Haddan Continues Record Run

Michael Haddan continued his assault on the Irvine Woodbridge boys’ cross-country record book on Saturday in the Dana Hills Invitational at Dana Point Dana Hills High.

Haddan won the Division II sophomore race with a time of 14 minutes 49 seconds over the three-mile course to break the previous school record of 15:16 set by Ross Venook in 1995 and tie the course sophomore record set by Marco Oceguera of Riverside Rubidoux in 1986.

It was the third time in three meets this season that Haddan had broken a school record set by Venook and the third time he had broken or tied a sophomore course record.

Haddan’s performance was doubly impressive because he wasn’t pushed, winning by 81 seconds.

“He loafed today,” Woodbridge Coach George Varvas said. “He was bored today, but that’s OK. We wanted him to have a nice, relaxing race.”

Haddan’s time was the second-fastest of the meet as Abadir Barre of Mt. Carmel won the Division I senior race in 14:44.

“I felt pretty good for the first two miles,” Haddan said. “But I was hurting all over for the last mile. I just felt tired over the last mile.”

Haddan, who has improved since finishing 18th in the Southern Section Division II final last year, looked relaxed when he came through the mile in 4:48, but the fast pace and the lack of competition caught up with him over the last two miles.

The Lake Forest El Toro boys’ team and the Palos Verdes Peninsula girls’ team, led by senior Emily Vince, turned in other top performances by runners from the region.

El Toro won its second invitational in a row as the cumulative time of the Chargers’ top five runners was 77:14, 16 seconds faster than Mt. Carmel.

Peninsula had the fastest team time in the girls’ meet at 92:44. Vince won the Division II junior-senior race in 16:55, the fastest time of the meet by 33 seconds.

Woodbridge was second at 92:55 with Dana Hills third (92:58) and Yucaipa fourth (93:02).

“She was running like a person possessed out there today,” Peninsula Coach Joe Kelly said of Vince. “She was pretty much gliding out there.”