Santa Margarita, Mater Dei to Stage Serra League Run-Off

It’s a match made in heaven. Santa Margarita vs. Mater Dei. Two of Orange County’s finest parochial schools competing head-to-head in the newly formed Serra League.

But Friday’s matchup won’t be held under the lights in Edison Field, and it won’t feature 200-pound bodies slamming helmet-to-helmet. Instead it will be the fourth-ranked Santa Margarita girls’ cross-country team against the ninth-ranked Monarchs on a quiet three-mile course at Santa Ana’s Fairview Park.

“We’re going to go hard and go for the win,” Santa Margarita Coach Gil Garcia said. “They’re a pretty good team and we’re pretty solid over here too.”

Santa Margarita junior Lori Mann and Mater Dei sophomore Jenny Sears, each of whom stands less than 5 feet tall and weighs less than 100 pounds, will highlight the individual competition.

“It’s a real big race,” Sears said. “There’s some good competition over there and I’m really looking forward to that.”

Sears finished third in the Southern Section Division II finals last season and 16th at state. Mann was second in the same race at the state finals, posting the best time of any county runner in any division (18 minutes 24 seconds).

“I like racing against strong people because it brings out the best in me and helps me understand where I’m at,” Sears said. “I think I’ve run against her maybe three times. I’m going to try and stick with her and see what happens in the end.”

Although the race is sandwiched between last weekend’s Stanford Invitational, in which Mann finished fifth in the Division II race (18:51) and Sears was fifth in the Division I race (19:13), and next weekend’s Orange County Championships, Mann plans to run hard against the Monarchs.

“I like to race full out every time,” Mann said. “I can’t tell myself not to give it my all because it’s still a race. What’s nice is I don’t have to worry about racing on Saturday.”

The boys’ race is expected to be even tighter, and each side has a runner capable of winning individual honors.

Santa Margarita’s Steven Murray finished first in the Division II junior race at the Laguna Hills Invitational (16:09) and at the Woodbridge Invitational (15:24). Mater Dei’s Allen Childress finished 11th in the Division I senior race at the Woodbridge Invitational (15:37).

NEARLY PERFECT

Corona del Mar’s one-sided victory in the Division IV varsity girls’ race at the Stanford Invitational last weekend would have been more impressive had Jill Quye not taken a tumble at the beginning of the three-mile race.

Quye is usually Corona del Mar’s fifth runner to cross the finish line, but after falling and then getting run over by several competitors, she wound up seventh. Even without Quye scoring, Corona del Mar, the top-ranked team in the state in Division IV, finished 118 points ahead of second-place San Francisco University.

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS

Katella Coach Mike Cochrane said his top-ranked boys’ team will defend its title at the Orange County Championships on Oct. 16.

Cochrane had previously indicated he would wait to see how the Knights placed at the Grand American Cross-Country Championships in North Carolina two weeks ago before deciding whether to participate in the county championships or at Mt. SAC, which is a week later.

But Cochrane said he and assistant coach Don Ocana made the decision to run at the county championships before making the trip to North Carolina, where the Knights placed seventh in a field of 21.

“You can’t run Mt. SAC and do it successfully twice,” Cochrane said, referring to Mt. SAC also being the site of the Southern Section preliminaries and finals. “We’re better off regardless of what would have happened [in North Carolina].”

Cochrane said he was pleased with the seventh-place finish in North Carolina, especially since the team was not completely healthy.

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Cross-Country Polls

Southern Section Coaches’ Poll

BOYS

Division I--Chino Don Lugo, 2. Katella, 3. Long Beach Poly 4. Rialto, 5. Santa Ana Valley, 6. Hesperia Sultana, 7. Palos Verdes Peninsula, 8. Mission Viejo, 9. Santa Ana, 10. Saugus.

Division II--1. Agoura, 2. Valencia, 3. Burbank Burroughs 4. Santa Barbara San Marcos, 5. Santa Margarita, 6. Newport Harbor, 7. Santiago, 8. Tustin, 9. Barstow, 10. Villa Park.

Division III--1. Covina South Hills, 2. Rosemead Don Bosco, 3. La Canada, 4. La Puente Bassett, 5. San Luis Obispo, 6. La Puente, 7. South Pasadena, 8. Temecula Chaparral, 9. Lompoc, 10. South El Monte.

Division IV--1. Agoura Oak Park, 2. Ojai Nordhoff, 3. Corona del Mar, 4. Fillmore, 5. Los Angeles Salisian, 6. Orange Lutheran, 7. Morro Bay, 8. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 9. Estancia, 10. Los Angeles Cathedral.

Division V--1. La Canada Flintridge Prep, 2. Lancaster Desert Christian, 3. Downey Calvary Chapel, 4. Sierra Madre Maranatha, 5. Oxnard Santa Clara, 6. Mammoth Lakes Mammoth, 7. L.A. Baptist, 8. St Margaret’s, 9. Pasadena Poly, 10. Brentwood.

GIRLS

Division I--1. Palos Verdes Peninsula, 2. Yucaipa, 3. Rialto, 4. Hesperia Sultana, 5. Woodbridge, 6. Esperanza, 7. Redlands East Valley, 8. Los Alamitos, 9. Newhall Hart, 10. Murrieta Valley.

Division II--1. Foothill; 2. Santa Margarita, 3. Brea Olinda, 4. Tustin, 5. Trabuco Hills, 6. El Modena, 7. Pacifica, 8. Westlake Village Westlake, 9. Newport Harbor, 10. Lakewood St. Joseph.

Division III--1. Covina South Hills, 2. La Canada, 3. San Luis Obispo, 4. Rosary, 5. South Pasadena, 6. Lompoc, 7. LaVerne Bonita, 8. La Puente Bishop Amat, 9. La Puente Bassett, 10. South El Monte.

Division IV--1. Corona del Mar, 2. Ojai Nordhoff, 3. Woodland Hills Louisville, 4. Morro Bay, 5. Pasadena La Salle, 6. Orange Lutheran, 7. Estancia, 8. Santa Maria St. Joseph, 9. Ventura St. Bonaventure, 10. Fillmore.

Division V--1. Northwood, 2. Palos Verdes Chadwick, 3. Lancaster Desert Christian, 4. Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian, 5. Sierra Madre Maranatha, 6. La Canada Flintridge Prep, 7. St Margaret’s, 8. L.A. Baptist, 9. Pasadena Poly, 10. Whittier Christian.