Titles Hinge on Missing Runners, ‘Stealth’ Student

Chris McMillen won’t be found wandering the halls of Newport Harbor High this fall. He prefers to attend an alternative high school program at Orange Coast College.

But that doesn’t prevent McMillen from running for the Sailors’ cross-country team, and Saturday he won the individual boys’ title at the Orange County Championships at Irvine Park, leading Newport Harbor to the team title as well.

McMillen took the lead from Santa Margarita’s Steven Murray during the second half of the three-mile race and won in 15 minutes 2 seconds. Murray was second in 15:08, followed by Marina junior Raemon Rodriguez (15:15), Valencia sophomore Juan Robles (15:20) and Tustin senior Alonso Smith (15:22).

“[McMillen] has worked very hard,” Newport Harbor Coach Bim Barry said. “And he hasn’t received a lot of recognition.”

McMillen is unfamiliar to most Newport Harbor students because he spends only two or three afternoons on campus each week training with the team. He spends most days at Orange Coast’s Middle College High School, a collaboration of Orange Coast and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District designed for high-potential, underachieving students.

Now in its fifth year, the high school is open to juniors and seniors throughout Orange County.

“It’s closer to my house and it’s the kind of high school I like to deal with,” McMillen said. “It’s really relaxed.”

McMillen’s school schedule conflicts with team practices on Wednesdays and Fridays, but he makes up for it by training privately with Newport Harbor alumnus Trent Bryson, a 1993 Southern Section Division III-AA champion.

“It’s a little challenging for us,” Barry said. “But the way we have our week structured, [Wednesday and Friday] are the least critical days for us. Those are our recovery days.”

Barry’s flexibility seems to be working.

McMillen was Newport Harbor’s top finisher at the Stanford Invitational two weeks ago, when the Sailors won the Division II title and produced the third-best team time in any division.

At the county championships Saturday, McMillen didn’t get caught up in a blistering early pace, instead hanging back about seventh or eighth.

“I was just trying to stay comfortable,” he said.

McMillen made his move shortly after the first mile, pulling alongside Murray, staying even with him until the two-mile mark and then separating for good.

“I made a little comment to Chris during the race, ‘Seems like old times,’ ” said Murray, who competed with McMillen in the Sea View League during their freshman and sophomore seasons. “We’ve been running together ever since our very first race of high school.”

The Sailors scored 108 points, with their remaining runners finishing 11th, 27th, 30th and 40th. Newport Harbor finished with a 10-point edge over Santa Ana; the Saints had four runners in the top 21 but their fifth was in 61st.

Dana Hills, the county’s top-ranked team coming into the meet, finished third (126), Edison was fourth (138) and Mission Viejo fifth (151).

The Division II race featured an impressive performance by freshmen Michael Haddan of Woodbridge and Raul Lara of Orange. Haddan, who defeated McMillen in a five-team Sea View League meet, won the race in 15:26, the seventh-fastest time of the meet. Lara was second in 15:35.

Orange and Katella each finished with 121 points in the team standings, but Orange won the title because its sixth runner finished 42nd, compared to 77th for Katella. The Knights had won the sweepstakes title the previous two years, but were so weakened by graduation that they didn’t petition to enter the sweepstakes race.

Cypress won the Division III title, led by David Napper, whose winning time of 15:27 was among the 10 best of the day.