Laguna Beach Back in the Running After 10-Year Drought

David Brobeck must have felt 10 years younger as he rounded the final curve at last Saturday’s Laguna Hills Invitational.

The fourth-year Laguna Beach coach sped alongside Geoff Moore, who was leading the Division III senior race, and Brobeck wanted to be there when Moore hit the tape, mainly because it had been nearly a decade since Laguna Beach had won anything in cross-country.

Brobeck was the fourth runner on the 1989 boys’ team that upset top-ranked McFarland, 65-127, to win the Division III state title, but since then it had been all uphill for the Artists.

“The program has been really low, really since 1989,” Brobeck said. “This is our first chance to really make CIF in all those years, so that has a special place in my heart because I’m a former runner here.”

When Brobeck took over the program in 1996, a total of 15 boys and girls showed up the first day of practice. Two years ago, that number increased to 25, then 33 last year and now 48.

The numbers have translated into deeper teams, more levels and some emerging talent, which has Brobeck excited about things to come.

“We really have a vision for the future,” Brobeck said. “When I was in high school, running was a big lift for the school.”

Laguna Beach started the season on a high note Saturday, finishing among the top three in the Division III freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior races. Moore won the senior race in 16 minutes 17 seconds, the eighth-fastest time among county runners.

Moore won’t make anyone forget Eric Hulst, who won three Southern Section 2-A cross-country titles and set national high school two-mile records for freshmen (9:04.4), sophomores (8:50.6) and juniors (8:44.9) at Laguna Beach in the 1970s. But he’s a lot better than what the Artists have seen lately.

“The positive thing about Geoff right now is I haven’t really given him any speed training yet, so he’s going to have this terrific peak at the end,” Brobeck said after Moore’s victory. “I was hoping for a sub-17 [time Saturday] and to run that low is very encouraging.”

Moore finished fourth in the Division III junior race last season (16:48), behind Spring Valley Monte Vista’s Jon Rankin (16:09) and Santiago’s Rene Rangel (16:22) and Juan Corona (16:34). In Saturday’s rematch, Rankin finished second (16:19) behind Moore, Rangel was fourth (16:24) and Corona was fifth (16:39).

“The competition had really quick speed, but on the hills they lost it a lot,” Moore said. “All of them.”

Laguna Beach’s location is a big advantage when training for hilly courses. The school is located near one of the steepest paved inclines in the county, Park Drive. Nearby Alta Laguna Park provides another intense workout site.

“Alta Laguna is probably the most grueling course in all of Southern California,” Brobeck said. “I get them used to it in the summer. We run three days a week up there, which is great, so they’re accustomed to hills. That’s our advantage over all these other teams because they’ve got to drive somewhere to get hills, but we’ve got them right in Laguna.”

BACK ON THE CLOCK

The sixth-ranked Santiago boys’ team received a big lift Tuesday when junior Rudy Corona agreed to join the team, Cavalier Coach Rex Ressler said.

Corona was Santiago’s second finisher at the Division II state finals last season and his presence, along with Rangel and Corona’s older brother, Juan, will be a huge lift. Rudy was having trouble integrating training time into his work schedule at a fast-food restaurant, but both parties appear to have reached a compromise, Ressler said.

“Rudy will run for the team,” Ressler said. “He came over to practice on his bicycle [Tuesday] and he said he wants to do it. He talked to his managers and they will oblige him this opportunity.”

Rudy will use a third-period physical education class to get in some training, which will free him up to work in the afternoons, Ressler said. Rudy’s employers also plan to be more flexible with his weekend work schedule.

WISE MANN

Santa Margarita junior Lori Mann finished second in the state in Division II last season, with the best time of any county runner in any division (18:24), but virtually disappeared during the spring track and field season.

Mann suffered a strained quadriceps muscle early in the year and needed the entire track season to recover. This time around, Mann is going to watch her training schedule a little closer.

“I’m trying to be very cautious. I don’t want that to happen again,” Mann said. “I’m a pretty competitive person; when I run I want to run hard. But in running you have to play it smart.”

Mann finished behind Mission Viejo junior Sarah Rettmann in the Laguna Hills Invitational’s Division II junior/senior race. Rettmann recorded the fastest girls’ time of the day--18 minutes 16 seconds, 24 seconds ahead of Mann and Newport Harbor’s Amber Steen.