ORANGE- When asked last week about his plan for winning the Century League Preview cross country meet, El Modena’s Sydney Gidabuday talked about the need to hang with the race leaders early and to have a strong performance over the final half-mile of the race.
Gidabuday’s vision for winning came to fruition Wednesday, as he rallied in the final half-mile to outlast Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno and Villa Park’s Garrett Corcoran in a thrilling battle at Irvine Regional Park.
“I look at Austin and Garrett as two of the top runners in the state and running against them helps me know what to expect later in the season at CIF,” Gidabuday said.
He also credited his application of periodically timed surges throughout the early portion of the race for giving him the confidence that he would be able to have a chance to win late.
“I felt pretty good in the first mile and put out a few surges,” Gidabuday said. “I saw that they weren’t regaining the lead easily and I felt comfortable doing that.”
The trio of Gidabuday, Corcoran, and Tamagno was tightly packed early into the third mile, before Corcoran and Tamagno took the lead going up the final concrete hill of the race. But Gidabuday once again responded with a surge that moved him back to the front.
He and Tamagno were nearly stride for stride coming down the hill before Tamagno managed to take a small lead.
But Gidabuday put down one final burst and passed Tamagno with about 100 meters to go.
“At the top of the hill, I went after them,” Gidabuday said. “Austin (Tamagno) went with me and I kicked as hard as I could to catch him in the last 100 meters.”
Gidabuday sprinted down the final straightaway and crossed the finish line in a time of 14:21, with Tamagno just behind him at 14:22.
Corcoran crossed the finish line in third with a time of 14:29.
Led by Tamagno’s second place effort, No. 2 ranked Brea Olinda (35 points) won the team competition with all five scoring runners placing in the top 11. Canyon, ranked No. 3 in the county, had five runners in the top 20 and finished second with 59 points. No. 9 El Modena (66 points) was third.
“I told the guys this was a business trip for us and to take care of the little things that a professional would,” Wildcats coach Jeremy Mattern said. “We ran really well and I’m satisfied with the race, but we won’t celebrate anything because we know Canyon will come back hard.”
In the girls’ race, El Dorado’s Cassidy Towner and Foothill’s Jessica Cushing-Murray traded the lead throughout much of the first two miles before Towner took the advantage for good coming off the final hill and won in a time of 17:47
“She (Cushing-Murray) passed me right before the final hill, but I caught up to her right at the top of the hill,” Towner said. “As the downhill hit, I picked it up and in the last 400 meters, I knew not to hold anything back.”
Cushing-Murray was second in a time of 17:51, with Villa Park’s Jordan Stiewig placing third in a time of 18:17.
With Cushing-Murray leading the way, Foothill had all five scoring runners finish in the top 15 and won the meet with 47 points.
“I was confident that our girls could win coming into the race and Jessica helped set the tone for us,” Knights coach Matt Bell said. “The girls have been training well, and hopefully we can continue to build on this throughout each race for the rest of the season.”
Esperanza had three runners in the top 16 and finished second with 71 points. Canyon had four runners finish in the top 20 and placed third with 79 points.
