El Toro Goes to Head of the Class

Disappointment at running poorly in two previous meets, dislike at being called overrated and improved health all contributed to Lake Forest El Toro High’s first-ever victory in the boys’ sweepstakes race of the Orange County cross-country championships at Irvine Regional Park on Saturday.

El Toro, paced by seniors Shane Dougherty, Travis Savala and Jon Mendoza, totaled 77 points to easily defeat runner-up Anaheim Katella, which had 122.

Huntington Beach Marina was third with 126 points, followed by favored Dana Point Dana Hills at 131 on a warm, but not brutally hot, morning.

El Toro, the No. 7-ranked team in the region by The Times, was beaten soundly in a dual meet by No. 4 Dana Hills on Oct. 3 and finished 12th in the Clovis Invitational three days later. But the Chargers had five runners among the top 23 finishers Saturday.

“Some of us were sick against Dana Hills and we didn’t run well,” Savala said. “Clovis was all mental. We were down on ourselves after Dana Hills.”

Junior Matt Cipolla said El Toro wanted to perform like the team that won the Irvine Woodbridge and Dana Hills meets last month.

“After last week, other teams were saying we were one of the most overrated teams out there,” he said. “We just had to prove that they were wrong.”

Dougherty placed 10th for El Toro with a time of 15 minutes 31 seconds over the three-mile course. Savala placed 11th and Mendoza was 12th in identical times of 15:36, with Cipolla 21st in 15:51 and senior Brian Garbe 23rd in 15:55.

Junior Juan Robles of Placentia Valencia won the sweepstakes race in 15:03 after breaking away from juniors Mike Chavez of Anaheim Esperanza and Tyler Kastorff of Dana Hills with 11/4 miles left.

Sophomore Michael Haddan of Woodbridge won the Division II race in 15:00, the day’s fastest time.

Senior Julie Allen of Newport Beach Corona del Mar and Esperanza were runaway winners in the girls’ sweepstakes.

The undefeated Allen ran 17:13 to defeat runner-up Bethany Nickless of Fountain Valley by 18 seconds, move into a tie for second on the all-time course list and post the fastest time in the county meet for the third consecutive year.

Esperanza defeated Woodbridge, 75-112, for its second title in four years. Dana Hills, the No. 9-ranked team in the nation by Harrier magazine, was third with 119.