ORANGE – In the eternal struggle of Orange County bragging rights between north and south, it was the south that could safely put another mark in its win column on Saturday.
Dana Hills became the first team since 2011 to sweep both the girls and boys sweepstakes team titles with Jack Landgraf taking the boys individual sweepstakes, Capistrano Valley’s Hayley Herberg winning the girls individual sweepstakes and San Juan Hills capturing both Division 2 individual titles and the boys team title at the 50th Annual Orange County Cross Country Championships at Irvine Regional Park.
The girls sweepstakes provided the tightest competition as the three top-ranked teams in the county, No. 1 Canyon and Dana Hills and Capistrano Valley, tied for No. 2, battling for the county title.
Herberg battled a top pack of Erika Adler of Northwood and Canyon’s Sara Leonard down the stretch, but pulled away late for her third consecutive first-place finish and first O.C. title at 17:01.6.
“There were lot of competitors,” Herberg said. “There was a pack pretty much the whole entire time. It’s one of those races where you’re coming down the bike path, and you hear all the people cheering and you don’t know if there’s someone coming up right behind you.”
Adler finished nearly eight seconds behind Herberg but stuck at the top for second place, her fourth straight top-three finish.
“After the last little bit of the hill, I started to get a little slower,” Adler said. “We trained really hard this week, so my legs are a little sore.”
Leonard pulled in a third place at 17:18.9, and Alyssa Bautista, Herberg’s teammate, captured fourth.
But despite all the fighting at the top and its top-finisher in 10th, Dana Hills took the team title with four finishes in the top 30.
“I am happy. I’m totally stoked for them,” Dana Hills coach Chris Cotta said. “They wanted to come out and go for the win. It’s huge because they did that on their own. They made that decision together.”
San Juan Hills sophomore Katie Hansen took the top spot in Division 2 with a time of 17:41.4.
Valencia took the girls Division 2 team competition over Aliso Niguel, 86-129, and was one of only three north county schools to finish in the top three in the four varsity races on Saturday.
For the boys sweepstakes, Landgraf again paced Dana Hills as the junior has all season with the only sub-15-minute time of the day at 14:53.3.
Newport Harbor sophomore Alexis Garcia continued his recent hot streak with second-place time of 15:05.4.
“I wasn’t expecting that, because there’s other guys,” an elated Garcia said. “My goal was just to be top seven, but I wasn’t expecting to be second.”
Thomas Wilfert’s third-place 15:07.2 helped Dana Hills blow away the field in the team standings.
JSerra’s Anthony Grover posted the day’s top freshman time at 15:08.4 for a fourth-place finish.
Top-ranked Dana Hills dominated the boys sweepstakes team field taking first place over second-place league rival No. 4 Trabuco Hills, 52-114.
No. 3 El Toro completed an all-South Coast League top three by accomplishing its pre-race goal and edging out second-ranked Brea Olinda, 120-124.
Even with its top runner, sophomore Jacob Aries, out due to sickness, San Juan Hills captured the boys Division 2 team title with the help of Aries’ training partner and fellow sophomore Daniel White.
White topped Division 2 and paced the Stallions with a time of 15:27.9.
In Friday’s small schools races, Servite took the boys team title on a tiebreaker over Esperanza, and Jacob Smith of Pacifica won individually at 15:36.6.
Laguna Hills took a tight girls title over Esperanza, 59-63, and El Dorado’s Lucina Vincent took first by a 21-second margin.
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ORANGE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Irvine Regional Park, 3-mile course
BOYS
Sweepstakes
Team results: 1. Dana Hills 52; 2. Trabuco Hills 114; 3. El Toro 120; 4. Brea Olinda 124; 5. Valencia 136; 6. Mission Viejo 174; 7. JSerra 225; 8. Newport Harbor 229
Individual results: 1. Landgraf, Dana Hills, 14:53.3; 2. Garcia, Newport Harbor, 15:05.4; 3. Wilfert, Dana Hills, 15:07.2; 4. Grover, JSerra, 15:08.4; 5. Crites, Tesoro, 15:09.3; 6. O’Neill, Trabuco Hills, 15:09.6; 7. Kuciemba, Capistrano Valley, 15:09.9; 8. Vargas, El Toro, 15:10.2; 9. Kendall, Foothill, 15:10.6; 10. Hough, Dana Hills, 15:11.4
Varsity Division 2
Team results: 1. San Juan Hills 52; 2. Aliso Niguel 95; 3. Los Alamitos 146; 4. Santa Ana 197; 5. Mater Dei 200; 6. Edison 225; 7. Fountain Valley 228; 8. Huntington Beach 234
Individual results: 1. White, San Juan Hills, 15:27.9; 2. Dukes, Aliso Niguel, 15:28.9; 3. Ray, San Juan Hills, 15:34.4; 4. Hernanez, Santiago, 15:40.4; 5. de Jesus, San Clemente, 15:42.2; 6. Damelia, Troy, 15:45.0; 7. McKenna, Aliso Niguel, 15:48.2; 8. Mitchel, Huntington Beach, 15:50.0; 9. Van Dorpe, Mater Dei, 15:50.1; 10. Avila, Santa Ana, 15:50.4
GIRLS
Sweepstakes
Team results: 1. Dana Hills 91; 2. Canyon 111; 3. Capistrano Valley 113; 4. Northwood 155; 5. JSerra 156; 6. Trabuco Hills 165; 7. Fountain Valley 193; 8. El Toro, 200
Individual results: 1. Herberg, Capistrano Valley, 17:01.6; 2. Adler, Northwood, 17:09.2; 3. Leonard, Canyon, 17:18.9; 4. Bautista, Capistrano Valley, 17:27.9; 5. Powers, Corona del Mar, 17:27.9; 6. Tobin, El Toro, 17:30.7; 7. Tabrizi, JSerra, 17:31.7; 8. Dholakia, Esperanza, 17:39.3; 9. Duda, Trabuco Hills, 17:42.2; 10. Keyvan, Dana Hills, 17:44.2
Varsity Division 2
Team results: 1. Valencia 86; 2. Aliso Niguel 129; 3. Beckman 130; 4. San Juan Hills 130; 5. Mater Dei 165; 6. Santa Ana 184; 7. Woodbridge 216; 8. Bolsa Grande 239
Individual results: 1. Hansen, San Juan Hills, 17:41.4; 2. Matsunami, Newport Harbor, 17:44.5; 3. Vergara, La Quinta, 18:26.1; 4. Kanuho, Bolsa Grande, 18:34.1; 5. Hernandez, Santa Ana, 18:37.2; 6. Schueger, Aliso Niguel, 18:37.8; 7. Avenado, Godinez, 18:44.3; 8. Wacker, Mater Dei, 18:52.6; 9. Peterson, Villa Park, 18:53.5; 10. Gallegos, Edison, 18:54.4
