Orange County Is the Front-Runner

Orange County invaded the Southern Section girls’ cross-country finals at Mt. San Antonio College Saturday, taking home three team titles and two individual championships.

Woodbridge, Foothill and Corona del Mar each claimed division championships on the hilly three-mile course, and Newport Harbor’s Amber Steen and Woodbridge senior Nicole Scott added individual division titles.

Woodbridge posted the fastest team time of the meet and the seventh-best all-time on the course (1:33:22) in winning the Division I title.

The foursome of Scott, freshman Kristen Berglas, sophomore Meghan Bellotti and junior Jessica Kanin carried Woodbridge again, taking first, fifth, sixth and eighth. The quartet finished the race before the first runner from any other contender had come in.

For this meet only, Division I was divided into A and AA to accommodate the large number of Division I teams in the Southern Section. Scott was the first Division I-A runner to finish (18:08.91), giving her an individual title to go with the team title.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better race,” Scott said. “My goal was to charge the switchbacks and I knew if I did that then I could do well.”

With the top six teams from Division I qualifying for next Saturday’s state meet in Fresno, Esperanza also advanced with a third-place finish and University was a surprising fifth.

Fountain Valley sophomore Julie Allen finished third in Division I with the county’s top time (17:41.10). Allen ran with Glendale Hoover’s Anita Siraki for the first two miles, but Siraki pulled away heading toward the reservoir and finished in a scorching 16:58.70. Siraki is only the third girl ever to break 17 minutes on the course.

Foothill won its first Southern Section title since 1990, edging Santa Margarita by eight points in the Division II race. Foothill, the top-ranked team in the state in Division II, had its top five runners in the first 25, led by sophomore Laura Strachan in eighth.

Santa Margarita, led by Lori Mann in fifth, had four runners in the first 20, but Brittany Perkowski was slowed by leg injuries and dropped back to 43rd.

Steen won the Division II race in 17:51.11. She trailed Agoura’s Laura Jakosky until the last incline leading to the finish line. As Steen went by, Jakosky threw her hip and elbow into the Newport Harbor junior, nearly knocking both to the ground.

“I got a couple elbows to the face,” Steen said. “People don’t think it’s a contact sport, but it is.”

Steen’s victory proved to be the difference in her team advancing. The Sailors finished tied with Barstow for fourth, but Newport Harbor’s sixth runner finished higher than Barstow’s, giving the Sailors the tiebreaker. Brea Olinda made it a county sweep in Division II by taking third.

Corona del Mar defended its Division IV title in impressive fashion. The Sea Kings had their first five finish among the top nine and the remaining non-scoring runners finished 12th and 18th. Corona del Mar was so dominant, its seven runners finished ahead of the second runner on 11 of the other 12 teams.

Liz Morse ran her best race this season for the Sea Kings, taking second in 18:30.96. Teammates Jenny Cummins, Diana Hossfeld, Katie Quinlan and Katherine Morse finished fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth.

Northwood nearly brought home a fourth title for county teams, but was edged by Palos Verdes Chadwick in Division V, 67-70, despite placing five runners ahead of Chadwick’s fourth.

Rosary missed qualifying by one position in Division III, but Christy Arnerich finished 11th and will run next Saturday as an individual.

Also qualifying individually were Mater Dei’s Jenny Sears in Division I, El Modena’s Christine Eckstaedt and Pacifica’s Christine Krause in Division II, Estancia’s Liz Huipe in Division IV and St. Margaret’s Ligaya Lange in Division V.