ORANGE – It was warmer and drier than expected at Irvine Regional Park, but that didn’t stop the Orange League’s best from soaking up some success and CIF Prelims berths.
Laguna Beach’s Ana Kelly and Costa Mesa’s Elliot Hachac each won individual titles by sizeable margins as Laguna Beach’s girls and the pack of Godinez boys won team titles at the Orange League Finals on Wednesday at Irvine Regional Park.
After being neck-and-neck at the 2-mile mark, Kelly pulled away and posted a first-place time of 18:24.88 to beat the field by 24 seconds in the girls race.
“I was a little scared,” Kelly said of the tight 2-mile split. “I was finally able to pull away at the start of the hill. .. I realized how much I wanted to win this. One of my last races, I figured I’d give it all I’ve got.”
All five of Laguna Beach’s scoring runners finished in the top 10 to beat out Costa Mesa for the team title, 24-50.
Costa Mesa, with three top-10 runners, edged Godinez for third, 50-58.
Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa and Godinez all qualified for CIF Prelims.
On the boys side, Hachac took first place by a 17-second margin with a time of 15:18.61.
“It feels nice,” Hachac said, “but mostly you have that pressure. Everyone knows you, you’re going to go out there and win it. … There was great competition from Godinez. I knew they were behind me. I just had to go out there and give it all you got.”
Godinez took the other four positions of the top five to win the team title over Costa Mesa, 24-46.
“I was satisfied,” Godinez coach Rogelio Sanchez said. “We had some guys PR. Some guys didn’t run as well as we wanted to. I think the weather didn’t cooperate as much as we wanted to, but overall satisfied. Hopefully we’re going to keep improving.”
Laguna Beach’s boys pulled in to third to clinch CIF berths along with Godinez and Costa Mesa.
In the Century Conference Finals:
CIF qualifications were spread around at Yorba Regional Park as Canyon’s girls and Brea Olinda’s boys took home Crestview League titles while Esperanza’s boys and Foothill’s girls captured North Hills League titles.
Canyon’s Sara Leonard (16:57.9) outpaced the field by 29 seconds to take the Crestview League title. Ariel Williams of Brea Olinda (17:49.6) qualified for CIF as an individual in fourth place.
Esperanza’s girls took second place for CIF qualification.
Daniel Perez of Brea Olinda (14:44.5) took the boys Crestview title. Foothill’s Stuart Kendall (15:13.7) qualified for CIF in fourth place.
Canyon finished in second for CIF qualification.
In the North Hills race, Esperanza’s boys captured a tight race over El Modena, 26-37.
Brayden Metoyer of El Modena (15:08.7) won the boys title.
Foothill’s girls beat Villa Park, 28-43, for the team title, and El Dorado’s Lucina Vincent (17:47.3) took the individual title and a CIF spot.
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CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
ORANGE COAST LEAGUE FINALS
At Irvine Regional Park, 3 mile course
BOYS
Team results: 1. Godinez 24; 2. Costa Mesa 46; 3. Laguna Beach 63; 4. Saddleback 99; 5. Calvary Chapel 165; 6. Estancia 170
Individual results: 1. Hachac, Costa Mesa, 15:18.61; 2. Pedroza, Godinez, 15:35.39; 3. Ramirez, Godinez, 15:39.88; 4. Gonzalez, Godinez, 15:48. 33; 5. Arzate, Godinez, 15:52. 91; 6. Cortez, Costa Mesa, 15:53.79
GIRLS
Team results: 1. Laguna Beach 24; 2. Costa Mesa 50; 3. Godinez 58; 4. Saddleback 112; 5. Estancia 129
Individual results: 1. Kelly, Laguna Beach, 18:24.88; 2. Avendano, Godinez, 18:58.14; 3. Fonk, Laguna Beach, 19:04.87; 4, Molina, Costa Mesa, 19:05.58; 5. Cohn, Laguna Beach, 19:23.31; 6. Reiland, Costa Mesa, 19:29.47
CENTURY CONFERENCE FINALS
At Yorba Regional Park, 3 mile course
Crestview League
BOYS
Team results: 1. Brea Olinda 26; 2. Canyon 37; 3. Foothill 83; 4. Yorba Linda 94
Individual results: 1. Perez, Brea Olinda, 14:44.5; 2. Tanner, Canyon, 14:52.3; 3. McNulty, Brea Olinda, 15:09.6; 4. Kendall, Foothill, 15:13.7; 5. Myers, Brea Olinda, 15:19.4; 6. Ware, Canyon, 15:22.4
GIRLS
Team results: 1. Canyon 25; 2. Esperanza 57; 3. Yorba Linda 72; 4. Brea Olinda 85
Individual results: 1. Leonard, Canyon, 16:57.9; 2. Mackellar, Esperanza, 17:26.5; 3. Weyland, Canyon, 17:47.4; 4. Williams, Brea Olinda, 17:49.6; 5. Carr, Canyon, 17:58.2; 6. Dholakia, Esperanza, 17:59.6
North Hills League
BOYS
Team results: 1. Esperanza 28; 2. El Modena 37; 3. Villa Park 76; 4. El Dorado 93
Individual results: 1. Metoyer, El Modena, 15:08.7; 2. Freeman, Esperanza, 15:26.3; 3. Linder, El Modena, 15:36.8; 4. Hernandez, El Modena, 15:43. 8; 5. Talbott, Esperanza, 15:47.4; 6. Ritchie, Esperanza, 16:00.3
GIRLS
Team results: 1. Foothill 28; 2. Villa Park 43; 3. El Dorado 73; 4. El Modena 102
Individual results: 1. Vincent, El Dorado, 17:47.3; 2. Haefele, Villa Park, 18:06.2; 3. Hall, Foothill, 18:12.0; 4. Hanson, Foothill, 18:26.6; 5. Peterson, Villa Park, 18:37. 9; 6. Cushing-Murray, Foothill, 18:58.0
