La Canada’s Girls Torpedo Field With a Depth Charge

How good is the La Canada High girls’ cross-country team?

Good enough that the Spartans turn in a solid--but unspectacular by their standards--performance in the Division III sweepstakes race of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Friday and won by 32 points.

La Canada, the top-ranked Division III team in the state, placed five runners among the top 13 finishers to defeat runner-up and No. 3-ranked Lompoc, 34-66.

Senior Amy Foss placed third in 19:15, sophomore Nicole Bonino finished fourth in 19:23 and junior Christina Ellis was fifth in 19:26 for La Canada, but the defending state Division III champions had five of the top seven runners at the mile mark, led by the fast-starting Bonino.

“I think Nicole Bonino was a little bit too excited in the first mile,” La Canada co-Coach Tony Haynes said. “Obviously, she went out a little too fast. She hasn’t raced in a couple of weeks, but she knows better than that.”

Bonino and senior teammate Kim Garnic were running 1-2 shortly after the mile mark before being passed by sophomore Alli Valle of San Luis Obispo and senior Katie Moon of Lompoc.

Although Valle won the race in 18:47 and Moon was second in 19:11, La Canada’s depth proved decisive.

Kim Garnic was the Spartans’ No. 4 runner with a ninth-place time of 19:44 and her freshman sister Carina was 13th in 20:03 for La Canada, the No. 16-ranked team in Harrier magazine’s national poll.

“We weren’t really thinking along those lines,” Haynes said when asked if he viewed Lompoc as La Canada’s biggest challenger. “We were thinking more about individual times. We had a particular team time in mind.”

La Canada’s time--the cumulative of its top five runners--of 97:53 was more than two minutes faster than any other team, but one got the feeling Haynes expects the Spartans to run much faster when the Southern Section championships are held at Mt. SAC on Nov. 21.

Nordhoff Coach Ken Reeves most likely feels the same way about his boys’ team.

The Rangers totaled 92 points to defeat second-place Estancia, which had 106 points, and third-place Notre Dame, which had 107, in the Division IV sweepstakes race.

But Nordhoff, defending state Division IV champion, has had better performances this season.

Sophomore Roberto Contreras finished 11th in 16:29 for the Rangers with junior Kent Krumpschmidt 16th in 16:37, junior Aidan Short 20th in 16:42, senior Adam Dutter 23rd in 16:55 and senior Mike Lemon 27th in 17:01.

Senior Kevin Lelles of Notre Dame sped past senior Alberto Munoz of Estancia in the final 100 meters to win in 15:44, but the Knights’ No. 2 finisher, junior Larry Pitkin, was 21st in 16:47.

“We didn’t have a great race,” Lelles said. “But we know that this isn’t the big one. This isn’t the [Southern Section] or state finals.”

The Nordhoff girls placed second in the Division IV sweepstakes with 83 points.

Corona del Mar placed five runners among the top 17 finishers to win with 37 points.