San Clemente takes triumphant step at state meet

FRESNO - For the second week in a row, the ability to run cohesively and strategically helped the San Clemente girls cross country team ascend to a historic level of accomplishment.

The Tritons had all five runners score in the top 30 en route to winning the program’s first  Division 1 state title at the CIF State Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Woodward Park.

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OCVarsity Hot Shots: State cross country championships

Girls results: CIF State cross country championships

Trabuco Hills, St. Margaret's win state titles

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“The last couple of years we’ve come here and were happy just to get on the podium,” said Tritons coach Dave Proodian. “We were consistent from one race to the next this season, and peaked at the state championship meet which is a testament to just how hard the girls worked.”

San Clemente, which won its first CIF-Southern Section Division 1 title last weekend, followed a similar race path to the top of the state podium. Running tightly as a pack in the early portion of the race, the Tritons built a 35-point advantage the first mile and managed to hold off a late challenge from Vista Murrieta to win with 87 points.

Sophomore Melissa Eisele led the Tritons, crossing the finish line in 13th place with a time of 18:20. The Tritons (the only school in Division 1 to have three girls score in the top 20), also got a big boost from junior Elizabeth Hays. Competing in a varsity race for the first time all season, Hays was the team’s all-important fifth scoring runner.

“This is a dream come true for us,” said Tritons co-coach Mike Dunne. “We set our goals high and did the things we needed to do to achieve them.”

Vista Murrieta (105 points) finished second, with Marina (138 points) coming in third.

The Vikings were led by senior Laura Hollander, who was second in the Division 1 race with a time of 17:32. Her time was the best among all county runners in all five divisions.

“I didn’t have a good race last weekend at CIF-SS Finals and today I just tried to stay more relaxed,” said Hollander. “I told myself that I had to stay up at the front and battle.”

Dana Hills (187 points) had the smallest team time gap among all teams in Division 1 (0:32) and finished fifth.

In the Division 4 final, the JSerra girls cross country team also used a tight pack to successfully defend its state title. The Lions had the smallest scoring gap in the division (0:39) and had four runners score in the top 30 to outlast second place San Lorenzo Valley 102-116.

“These girls wanted this so much,” said Lions coach Marty Dugard.  “Just before the race, I reminded them to run their race with authority and they got the job done.”

JSerra, which has now finished no lower than second place in Division 4 over the last three seasons, was led by freshmen Brooke Kunzelman (19:00) and Ashley Geisler (19:01).

“I am happy to come in this season and contribute to my team,” said Kunzelman. “Even though we lost Kat Delaney, we trained hard all summer and knew that we could still be strong.”

Laguna Beach (223 points) was sixth, led by senior Natasha Strickland (18:56). The best individual county runner in the division was Whittier Christian senior Kellian Hunt (17:58), who finished fourth and has now placed in the top six at the state meet in each of the last three seasons.

“It was my goal this year to stick with the lead pack and to keep pushing,” said Hunt. “To see my times improve each year shows me that I’m progressing well.”

Woodbridge senior Molly Babcock (17:45) produced the county’s second best individual time of the meet to finish a county-best fourth in Division 2.

“I was happy with how I did today,” said Babcock. “I couldn’t ask for anything more from myself and my team this season.”

After jockeying with the leaders in the early stages of the race, Newport Harbor junior Paige Tennison closed her standout season in sixth place with a time of 17:49.

“I accomplished a lot this season and I’m excited and can’t wait until next year when I’m more experienced,” said Tennison.

In the team competition, Woodbridge (116) finished a county-best fifth while Tesoro (213 points) was sixth.

Santa Margarita (215 points) completed a strong season by placing a county best sixth in the Division 3 race.  The Eagles were led by senior Sarah Porter (18:35), who had the top time by a county runner in the division.

Corona del Mar (239 points) was eighth, while Northwood (309 points) was 14th.