ORANGE – Santa Margarita’s Brooke Pigneri entered the small schools race at the Orange County Cross Country Championships without having much time to train this week.
By perfectly executing her race strategy, Pigneri overcame her lack of preparation and rallied over the final two miles to win the race and spark Santa Margarita to a team title Friday at Irvine Regional Park.
“This win gives me some confidence heading into league finals and CIF,” Pigneri said.
Pigneri spent the majority of the week visiting the Northwestern campus in Evanston, Ill.
She returned Thursday, but she showed little effect of being out of her regular routine.
She trailed Alyssa Allen of Cypress and Yorba Linda’s Rachel Iida early in the first mile, but she quickly made up ground and took the lead early in the second mile.
“I like to get into the race and pick it up around the second mile,” Pigneri said.
She held her advantage up the final hill of the course and crossed the finish line in 18 minutes, 31 seconds.
Santa Margarita coach Gil Garcia was pleased with Pigneri’s race execution.
“She followed the game plan perfectly,” Garcia said. “She moved up well, felt strong, and went for the victory.”
Iida was second in 18:39, and Brea Olinda’s Carly Halm (18:42) placed third.
Including Pigneri, the Eagles (87 points) had three runners in the top 11 and edged second-place Brea Olinda (89 points).
In the boys small schools race, Costa Mesa teammates Brett Bermudez and Anuare Magana broke away early from the lead pack during the first 1-1/2 miles. Bermudez pulled away in the second mile and won the race in 15:40.
“I needed to practice running with a confident lead, and this race helped me with that,” Bermudez said.
“I also wanted to break away on the flat sections of the course and it worked.”
Magana finished second in 16:05.
Alan Hernandez (16:09) of Los Amigos came in third.
Esperanza had four runners in the top 16 and won the team battle with 75 points.
“Going into the race, I just wanted the boys to go out hard, compete and finish well,” Aztecs coach David Cummings said.
“My guys stepped up and I couldn’t have asked for more.”
ORANGE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
When/where: Today, at Irvine Regional Park, Orange
Start time: First race is scheduled for 7:48 a.m.
Overview: The county’s top teams and individuals will compete at the county’s annual regular-season showcase. In the boys sweepstakes race, Villa Park’s Garrett Corcoran, El Modena’s Sydney Gidabuday and Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno will be among the runners expected to compete for the individual title. Dana Hills will look to win its county-record seventh team title. The Dolphins and Costa Mesa each have six team titles. Northwood’s Bethan Knights finished second in last year’s girls sweepstakes. Trabuco Hills, which enters the meet ranked No. 1 in the county and in CIF-SS Division 1, won for the first time two years ago.
Featured races: The girls sweepstakes race (scheduled for 9:18 a.m.) and the boys sweepstakes (scheduled for 9:58 a.m.). Also, the girls Division 2 race (8:52 a.m.) and the boys Division 2 race (9:32 a.m.)
Notable: Parking at Irvine Regional Park is $5 and exact change is required. Overflow parking is available at Santiago Canyon College for $5. There will be a free shuttle service from the college to the park running from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Contact the writer: jeichelberger@ocregister.com
