Katella Pulls Off Surprise Team Victory

While Santa Ana was winning everything in sight this season, Katella worked incognito. At the Orange County Championships Saturday, the Knights finally showed what they’ve been hiding, easily winning the team title over Santa Ana at Irvine Regional Park.

Five Katella runners placed among the top 17 and finished 38 points ahead of the Saints, ranked second in Southern Section Division I.

Santa Ana had showed off its depth locally, winning the team title at the Laguna Hills Invitational last month and then setting a meet record at the Woodbridge Invitational a week later. But at the same time the Knights, top-ranked in Division II, were winning team titles at Stanford and Mt. Carmel in San Diego.

“We beat everybody in our division from San Diego at Mt. Carmel, and beat everybody in our division from Northern California at Stanford,” assistant coach Donald Ocana said. “Now these guys are the best in Orange County and we beat the best here.”

Santa Ana’s Alfonso Leon continued his individual dominance by winning the three-mile race in 15 minutes 10 seconds. Villa Park’s Augie Escobar finished second (15:15), Loara’s Jose Herrera was third (15:21), Mater Dei’s Ryan McGarry was fourth (15:33), and Estancia’s Alberto Munoz was fifth (15:36).

Katella’s top runner was Danny Mejia, who came in sixth in 15:39. Tony Lozana was 10th (15:51), Ramiro Guerrero was 12th (15:57), Tony Magana was 14th (16:04) and Matt Levassiur was 17th (16:11). It was the second county title for the Knights, who also won in 1992.

“I like the fact that we weren’t expected win,” Katella Coach Mike Cochrane said. “I brought that out and said, ‘Look there’s no pressure, just go out and run, it’s all on Santa Ana. It’s almost like they have to win. You don’t have to. If you don’t, it’s not expected anyway.’ They were loose and they really believed they could do it. I think that’s what’s great.”

The Saints were slowed by a groin injury to Juan Salgado, who finished eighth in 15:49. Santa Ana runners also finished 20th, 24th and 37th.

Dana Hills placed third in the team standings with its top five runners finishing between 18th and 33rd. Newport Harbor placed fourth with its runners finishing between 11th and 39th, and Estancia finished fifth with three runners among the top 20.