Favorites Falter at Mt. SAC

David slew a pack of Goliaths in the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational cross-country meet on Saturday as San Francisco University High defeated Palos Verdes Peninsula, 104-147, to win the girls’ team sweepstakes race.

Santa Ana senior Alfonso Leon won the boys’ team sweepstakes race in 15 minutes 6 seconds, the fastest time of the meet.

University, the two-time defending state Division V champion, finished fourth behind Division I schools Yucaipa, Esperanza and Quartz Hill at Mt. SAC last year, but posted a surprisingly easy victory Saturday.

“This is the biggest victory that we’ve ever had,” eighth-year University Coach Mike McManus said. “We don’t get a lot of chances to run against the big schools during the season so we always look forward to these opportunities.”

University, a school of approximately 400 students, was led by junior Aliza Cohen, who placed sixth with a time of 18:45 over the three-mile course.

Senior Kira Morser was eighth in 18:53 and senior Linden Bader placed 11th in 19:03 for University.

Yucaipa, the defending state Division I champion and the No. 12-ranked team in the nation by Harrier magazine, was the pre-meet favorite, but the Thunderbirds finished third with 166 points.

The girls’ individual sweepstakes race was billed as a meeting of three of the top runners in the Western region of the United States and it lived up to its hype.

Sophomore Sara Bei of San Jose Montgomery, senior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon Country Canyon and junior Sara Gorton of Mountain Pointe in Phoenix staged a stirring battle until Bei broke away from her pursuers ascending the final hill on the course and won in 17:05.

Fleshman finished second in 17:19 and Gorton was third in 17:28.

Bei’s victory was her 11th of the season without a loss and she moved to third on the all-time course performer list behind Julia Stamps of Santa Rosa, who ran 16:55 in 1995, and Kristin Gordon of Concord Carondelet, who timed 16:58 in 1996.

“I didn’t know I was that close to the course record,” Bei said. “I was basically just going for the win. When I found out what the record was afterward, I found myself saying, ‘Oh, if I had just pushed it a little bit more, I could have run a few seconds faster.’ ”

In the boys’ meet, Long Beach Poly defeated Santee West Hills, 67-115, to win its second consecutive team sweepstakes title.

The defending state Division I champion Jackrabbits were led by senior Martin Conrad, who placed third in 15:24, and junior Aaron Durham, who finished eighth in 15:38.