Local girls race up front in Orange County cross-country championships

The Orange County cross-country championships arrived this weekend, with teams looking to make a statement before a much-anticipated release of rankings.

A key set of rankings came out on Monday following the meet, the first of the final four to be put out by the CIF Southern Section this season. Teams that appear twice in the top 13 of the final four rankings earn a spot on the starting line in the CIF preliminaries, regardless of whether or not they qualify through their league finals.

With that in mind, teams and individuals put their best foot forward at Oak Canyon Park over the two-day event on Friday and Saturday.

Newport Harbor junior Keaton Robar led the local contingent, finishing as the runner-up to the indomitable Holly Barker of Trabuco Hills, who won her third county title in as many starts.

Coming off a breakthrough season on the track, in which she placed fifth in the 800 meters of the CIF State finals as a sophomore, Robar has upped her game on the scenic circuit. She ran a lifetime-best time of 16 minutes 35.4 seconds on the 3-mile course, one week after she set a new personal record of 18:15.8 on a 5K course in the Clovis Invitational.

Newport Harbor has kept a busy schedule, Sailors coach Haley Bates saying that the team exercises an approach of training through races. The training wheels came off for Robar and fellow junior teammate Marley McCullough (12th, 17:08.1) in the girls’ sweepstakes race on Saturday.

Barker paced the field in 16:08.1, but a handful of local girls filed in behind her. Huntington Beach had two top-10 finishers in senior Makenzie McRae (sixth, 16:40.5) and freshman Sydney Rubio (ninth, 16:50.8).

The duo led Huntington Beach to a sixth-place finish as a team, the best among local boys’ and girls’ teams in the featured races. The Oilers were rewarded with an appearance at No. 11 in the Division 1 girls’ rankings this week.

“We need to get a ranking because nothing’s guaranteed out of [Surf] League,” Huntington Beach coach Kareen Shackelford said. “Sydney is such a talented athlete. She plays football, she does the surf team, she’s a cheerleader, so we only get her actually out in practice a few days a week.

“She and Makenzie had an excellent workout on Tuesday. They were training together. It was so exciting. I think [things] are clicking for Sydney. Makenzie’s tough as nails, and all the other girls [set their personal records] today. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’m so proud of all of them and how hard they worked.”

Corona del Mar senior Melisse Djomby-Enyawe placed seventh in 16:42.3, keying a 12th-place showing for the Sea Kings in the girls’ sweepstakes.

Edison freshman Avery Williams won the girls’ medium schools race in 18:20.7, doing so in her first look at the course.

“It feels really good,” remarked Williams on the win, adding that running competitively is a relatively new experience for her. “[It was] kind of just pacing, running my own race, not worrying about the people around me.”

Laguna Beach won the girls’ small schools race 40-59 over Pacifica. The Breakers, who are now ranked No. 7 in Division 4, had a scoring quintet consisting of Sydney Sydney (second, 18:32.3), Yolo Javier (fifth, 18:59.0), Hayden Joseph (10th, 19:31.6), Anoua Carrie (11th, 19:36.2) and Kiara Flores (21st, 20:14.2).

Corona del Mar topped the area performances on the boys’ side. Sophomore Kevin Steinman (20th, 14:43.8) and junior Max Douglass (23rd, 14:44.8) propelled the Sea Kings to 11th place in the boys’ sweepstakes. The latest rankings have the CdM boys at No. 9 in Division 3.

Newport Harbor junior Uriel Rosete (fourth, 15:43.7) and Ocean View sophomore Maury Young (sixth, 15:59.9) were the area’s top finishers in the boys’ medium and small schools races, respectively.

Dana Hills clipped San Clemente 48-53 to claim the county championship in the boys’ sweepstakes, while JSerra ran away from Trabuco Hills 46-110 to take home the title in the girls’ sweepstakes.

“Everyone PR’ed by a minimum of 10 seconds all across the board, so I’m super proud of everyone,” said junior Evan Noonan, who won his first individual county crown in 13:59.4 for Dana Hills. “Can’t ask for more, and just glad that we can take back that county title.”

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Orange County Championships

At Oak Canyon Park

Sweepstakes

Team Results

1. Dana Hills 48; 2. San Clemente 53; 3. Trabuco Hills 104; 4. JSerra 160; 5. Santa Margarita 235; 6. Woodbridge 259; 7. Aliso Niguel 264; 8. El Toro 264; 9. Tesoro 269; 10. El Dorado 282; 11. Corona del Mar 315; 15. Fountain Valley 346; 18. Huntington Beach 401; Newport Harbor DNP

Individuals

1. Noonan (Dana Hills) 13:59.4; 2. Hernandez (Dana Hills) 14:06.9; 3. Kushen (Tesoro) 14:15.3; 4. Ephraim (San Clemente) 14:16.6; 5. Gibson (Santa Margarita) 14:21.3; 6. Woodruff (Dana Hills) 14:24.3; 7. Galindo (Savanna) 14:27.7; 8. Stanley (Trabuco Hills) 14:28.4; 9. Arrey (JSerra) 14:33.3; 10. Jubak (Trabuco Hills) 14:34.2; 20. Steinman (Corona del Mar) 14:43.8; 29. McQuirk (Huntington Beach) 14:55.2; 35. Kwong (Fountain Valley) 15:02.8; 37. Maradiaga (Newport Harbor) 15:03.7

Medium Schools

Team Results

1. Capistrano Valley 61; 2. Fullerton 109; 3. Edison 114; 4. El Modena 121; 5. San Juan Hills 129; 6. Segerstrom 137; 7. Newport Harbor 212; 8. Godinez 220; 9. Kennedy 229; 10. Marina 237
Individuals

1. Mejia (Godinez) 15:14.1; 2. Perez (Capistrano Valley) 15:22.8; 3. Golla (Fullerton) 15:41.0; 4. Rosete (Newport Harbor) 15:43.7; 5. Gomez (Godinez) 15:44.1; 6. Slay (El Modena) 15:44.3; 7. Stephens (Marina) 15:45.4; 8. Hata (Edison) 15:49.8; 9. Hernandez (Fullerton) 15:51.4; 10. Rakhshani (Edison) 15:56.5
Small Schools

Team Results

1. Servite 71; 2. Brea Olinda 76; 3. Sonora 122; 4. Anaheim 133; 5. Laguna Beach 154; 6. Pacifica 169; 7. Ocean View 175; 8. Crean Lutheran 185; 9. Laguna Hills 185; 10. Santiago 192; 13. Pacifica Christian 382; 16. Costa Mesa 404

Individuals

1. Lopez (Servite) 15:41.6; 2. Swadling (Pacifica) 15:49.1; 3. Siebert (Servite) 15:49.4; 4. Hawley (Laguna Hills) 15:49.9; 5. Mendoza (Anaheim) 15:52.0; 6. Young (Ocean View) 15:59.9; 7. Bello (Laguna Hills) 16:04.6; 8. Ramirez (Brea Olinda) 16:07.6; 9. Melendez (Savanna) 16:10.7; 10. Angulo (Sonora) 16:11.3; 15. Drews (Laguna Beach) 16:18.2; 26. Bernal (Costa Mesa) 16:38.4; 66. Cao (Pacifica Christian) 17:25.0

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY

Orange County Championships

At Oak Canyon Park

Sweepstakes

Team Results

1. JSerra 46; 2. Trabuco Hills 110; 3. Dana Hills 133; 4. El Toro 135; 5. San Clemente 194; 6. Huntington Beach 211; 7. Canyon 254; 8. Los Alamitos 255; 9. Tesoro 289; 10. Santa Margarita 290; 12. Corona del Mar 343; 23. Fountain Valley 590; Newport Harbor DNP; Pacifica Christian DNP
Individuals

1. Barker (Trabuco Hills) 16:08.1; 2. Robar (Newport Harbor) 16:35.4; 3. Polay (JSerra) 16:37.5; 4. Ivarsson (Dana Hills) 16:40.0; 5. Williams (El Toro) 16:40.4; 6. McRae (Huntington Beach) 16:40.5; 7. Djomby-Enyawe (Corona del Mar) 16:42.3; 8. Garcia (JSerra) 16:47.7; 9. Rubio (Huntington Beach) 16:50.8; 10. Watts (Trabuco Hills) 17:06.7; 19. Murray (Pacifica Christian) 17:22.8; 86. Roque (Fountain Valley) 19:20.6

Medium Schools

Team Results

1. Fullerton 34; 2. El Dorado 52; 3. Segerstrom 83; 4. Kennedy 85; 5. Sunny Hills 100; 6. El Modena 136; Newport Harbor DNP; Edison DNP; Marina DNP

Individuals

1. Williams (Edison) 18:20.7; 2. Watrous (El Dorado) 18:28.0; 3. Diaz (Santa Ana Valley) 18:29.3; 4. McAndrew (Fullerton) 18:36.0; 5. Contreras (Segerstrom) 19:02.6; 6. Cauley (La Habra) 19:11.5; 7. Glidewell (Fullerton) 19:14.7; 8. Tabbal (Fullerton) 19:33.0; 9. Padilla (El Dorado) 19:44.0; 10. Regan (Kennedy) 19:48.4; 16. Woodruff (Marina) 20:12.8; 23. Maradiaga (Newport Harbor) 20:29.1

Small Schools

Team Results

1. Laguna Beach 40; 2. Pacifica 59; 3. Brea Olinda 96; 4. Mission Viejo 110; 5. Anaheim 167; 6. Crean Lutheran 199; 7. Ocean View 205; 8. Sonora 213; 9. Pacifica Christian 245; 10. Santiago 250; 12. Costa Mesa 294

Individuals

1. Toriz (Western) 18:27.6; 2. Sydney (Laguna Beach) 18:32.3; 3. Rubio (Laguna Hills) 18:45.1; 4. Luna (Brea Olinda) 18:47.8; 5. Javier (Laguna Beach) 18:59.0; 6. Kaur (Sonora) 18:59.7; 7. Melancon (Pacifica) 19:16.1; 8. De Cicco (Calvary Chapel) 19:18.8; 9. Mo (Crean Lutheran) 19:24.0; 10. Joseph (Laguna Beach) 19:31.6; 20. Colin (Costa Mesa) 20:12.1; 25. Maze (Pacifica Christian) 20:27.0; 36. Munoz (Ocean View) 20:43.3