The Dana Hills boys cross country team added one more highlight to its stellar season by capturing third place at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday.
Mason Coppi, Jake Ogden, Jack Landgraf, Brandon Hough and John Turner formed the scoring five. Coppi finished 19th with a time of 15:30 and earned a spot on the All-American third team.
“It was really dreamlike,” Dolphins coach Tim Butler said of the Dolphins finishing on the podium at the national meet for the first time. “It was really surreal. I’m absolutely in awe of what they have accomplished this year.”
The Dolphins’ season included winning the Orange County Championships and the South Coast League title, they finished second at the CIF Finals and at CIF State, where they posted the fourth fastest time in meet history.
Great Oak of Temecula, which beat out the Dolphins for the Division I state title, also finished first at Saturday’s meet. Great Oak topped American Fork of Utah, 114-163. Dana Hills had 181 points.
On the girls side, Davis and Great Oak finished second and third, respectively, giving all four of the state’s teams a spot on the podium.
“It gives unbelievable credibility to California cross country,” Butler said. “Out of the six podium teams, four of them were from California. That never happens. We feel really good about that.” …
Canyon seniors Dylan Scarsone and Nikki Zielinski qualified for this week’s Foot Locker Nationals meet at Balboa Park in San Diego.
Competitors in this past Saturday’s West Regional at Mt. San Antonio College had to finish in the top 10 of their seeded race to advance. Scarsone finished fourth (15:41), and Zielinski was seventh (18:22).
“It really lifts the program up for the future,” Canyon coach Joe Wiley said. “Future kids will see this, and they will start expecting to do similar things. I’m really excited for them.”
ANDREW TURNER,
Contributing writer
WRESTLING
There are three wrestling tournaments taking place in the county this week.
The Beach Bash, hosted by Edison, begins Friday and concludes Saturday.
Mater Dei has the Scott Davis Invitational and Irvine has the Andrew Pena Classic. Both of those tournaments are one-day events on Saturday.
The dual of the week comes from the South Coast League as San Clemente visits Trabuco Hills tonight. Varsity should start at approximately 7 p.m.
DAMIAN CALHOUN
GIRLS WATER POLO
The 32-team Villa Park Classic highlights the girls water polo schedule this week.
Games will be played Thursday through Saturday at Villa Park, Huntington Beach, Yorba Linda and El Toro.
Division 1 contenders Orange Lutheran, ranked second in Orange County, and San Marcos are seeded first-second, respectively. The championship is scheduled for El Toro on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. …
Two juniors are off to sizzling defensive starts. Mission Viejo’s Emilee Feilmeier has a county-leading 29 steals, and Esperanza’s Sedona Sinclair has a county-high 65 saves.
DAN ALBANO
GIRLS WRESTLING
Santa Ana finished second at the Magnolia Lady Sents Invitational on Saturday.
Josahandy Moreno (137) was the Saints’ only individual champion.
Canyon’s Aleeah Gould (116) and Kennedy’s Miyuki Pugrad (150) earned Lower and Upper Weight MVP honors, respectively.
Kennedy, Cypress and Katella all finished in the top 10.
DAMIAN CALHOUN
BOYS WATER POLO
Capistrano Valley’s Austin Sechrest, Marina’s Luka Karaman and Huntington Beach’s Skyler Munatones each scored three goals to help the South defeat the North, 17-11, in the Orange County all-star boys water polo match Sunday.
The South led, 9-4, at halftime and, 12-8, going in the fourth period.
Foothill’s Chas Hornecker scored a game-high four goals for the North.
DAN ALBANO
