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 Brea Olinda's Austin Tamagno will lead his teammates Saturday in the Brea Invitational.
Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno will lead his teammates Saturday in the Brea Invitational.
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BREA – The temperature is expected to exceed 100 degrees in Brea on Saturday, but more than 30 high school cross country teams are expected to take part in the annual Brea Olinda Invitational at Carbon Canyon Regional Park.

Brea Olinda boys cross country coach Jeremy Mattern said a number of precautions have been taken to ensure maximum safety at the meet.

“We adjusted our time schedule, so we are actually going to be finishing the meet an hour early. All the coaches that I have heard feedback from are appreciative of that,” Mattern said. “We are going to have water at the course and also on the course.”

The last race of the day is scheduled to start 10:50 a.m., so the runners should finish well before the hottest part of the day. In addition, Mattern added that the racers will be aided by a pace biker and a cyclist that will trail the pack over the 3.1-mile course.

Mattern noted that his runners are cognizant of the importance of hydration and meal consumption.

“We make sure that they eat every single meal. Blood sugar seems to drop quicker in these conditions,” said Mattern of the heat wave. “We encourage the athletes to be drinking water throughout the entire week.”

The meet will feature 13 Orange County teams, including the top-ranked Brea Olinda, which is led by junior standout Austin Tamagno, and No. 10 Yorba Linda boys squads.

Yorba Linda boys coach Dave Miller said his team’s runners generally do their workouts in the early morning to make the weather a nonfactor.

“The quality of the workout decreases if you try to do it at 95-degree heat,” he said.

The Brea meet will serve as preparation for a couple of top-flight meets. The Clovis Invitational is next Saturday, and the Orange County Championships are Oct. 17-18.

Miller said today will be an important opportunity for his lower-level runners to gain experience, while the top runners prepare for the weeks ahead. He does not believe that competing on consecutive weekends will be an issue for his team.

“Clovis is a great event to give our athletes a chance to run on the state championship course,” he said.