ORANGE- Northwood’s Bethan Knights served as an impressive catalyst for Northwood to enter CIF competition on the heels of a historical first.
Knights captured her second straight individual league title to lead the Timberwolves to the program’s first ever team title at the Pacific Coast League Finals Friday at Irvine Regional Park.
“I’m so proud of our team because we had never done this before,” Knights said. “Winning this title will motivate us more than anything to have success in CIF.”
Knights took the lead seconds after the race began and opened an insurmountable advantage by the end of the first mile. She maintained a quick pace throughout the final two miles and crossed the final line in a time of 16:31.
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“This was something that I set out to do this season and it’s an honor for me to win the league title again,” Knights said.
Woodbridge teammates Jessica Lesser (17:22) and Madeline Bradford (17:27) rounded out the top three finishers.
The Timberwolves, currently ranked No. 3 in the county and No. 2 in CIF-SS Division 3, placed four runners in the top seven to beat second place Woodbridge (40) and third place Corona del Mar (55).
“We ran with a lot of confidence and I am really proud of the girls,” Timberwolves coach Charles Gates said. “It means a lot for us to win our first title ever and have this momentum going into CIF.”
Woodbridge’s Jackson Marshall also cruised to his second straight individual title in the boys’ race.
Marshall seized a big early lead with a fast opening mile and was not challenged on the way to clocking a time of 14:29.
“I started fast in this race, and when I got by the first mile, I still felt strong,” Marshall said. “After that, I just tried to maintain my speed in the second mile and bring it in as fast as I could off the final hill.”
Corona del Mar’s Spencer Keith was second in a time of 15:08, with Northwood’s Brenden Stone (15:25) coming in third place.
Beckman’s Kyle Pham (15:29) and Christian Chung (15:42) advanced to CIF as individuals.
With Marshall leading the way, the Warriors (33 points) claimed the team title with all five scoring runners placing in the top 11.
“We were confident going into the race and the boys had a great race,” Warriors coach Bryan Pacheco said.
Corona del Mar (59) and Northwood (68) were second and third and qualified for the CIF-SS preliminaries.
