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WALNUT – When opportunities open up, it’s all about who can rise up to grab them.

With a few top county teams testing the CIF-SS postseason course at the Riverside Invitational and ailments taking out other top runners, Canyon’s Sara Leonard and Valencia’s boys team seized the spotlight and took top placings in the team sweepstakes races at the Mt. SAC Invitational at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday.

While her top competition from last week’s Orange County championships either held out due to injury or illness, such as Capistrano Valley’s top three runners, including O.C. champion Hayley Herberg, or competing in Riverside, such as Erika Adler of Northwood, Leonard put on a performance that would have shown up any field of runners.

Leonard posted a personal course record of 17:25 to take first place in the Division 1/2 team sweepstakes and pace Canyon to a seventh-place finish.

“At the beginning of the race, I just wanted to stay with the front pack even if I wasn’t at the very front,” Leonard said. “I just wanted to have them in sight. Coming down off the switchbacks and making my way through the rest of the course, I just slowly tried making my way to the front.”

At the front, Leonard had to push through the final slope of the finishing gauntlet to hold off the top-ranked runners from Great Oak of Temecula.

“I just knew I had to go,” Leonard said. “I’m like, ‘You’ve just got to finish this before anyone can catch you.’”

Mission Viejo posted the top team score in the girls Varsity Division 1 race outpacing Camarillo, 40-54.

On the boys side, Valencia was disappointed by its fifth-place finish at the O.C. Championships and set out the morning just trying to run for themselves. Valencia was able to push through the pack up and went home more than satisfied with third place in the boys Division 1/2 team sweepstakes.

“The day was ‘let’s go have fun,’” Valencia coach Brandon Frank said. “Today we went in to have fun, to enjoy it. To believe they belong in a race like this. I’m so proud of them.”

“Today gives them the glimpse of what’s possible.”

In the past, the prestigious Mt. SAC race wasn’t just the “world’s largest cross country competition,” but a preview of CIF-SS Finals course. With the Finals moving to Riverside this year, some top teams chose to run Saturday’s Riverside Invitational in lieu of Mt. SAC.

In Riverside, Mission Viejo pulled an upset in the boys large schools race taking first place over Dana Hills, 66-76. Mission Viejo’s Javier Maines was the top county runner in third place (15:15) with Dana Hills’ Jack Landgraf (15:19) taking fifth. Servite came in third in the small schools race.

On the girls side, Northwood’s Adler continued her season of top-five finishes with her second consecutive second-place finish at 17:22.

Northwood finished second in the large schools competition, and Laguna Hills took first in the small schools race with four runners in the top 10.

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Mt. SAC Invitational Results

At Mt. San Antonio College, 3-mile course

BOYS

Division 1 & 2 Individual Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. Arroyo Grande 132; 2. Saugus 139; 3. Redondo 139; 4. Crescenta Valley 143; 5. Redwood

Individual results: 1. Rickets, Arroyo Grande, 14:59; 2. Silva, Fresno, 14:59; 3. Hazell, El Camino Real, 15:00; 4. Comeaux, Redondo, 15:06; 5. Fitzgerald, Crescenta Valley, 15:10

Division 1 & 2 Team Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. Great Oak 54; 2. Claremont 147; 3. West Ranch 156; 4. Loyola 172; 5. California 208; 6. Valencia 220

Individual results: 1. Hirsch, Burroughs, 15:05; 2. Renken, Claremont, 15:07; 3. Beaudoin-Rous, Bellarmine, 15:07; 4. Llorin, Mira Costa, 15:09; 5. Pope, West Ranch, 15:10

Division 1 Varsity

Team results: 1. Long Beach Poly 53; 2. Chapparral 63; 3. Otay Ranch 79; 4. Dougherty Valley 87; 5. La Serna 100; 6. Capistrano Valley 112

Individual results: 1. Moreno, Quartz Hill, 15:28; 2. Briner, San Marcos, 15:29; 3. Olivia, Highland, 15:29; 4. Pina, Steele Canyon, 15:30; 5. Braganza, Dougherty Valley, 15;31

Division 2 Varsity

Team results: 1. Thousand Oaks 54; 2. Simi Valley 65; 3. Redwood 66; 4. Rowland 66; 5. Arroyo 77

Individual results: 1. Mota, Stockdale, 15:22; 2. Beattie, Buena, 15:42; 3. Doyle, Rancho Buena Vista, 15:45; 4. Munoz, King City, 15:57; 5. Barr, Scripps Ranch, 15:59

Friday’s Results

Division 3 Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. Brea Olinda 86; 2. West Torrance; 3. La Costa Canyon 147; 4. Paso Robles 155; 5. St. John Bosco 172

Individual results: 1. Gonzalez, Rubidoux, 14:37; 2. Martinez, Cathedral Catholic, 14:37; 3. Ramos, Rubidoux, 15:01; 4. Berti, Paso Robles, 15:03; 5. Corcoran, St. John Bosco, 15:16

Division 3 Varsity

Team results: 1. Rio Americano 44; 2. Beverly Hills 57; 3. Whitney 61; 4. Highland 62; 5. South Torrance 72

Individual results: 1. Wallace, Rio Americano, 15:34; 2. Benitez, Serra, 15:43; 3. Medrano, Highland, 15:55; 4. Jo. Cohen, Beverly Hills, 16:09; 5. Dodge, Whitney, 16:23

Division 4 Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. JSerra 50; 2. Sage Creek 73; 3. Page 97; 4. McFarland 99; 5. San Luis Obispo 129

Individual results: 1. Bolger, San Luis Obispo, 15:31; 2. Grover, JSerra, 15;47; 3. Cutter, Hercules, 15:51; 4. Fierro, Miramonte, 15:55; 5. Hachac, Costa Mesa, 16:00

Division 4 Varsity

Team results: 1. Orange Lutheran 59; 2. Harvard Westlake 60; 3. High Tech 62; 4. Escalon 78; 5. El Segundo 82

Individual results: 1. Garcia, Salesian, 15:48; 2. McIlroy, Sonora, 16:30; 3. Ali, Avenal, 16:32; 4. Hollander, Harvard Westlake,16:32; 5. Ramirez, Pacific, 16:42

Division 5 Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. Desert Christian 33; 2. Flintridge Prep 68; 3. St. Joseph 134; 4. Campbell Hall 173; 5. Pasadena Poly 182

Individual results: 1. Teare, St. Joseph, 14:44; 2. Mitchell, Desert Christian, 15:18; 3. Pattinelli, Flintridge Prep, 15:38; 4. Biehl, Desert Christian, 15:48; 5. Monroy, Maranatha Christian, 15:50

Division 5 Varsity

Team results: 1. Valley Christian 24; 2. Nueva 42; 3. Francis Parker 75; 3. Stuart Hall 82; 4. Pacifica Christian 88; 5. Webb 92

Individual results: 1. Rupprecht, Valley Christian, 16:10; 2. Horwitz, Stuart Hall, 16:17; 3. Lange, Nueva, 16:23; 4. White, Whittier Christian, 16;25; 5. Vreeke, Valley Christian 16:39

GIRLS 

Division 1 & 2 Individual Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. Xavier Prep 107; 2. Mira Costa 116; 3. Channel Islands 117; 4. Canyon Crest Academy 147; 5. Walnut 148

Individual results: 1. Lane, Malibu 16:32; 2. C. Arriaga, Walnut, 17:12; 3. Schroeder, San Marcos, 17:27; 4. Murphy, Redwood,17:39; 5. E. Arriaga, Walnut, 17:40

Division 1 & 2 Team Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. Great Oak 38; 2. Palos Verdes 105; 3. Claremont 141; 4. Arcadia 158; 5. Davis 181

Individual results: 1. Leonard, Canyon, 17:25; 2. Mandel, Great Oak, 17:30; 3. Bihari, Granada, 17:37; 4. Castillo, Saugus,17:38; 5. Genovese, Palos Verdes, 17:41

Division 1 Varsity

Team results: 1. Mission Viejo 40; 2. Camarillo 54; 3. Monta Vista 76; 4. Oakland Tech 80; 5. Palos Verde 88

Individual results: 1. Hill, Etiwanda, 18:18; 2. Kirsch, Valencia/Valencia, 18:23; 3. Woodward, Vacaville, 18:29; 4. Paylow, Los Gatos, 18:32; 3. Ross, Oakland Tech, 18:34; 4. Garrett, Oakland Tech, 18:35; 5. Sanchez, Santee, 18:36

Division 2 Varsity

Team results: 1. Westlake 39; 2. Arroyo 45; 3. Scripps Ranch 49; 4. Eastlake 54; 5. Simi Valley 64

Individual results: 1. Barajas, Simi Valley, 18:21; 2. Avila, Hart, 18:32; 3. Haefele, Villa Park, 18:47; 4. Yoshioka, Hart, 18:51; 5. Benavides, Redlands, 19:00

Friday’s Results

Division 3 Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. La Costa Canyon 60; 2. Moorpark 84; 3. Esperanza 91; 4. Cathedral Catholic 106; 5. Royal 113

Individual results: 1. Fahy, La Costa Canyon, 17:35; 2. Brown, La Costa Canyon, 18:00; 3. Powers, Corona del mar, 18:11; 4. Dholakia, Esperanza, 18:13; 5. Mackellar,

Esperanza, 18:18

Division 3 Varsity

Team results: 1. Park 48; 2. Yorba Linda 53; 3. Rio Americano 54; 4. Santana 54; 5. Tamalpais 62

Individual results: 1. Hartke, Oakmont, 18:37; 2. Gibson, Ramona, 18:42; 3. Vincent, El Dorado, 18:48; 4. Ronquillo, South Bakersfield, 18:59; 5. Hagerman, Merced, 19:06

Division 4 Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. JSerra 68; 2. Coronado 75; 3. Tahoe Truckee 78; 4. Miramonte 120; 5. McFarland 132

Individual results: 1. Haskell, Miramonte, 17:44; 2. Ruelas, Bishop Amat, 18:24; 3. Salcedo McFarland, 18:32; 4. McAllister, Marymount, 18:33; 5. Phillips, Coronado, 18:37

Division 4 Varsity

Team results: 1. Immaculate 52; 2. St. Lucy;s 56; 3. Piedmont 63; 4. Covina 82; 5. Sage Creek 93

Individual results: 1. Santiago, High Tech, 18:46; 2. Wallace, Sage Creek, 18:51; 3. Moro, Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks; 4. Crosson, Harvard Westlake, 19:04; 5. Gracian, Covina, 19:09

Division 5 Sweepstakes

Team results: 1. Flintridge Prep 45; 2. Francis Parker 85; 3. Pacifica Christian 124; 4. St. Joseph 130; 5. Sage Hill 173

Individual results: 1. Marshall, St. Joseph, 17:53; 2. Trossen, Francis Parker, 18:19; 3. Gitlin, Flintridge Prep, 18:37; 4. Perez, St. Joseph, 18:39; 5. Codiga, Flintridge Prep, 18:49

Division 5 Varsity

Team results: 1. Nueva 45; 2. North Tahoe 47; 3. Convent/Sacred 58; 4. Valley Christian 58; 5. Liberty Madera 67

Individual results: 1. Ledesma, Valley Christian, 20;10; 2. Love, Nueva, 20:21; 2. Moniz, Julian, 21:35; 3. Cheung, Pacific Ridge, 20:36; 4. Kay, Windward, 21:42; 5. Beuler, Linfield Christian, 21:52