Woodbridge, Costa Mesa Win Team Titles

Two Orange County girls’ teams--Woodbridge and Costa Mesa--won state titles and two other teams--Esperanza and El Modena--finished second at the state cross-country championships at Woodward Park on Saturday.

Woodbridge, which won its first section title last week, won its first state title as senior Mary Moore led the Warriors with a fifth-place finish in 18 minutes 40 seconds over the 3.1-mile course in Division II.

“I felt good and pretty strong,” said Moore, who finished seventh in last year’s race. “This time I wasn’t going out as fast as I have been in the last few weeks. This was one of my smartest races.”

Coach George Varvas was also pleased with his top runner’s performance and the team’s accomplishment. “I’m so proud,” he said. “They were solid and consistent. They’ve worked hard for a long time.”

Brea Olinda, which finished third in the section race to qualify for the state meet for the first time in school history, was fifth and Mission Viejo, which was fourth a week ago, finished sixth.

“We expected to be in the top five,” Brea Coach Pam Barstow said. “Our goal at the beginning of the year was to get to state, and the closer we got, we sort of readjusted our goals. It was a good race.”

Costa Mesa turned in the most surprising performance of the day, winning the Division IV title with a score of 51, after finishing third in the section finals. Junior Jaime DeNoewer paced the Mustangs with a third-place finish in 18:54.

“I hoped to be in the top 10,” said DeNoewer, who passed four runners in the final half-mile. “I was surprised to finish so high.”

Said Costa Mesa Coach Joe Busi on his team’s performance: “The girls were relaxed and comfortable. They all knew that every position they took was important. They ran their hearts out.”

Corona del Mar, which was second in the section race, finished fourth on Saturday, six points behind second-place Moraga Campolindo, which had 80 points.

In the Division I race, Esperanza turned in its best finish in school history with a second-place total of 92 points.

“I’m happy to take second,” Esperanza Coach Rich Medellin said. “I told them before the race that we deserve a second-place finish. My expectation was to do better than we did last year [fifth place]. We’re improving and that’s what it’s all about.”

Aliso Niguel’s Michelle Basanda had the county’s best individual finish in Division I, finishing 12th in 18:51.

“I did a little better than I planned,” said Basanda, a junior. “I just wanted to be in the top 20.”

El Modena settled for its second consecutive second-place finish in the Division III race as La Canada edged the Vanguards, 95-108. El Modena won its fifth consecutive section title last week and La Canada was third.

Notes

University’s Jessica Howard (19:23) was 39th and Dana Hills’ Melissa Haddy (19:32) was 41st in the Division I race. . . . Santa Margarita’s Dani Rope (18:46) was seventh, Katella’s Jill Santibanez (18:57) was 10th and Troy’s Lisa Dunn (19:35) was 25th in the Division II race. . . . Buena Park’s Heather Garritson (19:09) was 13th and Pacifica’s Natalie Perkins (20:05) was 41st in the Division III race. . . . In Division V, St. Margaret’s Kipp Downey (20:52) was 26th.