The last tuneup for the Orange County Championships takes place Saturday as 20 county teams take part in the Mt. SAC Relays.
After a sterling performance at the Arcadia Invitational last weekend, the Dana Hills boys team hopes to work its magic in the distance medley relay for the second week in a row.
Dana Hills set the national-leading mark in the 4,000-meter race with a time of 10:06.73 at Arcadia High. Mason Coppi, Diego Southard and Jake Ogden will be joined Saturday by Alex Smith, stepping in for Colin Stein, to fill out the relay roster.
Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut is home to one of the state’s premier cross country courses. Although the distance runners will not be trekking the vaunted hills of the Mt. SAC race course, the field in the girls 1-mile race will serve as a reminder of the battles from the fall.
——————————————
MT. SAC RELAYS
Where, when: Mt. San Antonio College, Saturday; first events, 9 a.m.
Fan info: General admission, $15; seniors (60 years or older), $10; children (12 and under), $5. The box office opens at 7 a.m. Tickets can also be purchased by phone (909-468-4050) and online: (tickets.mtsac.edu/). Parking: general parking, $5; preferred parking, $10.
——————————————
Tesoro’s Amanda Gehrich and Briar Brumley will be joined by Huntington Beach’s Cassie Durgy as the county’s representatives in the event. Gehrich is the county leader in the mile. She holds a converted 1,600 time of 4:45.99.
The county trio will be challenged by Marissa Williams (Palisades) and Rylee Bowen (Sonoma Academy of Santa Rosa), who rank second and sixth in the state, respectively.
The field events will be highlighted by the return of Edison’s AJ Beynon (knee strain). The senior will compete in the high jump, where he is tied for third in the county. He will face off against Trabuco Hills’ Sean Lee, whose 6-9 mark is tied with Quinten Pounds (Cypress) for the county lead.
Canyon’s Rachel Baxter (13-1) and Mater Dei’s McKenna Caskey (13-0) will be the favorites to take home the invitational title in the pole vault. They hold the second and fourth best marks in the state this year.
The O.C. Championships are April 25 at Mission Viejo High.
