COSTA MESA – In his first big test of the season, Villa Park’s Garrett Corcoran battled toe-to-toe with the some of the nation’s best distance runners.
And though he didn’t come away with the victory, Corcoran further validated that he too is an elite level runner.
Corcoran had the fastest individual time of the meet among all county runners and finished third overall in the sweepstakes race at the 33rd annual Woodbridge/Estancia/Costa Mesa Invitational Saturday at Estancia High.
“I was able to run pretty fast and was feeling pretty comfortable,” Corcoran said. “It got tougher later on, but I was pretty proud of my race.”
Blake Haney of Stockdale High clocked a winning time of 13:55, holding off a late surge from Arcadia’s Estevan De La Rosa who was second in a time of 13:56.
“I stuck with Blake (Haney) and challenged him for the lead,” Corcoran said. “I had the lead for about a quarter of the last mile, but he and De La Rosa took off with about 600 meters to go and I wasn’t quite able to hang.”
In addition to Corcoran, two other standout runners from the Century League enjoyed strong individual efforts.
El Modena’s Sydney Gidabuday, who enjoyed a breakout track and field campaign last spring, placed fourth with a time of 14:10.
“I got out fast to get away from the pack and then hung back and let the leaders take the pace,” Gidabuday said. “I felt like I could have run faster on this course.”
Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno was also credited with a time of 14:10 and finished in sixth place.
“It was tough out there running against some of the top guys in the nation,” Tamagno said. “It was a really good race that will hopefully benefit me for league finals, CIF, and the state meet.”
Behind Tamagno, the Wildcats were the county’s highest placing team in the sweepstakes race and finished eighth with 228 points.
Canyon (300) was 11th, Fountain Valley (305) was 12th, and El Toro (331) was 14th.
The boys rated race saw Woodbridge’s Jackson Marshall display an impressive finishing kick. Jackson was in third place entering the final 300 meters of the race, but sprinted into the lead with 200 meters remaining and won in a time of 14:39.
“I told myself that I wanted to win and just kept working,” Marshall said. “When I got into the stadium, I felt that a lot of people I knew were cheering for me.”
Marshall’s late surge helped him remain undefeated in the season’s first three weeks.
“From a physical standpoint, I feel really strong,” Marshall said. “I never thought I’d win one of these races and I want to see where I can go from here.”
With Marshall leading the way, the Warriors finished fourth as a team in the rated race with 235 points.
Orange Lutheran (264) was fifth, with Edison (284) coming in seventh.
