Ocean View’s Diego Gonzalez, Fountain Valley’s Kaho Cichon notch wins at Dana Hills Invitational

The local cross-country runners to earn victories on Saturday at the Dana Hills Invitational might not have seen a future for themselves in the sport a year ago.

Ocean View High’s Diego Gonzalez and Fountain Valley’s Kaho Cichon made big splashes early in their sophomore seasons by winning their grade-level races on one of the fastest courses in Southern California.

Gonzalez won the Division 3 boys’ sophomore race with a time of 15 minutes 35.1 seconds, continuing a scintillating start to his first year of cross-country.

Senior Miguel Flores, who has helped the Seahawks reach the CIF State cross-country championships in back-to-back seasons, played a role in convincing Gonzalez to join the team. They knew each other through soccer.

Gonzalez has jumped right to the front of the Seahawks’ pack, winning the Golden West League cluster meet on Sept. 11 and leading the team at the Woodbridge Invitational last week.

“I feel good about my first year,” Gonzalez said. “I still don’t know how to run, but I run pretty fast, and I think I’ll be slowly getting faster throughout my years. This is my first year, and I’m learning pretty fast, so I feel good.”

Juniors Parker Walpole (16:00.0) and Michael Hernandez (16:18.1) finished fourth and seventh, respectively, in their race for Ocean View. Flores placed sixth in his race in 15:51.7.

Cichon said that the cross-country season did not go particularly well for her last season. As a freshman, she ran on the frosh-soph level in Sunset Conference meets.

In the spring, she played a big role for Fountain Valley. She ran the 400 meters, the 800 and the 1,600 relay in helping the Barons to the Surf League crown in track and field.

When the calendar turned to fall again, Cichon was not sure if she would come back out for cross-country, but her first race of the season showed why her coaches hoped that she would return.

Cichon ran 18:17.2 to win the Division 1 girls’ sophomore race.

“Before I went onto the track, I didn’t have a gap at all,” Cichon said. “I wasn’t even in front of the first person yet. Coach [Brian Bivens] was there, and he was telling me, ‘You have to go. You have to go.’

“I’m more of a track person, so I think I saw the track and how [the course] ends on the track. I think that really pushed me. It just makes me think about my relay and 800-meter races in track season.”

In the girls’ invitational flight, Temecula Great Oak defeated San Diego Canyon Crest Academy 75-96. Ravens senior Carlie Dorostkar set a new meet record with a time of 15:57.5

Capistrano Valley’s Haley Herberg previously held the record at 16:15.1, albeit for only two years.

After shattering the old standard, Dorostkar was asked how long she thought her meet record might last.

“I think someone could do it again,” Dorostkar said after completing the course on a rainy morning. “I think if I ran it again, I could probably do it faster because I was a little cautious on the turns today. I’m pretty clumsy, and if I slip, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t really fall in races, so I was really nervous.

“I didn’t know I was going to [break the record], so I’m sure there is another girl out there that is working her butt off.”

Fountain Valley finished eighth (220 points) in the girls’ invitational race, led by senior Maddie Jahshan, who crossed the finish line in 17:53.9.

The boys’ invitational race went to the host Dolphins, who defeated Great Oak 55-75. Dana Hills senior Carrick Denker won the race in 14:33.2.

Senior Will DeBassio led the Newport Harbor boys with a time of 15:27.6 (45^th).

Runners are taught not to look behind them, but Newport Harbor freshman Leanna Tamura’s decision to do so saved her a position in her Division 2 grade-level race. She sprinted through the finish line to place eighth in 19:30.6.

“At the very end, I looked back and I saw [San Diego Rancho Bernardo’s Audra Sutherland], and I just booked it,” Tamura said. “I was not going to finish that race getting passed in the last second. There was no way I was going to let that happen.”

Sophomores Giovany Ocampo (17:25.1) and Angelica Pelayo (20:32.1) paced Estancia at the meet.

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Dana Hills Invitational

At Dana Hills High

3-mile course

Team Results

1. Dana Hills 55; 2. Great Oak 75; 3. Beckman 156; 4. San Marcos/SD 157; 5. San Clemente 185; 6. Capistrano Valley 221; 7. Trabuco Hills 235; 8. Aliso Niguel 248; 9. Santa Ana 252; 10. Del Norte/SD 269; 19. Fountain Valley 505

Division 1 Senior/Invitational

1. Denker (Dana Hills) 14:33.2; 2. Robertson (Capistrano Valley) 14:38.2; 3. Leandro Candray (Great Oak) 14:41.7; 4. Montez (Great Oak) 14:49.0; 5. Jake Richardson (Point Loma) 14:50.7; 45. DeBassio (Newport Harbor) 15:27.6; 89. Clark (Newport Harbor) 15:56.3; 100. Harrington (Newport Harbor) 16:04.4; 106. Meis (Fountain Valley) 16:09.3; 123. Mikkelsen (Newport Harbor) 16:17.3

Division 1 Junior

1. Ortiz (Paramount) 15:37.0; 2. White (Great Oak) 15:39.2; 3. Sanchez (Santa Ana) 15:49.6; 4. Contreras (Fallbrook) 15:55.6; 5. Kirchhoff (Long Beach Millikan) 15:57.4

Division 1 Sophomore

1. Kaeller (Great Oak) 15:48.2; 2. Schemenauer (Mt. Carmel) 15:49.4; 3. Irwin (Beckman) 15:51.5; 4. Barrera (La Serna) 15:56.7; 5. Boyer (Trabuco Hills) 16:03.9

Division 1 Freshman

1. Lennox (Great Oak) 15:43.1; 2. Cortes (Great Oak) 15:57.5; 3. Gaffney (Great Oak) 15:57.6; 4. Elkins (Great Oak) 16:01.8; 5. Cortes (Great Oak) 16:01.9

Division 2 Senior

1. Cleaves (Steele Canyon) 15:39.3; 2. Aceves (San Marcos/SD) 15:51.2; 3. Fonseca (San Jacinto) 16:00.1; 4. Tapia (Shadow Hills) 16:04.2; 5. Barta (University) 16:04.9

Division 2 Junior

1. Echeveste (Bonita) 15:25.4; 2. Diaz (Valley View) 15:30.6; 3. List (Palo Verde) 15:42.8; 4. Bryan (Palo Verde) 15:42.9; 5. Shirota (Troy) 15:43.7

Division 2 Sophomore

1. Bramel (Foothill) 15:22.3; 2. Allred (Foothill) 15:32.5; 3. Diaz (Valley View) 15:44.6; 4. Encarnacion (Valley View) 16:01.0; 5. Mead (El Toro) 16:05.3

Division 2 Freshman

1. Stevens (Capistrano Valley) 16:06.4; 2. Handorf (Villa Park) 16:19.7; 3. Hartline (El Toro) 16:19.8; 4. Hurley (San Marcos/SD) 16:25.3; 5. Petton (Ramona/SD) 16:33.8

Division 3 Senior

1. Ruvalcaba (Rancho Alamitos) 15:23.8; 2. Rioquinto (Rancho Alamitos) 15:35.0; 3. Hernandez (Rancho Alamitos) 15:42.6; 4. Esquivel (St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy) 15:43.5; 5. Diaz (Indio) 15:46.0; 6. Flores (Ocean View) 15:51.7

Division 3 Junior

1. Jimenez (Holtville) 15:41.1; 2. Villapudua (South Pasadena) 15:52.0; 3. Molina (Rancho Alamitos) 15:58.5; 4. Walpole (Ocean View) 16:00.0; 5. Bravo (Academy for Academic Excellence) 16:06.1

Division 3 Sophomore

1. Gonzalez (Ocean View) 15:35.1; 2. Mendoza (Patriot) 15:56.2; 3. Ruiz (Patriot) 16:28.4; 4. Bahmanpour (Sage Creek) 16:31.9; 5. Hernandez (Del Lago Academy) 16:33.5

Division 3 Freshman

1. Harpster (Hillcrest) 16:43.0; 2. Maweu-Smalls (Sage Creek) 16:51.1; 3. Bui (Western) 17:25.6; 4. Francis (Los Altos) 17:30.8; 5. Diaz (Sonora) 17:31.9

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Dana Hills Invitational

At Dana Hills High

3-mile course

Team Results

1. Great Oak 75; 2. Canyon Crest Academy 96; 3. Beckman 117; 4. Dana Hills 134; 5. Trabuco Hills 153; 6. Aliso Niguel 199; 7. La Serna 205; 8. Fountain Valley 220; 9. Del Norte/SD 228; 10. San Clemente 231

Division 1 Senior/Invitational

1. Dorostkar (Canyon Crest Academy) 15:57.5; 2. Catsimanes (San Clemente) 16:44.9; 3. Pandey (Sage Creek) 16:54.8; 4. Hernandez (Santa Ana) 16:55.3; 5. Corsinita (Capistrano Valley) 16:58.1

Division 1 Junior

1. Yamano (San Clemente) 18:00.6; 2. Ayala (Paramount) 18:02.7; 3. Landis (Northwood) 18:31.3; 4. Bautista (Corona Santiago) 18:35.2; 5. Rodriguez (Great Oak) 18:37.0

Division 1 Sophomore

1. Cichon (Fountain Valley) 18:17.2; 2. Abandonato (Corona Santiago) 18:32.1; 3. Labrada (Arroyo Valley) 18:35.0; 4. Mason (Northwood) 18:38.5; 5. Robbins (Great Oak) 18:40.1

Division 1 Freshman

1. Nyberg (Clovis East) 17:36.4; 2. Castillo (Great Oak) 18:30.5; 3. Hong (Del Norte/SD) 18:34.1; 4. Friedel (Northwood) 18:43.9; 5. Selbrede (Mt. Carmel) 18:53.6

Division 2 Senior

1. Davis (Ramona/SD) 18:04.4; 2. Farr (Foothill) 18:06.1; 3. Osterkamp (Villa Park) 18:32.5; 4. Rangel (San Bernardino) 18:42.4; 5. Birdwell (Steele Canyon) 18:46.1

Division 2 Junior

1. Learn (Rancho Bernardo) 17:42.3; 2. Trueman (Capistrano Valley) 18:47.8; 3. Zuniga (San Juan Hills) 18:50.9; 4. Olvera-Kovacic (Ramona/SD) 18:54.6; 5. Castrejon (San Jacinto) 18:58.0

Division 2 Sophomore

1. Dunker (San Juan Hills) 18:12.5; 2. Dudley (Foothill) 18:22.3; 3. Salt (Bonita Vista) 18:46.1; 4. Silves (Foothill) 18:48.6; 5. Hulse (Mission Viejo) 18:49.6

Division 2 Freshman

1. Ellermeyer (Scripps Ranch) 18:14.1; 2. Snodgrass (Mission Viejo) 18:22.8; 3. George (Rancho Bernardo) 18:23.8; 4. Henkhaus (Troy) 18:27.6; 5. Copeland (Foothill) 18:50.3

Division 3 Senior/Junior

1. Alvarez (Santee) 17:55.1; 2. White (Escondido Charter) 18:29.1; 3. Lopez (Santee) 18:53.6; 4. Michels (South Pasadena) 19:10.6; 5. Soria (Del Lago Academy) 19:17.5

Division 3 Sophomore/Freshman

1. Koyama (South Pasadena) 18:47.8; 2. Viramontes (Katella) 18:48.1; 3. Gladden (High Tech/NC) 18:53.4; 4. White (Escondido Charter) 19:03.5; 5. Barrett (Notre Dame Academy) 19:05.3; 7. King (Ocean View) 19:21.6

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