Santa Ana Runs Away With a Record

First it was Alfonso Leon streaking across the finish line, then came teammate Juan Salgado two runners later. Not far behind trailed Jorge Pena, Omar Mateo and Miguel Bolanos, completing the top five for the Santa Ana boys’ cross-country team.

Together they combined to run 76 minutes 13 seconds on the three-mile Woodbridge Invitational layout Saturday, which not only broke Katella’s 11-year-old team course record, but obliterated it.

Leon produced one of the top 10 all-time best marks at the 18th annual meet, winning the Division I senior boys’ race in 14:44. Salgado placed fourth in 15:04, Pena finished 10th (15:19), Mateo was 15th (15:36) and Bolanos was 20th (15:47). Their combined time was 54 seconds better than the mark set by Katella in 1987.

Leon, who also had the fastest time of the day while winning the Division I senior race at the Laguna Hills Invitational last weekend, showed that he’s not just a fast runner, but strategic as well. Leon trailed Chino’s James De Bruhl and Murrieta Valley’s Anthony Flores going into the last mile, but grew confident that he had the speed to pass Flores and the stamina to outlast De Bruhl.

“[De Bruhl] has a big stride so I couldn’t see him hanging in there,” Leon said. “Almost all of the big, huge guys that have long legs, they almost always [tire out]. When I saw that, I just tried to get myself to concentrate on the race.”

Leon caught up with Flores and quickly formed a pact to pick up the pace and wear down De Bruhl.

“I caught up with the smaller guy [Flores] and said to him, ‘All right, let’s do it, and he said all right,” ’ Leon said. “but at the same time I told him, I just ran off.”

The only other county runner among the top 10 who wasn’t from Santa Ana was Mater Dei’s Ryan McGarvy, who finished eighth in 15:10. Irvine had two runners place among the top 20 and was fifth in the team standings.

In the Division II senior boys’ race, Newport Harbor won the team title by more than four minutes over West Torrance. Newport Harbor’s Curt Herberts ran side by side with Riverside Rubidoux’s Alex Murcio, before falling back in the final stretch and finishing one second behind Murcio, who won in 15:10.

“After the first lap over there on the turn I pulled up and we ran together,” said Herberts, who improved his personal-best time by 25 seconds. “Right over here off the top of the hill he moved ahead. I tried to catch him, but I just don’t have the kick.”

In the girls’ competition, another meet record was shattered when Canyon Country Canyon’s Lauren Fleshman won the Division II varsity girls’ race in 16:35, which was 26 seconds better than the course record established by Newbury Park’s Melissa Sutton in 1986.

Newport Harbor’s Alicia McFall finished third (17:43) and Santa Margarita sophomore Lori Mann tied for fifth (17:53). Santa Margarita won the Division II varsity team competition by 1:21 over Simi Valley.

In the Division IV varsity race, Corona del Mar junior Liz Morse took the lead in the final 50 yards and won in 18:21. Corona del Mar runners also finished sixth, ninth, 10th and 12th.

University’s Jessica Howard passed Thousand Oaks’ Melissa McBain and Kelley Hess in the final strides to take third place (18:00) in the Division I varsity race. El Toro’s Becky Miske was sixth (18:15) and Aliso Niguel’s Michelle Basanda was 10th (18:25).

Santa Ana was fourth in the Division I team competition, Irvine was fifth and El Toro sixth. University, which ran without standout Allyson Marquand, who was playing a club soccer game at Stanford, finished 12th.