Gleason Brings Home a Rare Gem

Mission Viejo’s Mark Gleason ran the fastest time of the day to be the first in school history to win an individual state title in the boys’ Division II race at the state cross-country championships Saturday at Woodward Park.

Gleason’s time of 15 minutes 16 seconds over the 3.1-mile course is the sixth-fastest in the division since the meet began in 1987 and 20 seconds faster than his time at last year’s meet, in which he finished fourth.

“I wouldn’t have won it if Coach [Gene Gurule] didn’t yell at me in the final stretch, ‘State champion, you want it,’ ” said Gleason, who had trailed Carmichael Jesuit’s Mike Altieri with 200 yards remaining before outsprinting him to the finish line. “You can’t prepare for [a finish] like that.”

The Diablos, ranked third in the state in Division II, didn’t fare as well as Gleason, finishing fourth with 140 points. However, that was the best finish in the school’s history.

“At this level, if you can have five guys run a normal race, you have a chance,” Gurule said. “We had four kids do a great job. I thought we could pull off third, but it didn’t materialize.”

Also in the Division II race, Loara’s Jose Herrera (15:46) finished ninth and Tustin’s C.J. Marciales (16:13) was 19th.

Estancia, second in the Southern Section meet and ranked eighth in Division IV before the state meet, pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the day, finishing second behind top-ranked Ojai Nordhoff.

“We expected fifth or sixth,” said Estancia Coach Charlie Appell, whose team had 121 points. “They had a positive attitude and ran like champions.”

In the Division I race, eighth-ranked Santa Ana finished fourth as juniors Alfonso Leon (15:49) and Juan Salgado (15:51) led the Saints by finishing 10th and 11th.

“We all ran hard,” Coach Roger Nava said. “I have to wait till next year, but I’m very happy with this season. We have a lot to look forward to next year.”

Said Leon: “I feel good about myself and my team. Everybody tried their best.”

Newport Harbor, ranked seventh, finished fourth in the Division III race with 127 points.

Also in that race, Sonora seniors Heriberto Sarabia (15:51) and Fabian Ruelas (16:05) finished third and seventh.

In the Division V race, St. Margaret’s Ryan Downey was in position to defend his state title and was going to be the only county runner in the race, but he did not run because of a hip injury.

Santa Clara’s Aaron Sharp, who finished second behind Downey last year, won in 16:04, nine seconds slower than Downey’s time a year ago.

Notes

Katella finished eighth in the Division II race. . . . El Toro’s Danny Lee (16:20) finished 44th in the Division I race. . . . Costa Mesa’s Bruce Hancock (16:29) was 16th in the Division IV race.