The top-ranked Brea Olinda boys cross country team added to its growing list of triumphs Wednesday by defeating No. 2 Canyon, 26-29, in the Crestview League Finals at Yorba Regional Park.
The Wildcats won their sixth straight league title behind the dynamic duo of Austin Tamagno (14:17) and Austin Shellito (14:33).
While he has been regularly breaking records since he was a freshman, Tamagno entered the race looking for his first individual league title. The junior hammered home another career first by bursting out ahead of the pack in the first mile.
The Comanches had been neck-and-neck with Brea Olinda in the cluster meet on Oct. 1. Tamagno told Shellito that he needed to beat Canyon’s Wesley Walsh if they were going to come out on top this time. Shellito responded, beating Walsh by four seconds to give the Wildcats the top two scorers in the race.
“It took a lot of mental toughness,” Shellito said of the quest to beat Walsh. “This is my last time (competing in a league cross country race) and I didn’t want to lose that. I hadn’t beaten him (Walsh).”
The three-point margin Wednesday was closer than the 25-30 decision on Oct. 1.
Walsh credited the Comanches’ success to the ability of their runners to stay healthy.
“We may not be the most talented team in Division 2, but we are definitely one of the strongest teams to be able to take care of themselves,” he said. “I don’t think any of our top seven have been injured yet.”
Canyon’s girls, led by Brooke Caravello’s first-place finish, defeated Esperanza, 33-45, to take the Crestview League title. The Comanches edged Esperanza by one point in the cluster meet.
Caravello led from the start and finished in 17:32, holding off a challenge from Esperanza’s Shannon MacKellar (17:34).
“Our team knows this course so well,” Caravello said. “I think we’ve been at this course five times in the last week just dissecting it down.”
In the Sea View League:
Tesoro’s girls defeated El Toro, 48-50, behind Amanda Gehrich’s top time of 17:33. Sander Kushen (15:09) led Tesoro’s boys to the league championship.
