Irvine Runners Earn Surprising Sweep

Irvine’s cross-country teams celebrated expected--and unexpected--victories in the Sea View League finals Friday at Irvine Regional Park.

It was no surprise that Irvine, ranked second in the county, cruised to the girls’ team title. But Irvine senior Justin Nyberg shocked the boys’ field, passing Santa Margarita’s Michael Murray and El Toro’s Danny Lee to win the individual title.

Earlier this season, Nyberg lost to Lee and Murray in dual-meet races. Murray, The Times’ cross-country athlete of the year in 1995, has won consecutive Southern Section titles and won the Sea View title last season in 15 minutes 1 second.

“Justin had never beaten Murray before,” Irvine Coach Fred Bosley said, “but he picked a great time to break that streak.”

Nyberg finished the three-mile course in 14:58 to become the first Sea View champion for the Vaqueros since Cyril Oblouk in 1981.

“I know Michael usually makes his big surge at two miles, like clockwork,” Nyberg said. “So I started my push a little earlier.”

Once Nyberg got the lead, he was never threatened. Murray finished second in 15:07, Lee was third in 15:18 and Santa Margarita’s Brandon Von Guenthner finished fourth in 15:20.

Murray and Von Guenthner helped the Eagles win the team title with 43 points. Santa Margarita, ranked third in the county, finished ahead of sixth-ranked El Toro (49) and Corona del Mar (72), ranked first in Division IV.

Irvine, top-ranked in the girls’ Division I poll, won the girls’ team title easily although all six teams in the league are ranked among the Top 10 of the different section division polls.

The Vaqueros won with 53 points. Sophomore Erin Zehntner finished fourth in 17:54, freshman Valerie Morris was eighth in 18:33 and sophomore Melissa Livermore was ninth in 18:41.

“Everyone ran well today, but they all feel they can run better,” Irvine Coach Randy Rossi said. “We’re improving every week, so I think we’re right where we want to be heading into the CIF meets.”

Santa Margarita’s Katie Nuanes won her second consecutive league title, finishing in 17:32 to lead the Eagles to a second-place finish with 73 points. Woodbridge’s Mary Moore (17:43) finished second and El Toro’s Becky Miske (17:45) finished third.