IRVINE – Nearly 290 teams came to Orange County Great Park in Irvine on Saturday to compete in one of the biggest cross country meets in the country, the 34th annual Woodbridge Invitational.
And those people watched as the county’s best runner earned a hard-fought win.
Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno held off some stiff competition and won the Doug Speck’s boys sweepstakes race.
Tamagno, who ran a 14:04, used a strong surge at the end of the race to earn the win and edge out Arcadia’s Phillip Rocha.
San Clemente’s Kelsey Carroll continued her hot start to the season. After winning her race at the Laguna Hills Invitational last weekend, Carroll followed up with a victory in the varsity girls rated race with a time of 17:06
“I’m feeling amazing,” Carroll said. “I feel like this is going to be a good season; I feel like our team is going to have an amazing season.
“The girls killed it the first mile, and I was able to luckily keep up with them.”
In the varsity boys rated race, Edison’s Cooper Kossick was able to claim a fourth-place finish. Fountain Valley’s Galyn Nash had the second-best performance of any county boy in the varsity rated race, as he finished 16th.
Kossick ran his race in 14:47, and Nash finished his in 15:10.
Los Alamitos’ Thomas Heib ran a strong race in the division blue varsity boys A group race. Heib ran a personal best of 14:57 to get his first-place finish.
“My coach told me to keep the pace we have in practice,” Heib said. “And it felt easy at practice, and it felt easy now.”
The San Clemente boys team earned a first-place finish in the division blue varsity boys B group standings. Connor Dunne had the best time for the Tritons in that race with a 15:12.
This is the first year the Woodbridge Invitational has been held at the Great Park.
The meet has been raced at Woodbridge High School and Estancia High in the past.
The Great Park course is flatter compared to some other races, which leads to some fast times and some happy runners.
“It was superb. I love this race; I can’t wait till next year if we go here again,” Heib said.
Contact the writer: amorales@ocregister.com
