CROSS-COUNTRY / GIRLS’ STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Pierce Leads Los Alamitos to Second-Place Finish in Division I

The Los Alamitos girls’ cross-country team had a home-grown recipe for the CIF State Championships on Saturday in Woodward Park.

Using six seniors, five of whom had run in the Los Alamitos program for four years, and one talented sophomore, the Sunset League champions finished second in the Division I race.

The Griffins finished with 125 points, losing only to top-ranked Canyon Country Canyon, which had 82 points.

Senior Amber Pierce, who has run well in every significant meet for the team this fall, came up big again to lead the Griffins.

She ran 19 minutes 11 seconds for the Southern Section I-A champions.

Sophomore Kim Bates followed behind in 19:38, placing 29th.

“We weren’t anything when we came in here,” Pierce said.

“Last year we made [Southern Section prelims], now this year, State . . . I never expected that.”

The Irvine girls (143 points) finished fourth in the Division I team battle, four points behind Chino Hills Ayala.

The Vaqueros have finished no worse than fourth as a team in each of the last six Division I Championships, winning the title in 1993.

Senior Jessica Corbin led the Vaqueros with a fifth-place finish in 18:31.

Santa Margarita’s Katie Nuanes posted the fastest clocking by a county athlete of the day, finishing third in the Division II race. Glendora St. Lucy’s Annie Ebiner won in 17:51.

Nuanes, the Sea View League champion, ran 18:05, 12 seconds faster than University freshman Allyson Marquand, who finished fifth.

“It’s nice to see a flat course,” Nuanes said, after having run the hilly three-mile course at Mt. SAC the last two weekends.

She started slowly, moving into the race’s elite pack in the final mile. Her time was 31 seconds faster than a year ago, when she placed seventh in the Division III final.

Dana Hills, the Orange County champion, finished third in the Division II team battle with 129 points. Yucaipa (84) outran Scripps Ranch (114) to win.

Nuanes led Santa Margarita (152) to a fifth place finish as a team. University was seventh (174).

Buena Park sophomore Heather Garritson continued her late-season improvement, finishing third in the Division III race (18:21).

Elaine Canchola of Nordhoff won the race, running 17:36.

El Modena finished fifth, scoring 128 points. Sophomores Jessica Dahlberg (12th-19:04) and Leslie Burton (16th-19:12) led the Vanguards.

The Division IV race, won by Woodland Hills senior Shaluinn Fullove in 18:39, was highlighted by Orange Lutheran’s Kristin Groncy. She ran 19:24 for fifth place, leading her team to a seventh-place finish with 188 points.

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Cross-country notes

Pacifica junior Stacey Young placed 19th in the Division III race, running 19:13. . . . Misha Wilson of University ran 18:59 for 11th in the Division II race, four places ahead of Huntington Beach’s Jennifer Spahr (19:04). . . . Erin Zehntner ran 19:25 for 19th and Melissa Livermore ran 19:53 for 37th in the Division I race for Irvine.