One week after setting the Orange County Championships sophomore record, Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno took down another class record on Friday, this time on the hallowed hills of the state’s most prestigious course.
Tamagno clocked a time of 14:34 to win the Division 3 sweepstakes race on the first day of the Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.
His winning time was 14 seconds faster than the previous sophomore course record of 14:48 set in 2008 by former Loyola star Elias Gedyon.
Indio’s David Luna (14:45) was second behind Tamagno, while El Modena’s Sydney Gidabuday (14:54) was third.Tamagno’s individual performance was part of a historical team effort for No. 1 Brea Olinda (also ranked No. 1 in CIF-SS Division 3).
Brennon Koryta (15:21), Austin Shellito (15:27), Angel Escobar (15:32), and DiMaggio Orozco (15:45) also finished among the top 30 to lead the Wildcats (62 points) to a convincing first place win in the team competition.
Brea Olinda’s overall team time of 76:39 was a Division 3 team time meet record and was the fastest ever for a county team amongst all divisions at any competition on the Mt. Sac course, bettering the previous record of 76:41 set at the 2008 CIF-SS Division 1 Finals by Dana Hills.
The Wildcats are now tied with Carlsbad (76:39 at 2012 Mt. Sac Invite) for the sixth best team time ever on the Mt. Sac course.
Jurupa Valley (124) was second, with Rubidoux (146) placing third.
Northwood’s Bethan Knights continued her run of dominant performances, winning the girls Division 3 sweepstakes race in a time of 16:59.
She becomes only the fourth county runner to clock a sub-17:00 minute time on the regular Mt. Sac course, joining former county standouts Christine Babcock (16:38 at 2007 CIF-SS Finals), Alex Dunne (16:48 at 2008 Mt. Sac Invite), and Annie St. Geme (16:51 at 2005 CIF-SS Finals).
“I really want to go out and win every time and push myself to run faster than I ever have,” Knights said in an interview after her victory. “It was definitely a goal of mine to run under 17 at Mt. SAC, but I didn’t know if it would happen in October, so I’m really happy about it.”
The Timberwolves (75 points) placed all five scoring runners in the top 35 to finish first.
Bishop O’ Dowd of Oakland (108) was second, with Esperanza (128) coming in third place.
El Dorado’s Cassidy Towner (17:59) and Bolsa Grande’s Jeanette Zambrano (18:02) each took home individual victories in Division 3 non-sweepstakes races.
In the Division 4 sweepstakes race, JSerra (93 points) finished second to San Lorenzo Valley (85 points).
Charlotte Owen (18:59) finished 10th to lead the Lions, who placed five runners in the top 30 and recorded a race-best 36 second scoring gap.
