PREP ROUNDUP : Diablos’ Rettmann Shows Her Strength

Sarah Rettmann took up weightlifting to improve her strength and stamina. Now the Mission Viejo junior is being asked to carry her cross-country team.

Rettmann assumed that role Saturday at the Laguna Hills Invitational, winning the Division II junior/senior race and giving hope to the Diablos, who have been depleted by the loss of several key runners during the summer.

Rettmann finished the three-mile race with the fastest girls’ time of the day, 18 minutes 16 seconds, which was 24 seconds ahead of Santa Margarita’s Lori Mann and Newport Harbor’s Amber Steen, who ran in the same race. Mann had the fastest time of the meet last season, when she won the Division II sophomore race, and Steen was a Masters champion in the 1,600 last spring.

“I was really worried about the other girls,” said Rettmann, who was sixth in the Division II sophomore race last season and third as a freshman. “But I’m a lot different now. I’m a lot stronger and faster.”

Rettmann was slowed during her first two years at Mission Viejo by bouts of asthma brought on by allergies and a stress fracture, which prematurely ended her freshman cross-country season. But now the health problems are behind her and she’s already benefiting from her summer conditioning.

“My freshman and sophomore year I didn’t have a kick and I would always kind of give up,” she said. “If I knew somebody was coming with me I wouldn’t go, and now I give it all I have.”

Rettmann will need that approach if the Diablos are to make any noise in the South Coast League this season.

Kendal Billingsley, a two-time South Coast League champion in cross-country, decided to skip her junior season and concentrate on soccer. Billingsley was a first-team Southern Section Division I midfielder for the Diablos last season and is considered one of the top players in the state.

Mission Viejo also lost senior Amanda Fleskoski, who chose to concentrate on the heptathlon, and sophomore Melissa Williams, who moved to Seattle. Williams, who was the league’s freshman/sophomore champion, and Fleskoski would have challenged for the fourth position on the team.

Rettmann led from start to finish on the layout, which had to be reconfigured because of construction adjacent to the school. The course culminated with a steep incline that took a toll on many of the runners.

“This is a harder course this year,” Mission Viejo Coach Fred Almond said. “We thought since it was the same elevation at the start and finish, it has got to be the same type of course, but everybody here that ran last year is running slower.”

Santa Margarita’s Stephen Murray didn’t appear any slower after winning the boys’ Division II junior race. Murray took the lead about the first mile and finished in 16:09.

“The first mile was pretty good; I liked it,” Murray said. “I stayed with the first guy and I could feel he was struggling a little, breathing harder, gasping for air, and so I picked it up and just held it. I was by myself the whole way.”

Murray, whose brother, Michael, was an all-county runner at Santa Margarita two years ago, used the race to prepare for the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational next month.

“I like the hilly courses, like Mt. SAC,” said Murray, who was 15th in his age group at the Foot Locker West Regionals. “I tried to train hard for [Mt. SAC] today and the downhill is a thing I want to work on always because that’s where you can get ahead.”

In the Bronco Invitational:

Valencia finishes fourth--Freshman Juan Robles finished 27th in 16:19 and senior Rafael Valdez took 31st in 16:23 to lead Valencia, which finished with 205 points behind Chino Don Lugo (55 points), Rosemead Bosco Tech (73) and West Covina South Hills (102).

Lancers place eighth--Senior Chris Schachter finished 55th in 16:40 and senior Ryan Vance finished 56th in 16:41 to lead Orange Lutheran to an eighth-place finish, the Lancers’ best showing at the invitational in school history. Orange Lutheran took first in Division IV.

In the Valencia boys’ water polo tournament:

Troy 15, El Toro JV 11--Ian Markstrum scored nine goals against the El Toro junior varsity to help Troy (4-0) win the championship. Markstrum scored seven goals in a 14-10 semifinal victory over Sonora (2-1).

In the Bell Gardens tournament:

Bell Gardens 12, Katella 7--The Knights trailed 5-0 after the first quarter of the third-place game. Dan Flude scored three goals and Brian Zuniga had two for Katella (3-2). Santa Monica beat Katella, 5-4, in the semifinals when Fernando Navarrete scored from seven meters 1:22 into overtime. Flude scored two goals for the Knights, who led 4-2 after three quarters. Brandon Avila made 15 saves for Katella and Cassidy Kors made 11 for Santa Monica.