WALNUT – A race victory on the famed hills of Mt. SAC narrowly eluded Villa Park’s Garrett Corcoran, but another historic performance put him alongside some of the all-time best high school runners in the history of the course.
Corcoran ran a time of 14:29 to finish second in the individual sweepstakes race at the Mt. SAC Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.
He was third at the mile mark heading up the switchbacks hill and then moved into second midway into the race.
Corcoran held a small lead heading up Reservoir Hill, the final climb of the course. But Torrey Pines’ Tal Braude put down a well-timed kick to sprint ahead of Corcoran coming down off the hill and maintained his advantage to the finish line.
Braude’s winning time of 14:27 was the fourth fastest on the Mt. SAC course.
“He (Tal) surprised me by flying past me at the top of the hill and getting a gap,” Corcoran said. “By the time I sped up, the gap stayed there. Tal ran a great race.”
Corcoran’s time was the seventh fastest time on the course and is the fastest ever for a county runner at Mt.Sac. The previous county record on the Mt. SAC course was held by former El Toro star Brandon Bethke, who had a time of 14:30 at the 2004 invitational.
It’s the second straight week that Corcoran has broken one of Bethke’s long-standing county records. Last week, he broke his Orange County Championships meet record.
“I surprised myself with getting 14:29,” Corcoran said. “I didn’t get the win, but I think I ran great.”
Tesoro’s Sander Kushen (15:24) placed 10th overall, helping lead the Titans (91 points) to a second place team behind Loyola (66).
In the boys’ team sweepstakes, Dana Hills had five scoring runners place in the top 50 and finished fourth with 135 points.
“We are right where we want to be for this point in the season,” Dolphins coach Tim Butler said. “We’re pushing hard in our workouts, and mentally, we will be better for it.”
El Toro (172) had four runners score in the top 50 and finished fifth.
In the girls’ Division 1&2 individual sweepstakes race, Tesoro’s Amanda Gehrich maintained pace with the front pack throughout much of the race and crossed the finish line in fifth place in a time of 17:32.
“It was a fast first mile and I didn’t want the front pack to get away from me,” Gehrich said. “It was a good race overall.”
Trabuco Hills was the county’s top team finisher in the Division 1&2 team sweepstakes race. The Mustangs had four runners place in the top 50 and finished fourth with 163 points.
“It was good to see how some of the girls performed in this race,” Mustangs director of cross country Liam Clemons said. “By the time we get to the end of the season, we hope to have the little things fixed and be on a roll.”
Sabrina Herrmann was the Mustangs’ top runner, coming in eighth with time of 17:56.
“I was impressed with how I ran because I hadn’t run well in my previous races here,” Herrmann said. “The key is to not get caught up with how hard the course is and to have fun with it.”
Top-ranked Capistrano Valley rested key scorers Ashley Licata and Rebecca Deitch and finished 10th with 295 points.
San Clemente’s Melissa Eisele took home first place in the Division 1 sub-sweepstakes race with a time of 18:05.
“I was running this race to how I felt and I felt pretty good today,” Eisele said.
Eisele’s teammate Kelsey Carroll (18:27) finished fourth to help lead the Tritons (88) to a first place team finish.
Dana Hills (137) was fourth, Fountain Valley (240) was seventh, and El Toro (245) was eighth.
