Poly Gets to Make Amends

The Long Beach Poly High boys’ cross-country team, coming off a less-than-stellar performance in its season opener two days ago, will try to get back on track in the Woodbridge Invitational at Irvine Woodbridge High on Saturday.

Poly was the top-ranked team in the nation in Harrier magazine’s preseason poll but the defending state Division I champion Jackrabbits finished second to unheralded Huntington Beach Marina in the Laguna Hills Invitational on Saturday.

“We trained right through the meet,” Poly Coach George Wright said. “But we didn’t have anything to write home about.”

Bryan Durham and Oscar Mendez, Poly’s top two returning runners, struggled in particular, finishing sixth and 10th, respectively, in their senior boys’ race. Durham has been bothered by allergies lately and Mendez has been battling shin splints, but Wright wasn’t sure if that was the reason for their sub-par performances.

The Woodbridge Invitational has developed into the third-largest meet in the nation since its inception in 1981. Included in this year’s meet are six of the top nine-ranked boys’ teams and six of the top seven girls’ squads in the Southern Section Division I preseason poll.

Canyon Country Canyon, which swept the boys’ and girls’ titles in the Seaside Park Invitational in Ventura on Friday, is entered but most of the Cowboys’ top boys won’t race again until the Great American Cross-Country Festival in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 22.

Belmont, seven-time defending City Section boys’ champion, and host Woodbridge, the Southern Section’s top-ranked Division II girls’ squad, are some of the other notable teams in the meet.

Junior Erick Maldonado of Chino Don Lugo and sophomore Liza Pasciuto of Murrieta Valley top the individual entries. Maldonado finished third in the Southern Section Division I championships last year and had the fastest overall boys’ time in the Cal Poly Pomona Invitational at Prado Dam in Chino on Saturday.

Pasciuto was second in the state Division I final last year and was sixth in the national championships.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

At a Glance

What: Woodbridge Cross-Country Invitational.

Where: Irvine Woodbridge High.

When: Saturday. Morning session featuring Division I and II races starts at 7:45. Afternoon session featuring Division III and IV races starts at 3.

Fast Fact: More than 160 schools and 5,500 runners are expected to compete, making it the third-largest high school cross-country meet in the nation.

Admission: Free.