at the two-mile mark and I figured I had nothing to lose. Just go for it.”

Wickersham’s time was the fastest posted by a county athlete and second only to Morro Bay sophomore Isaiah Festa, who ran 15:31 to win the Division IV-AA race.

“That was a picture-perfect race for Matt,” Monarch Coach Rick Martinez said.

Santa Margarita junior Michael Murray won his second consecutive individual section title, taking the Division II-A crown.

Murray ran 15:46 to advance as an individual to Saturday’s State meet in Fresno’s Woodward Park.

“[Winning today] was one of my goals and to make it to State again,” Murray said.

Santa Ana, El Modena and Katella emerged as the county’s section champions.

The Saints, third in the county meet and second in the Golden West League, scored 46 points to win in Division I-A.

“If it wasn’t the fifth man, it was the first man this season,” said Saint Coach Roger Nava, lamenting the team’s inconsistency. “I knew if we put it together, we’d be tough.”

The Vanguards matched the feat of their female counterparts, becoming the only school in county history to have boys’ and girls’ teams win section team titles two years in a row, according to El Modena Coach Tom Weber.

The Vanguards topped the Division III-AA competition with 29 points.

Katella won the Division II-A title, amassing 33 points.

The Knights were led by senior Juan Vanegas, who ran 16:08 for third place.

The Huntington Beach boys, the top-ranked county team and fifth in the state, failed to qualify in the Division I-AA race.

Junior Tony Trueba finished third in 15:48 but it wasn’t enough to combat an 89-point, fifth-place performance.

Palos Verdes Peninsula scored 53 points for the victory, besting runners-up Glendale Hoover, with 69.

Corona del Mar finished third in the Division III-A race with 64 points, advancing to the State meet.

St. Margaret’s sophomore Ryan Downey finished as the Division IV-A runner-up, running 16:39 to advance to the State meet.

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Notes

Edison (70 points) finished second to Katella in Division II-A, ahead of Tustin (73) and Santa Margarita (80). . . . Orange (65 points) lost to Yucaipa by 12 points in the race for the Division II-AA team title. . . . Saddleback (88) edged Huntington Beach by one point for fourth in the Division I-AA race. . . . Dan Gaston finished fifth in 15:53 for the Oilers, the county’s fourth-fastest time of the day.