Trabuco Hills girls capture title at South Coast Finals

ORANGE - The Trabuco Hills and San Clemente girls cross country teams have engaged in a season-long battle of thrilling finishes and slim victories.

With the South Coast League title hanging in the balance, the two teams added another dramatic encounter to their resumes.

Top-ranked Trabuco Hills edged San Clemente by single point to win the South Coast League title Thursday at Irvine Regional Park.

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OCVarsity Hot Shots from the South Coast Finals

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“Winning a championship in the South Coast League is extremely gratifying and rewarding to us,” said Mustangs coach Dennis Kelly. “This was an important race for us and I’m proud of how the girls executed the race plan and beat a quality program (San Clemente)."

The Mustangs lost to the Tritons by a single point in the league cluster meet earlier this season before edging the Tritons by two points to win the sweepstakes team title at the Orange County Championships.

The two teams were deadlocked with 27 points apiece after their first four runners crossed the finish line. In a battle of each team’s fifth and final scoring runners, Trabuco Hills sophomore Rachel Wilson (18:02.6) edged out San Clemente senior Sierra Wallen (18:06.6).

With that finish, the Mustangs ended with 43 points, with San Clemente placing second with 44 points.

Dana Hills claimed the final automatic CIF-SS Division 1 qualifying spot, placing third with 51 points.

“The last mile really challenged everyone to see who wanted it most and we showed that we really wanted the win,” said Mustangs senior Cassandra Smith, who led the team with a second place finish.

San Clemente senior Melissa Eisele successfully defended her individual title by following the same race plan from a season ago, as she forged a small lead in the second mile and extending it throughout the latter portion of the race to win in a time of 16:55.5.

“I knew that I wanted to do the same thing that I did last year because it worked,” said Eisele. “We have such a competitive league and doing well is such a great accomplishment.”

Qualifying as an individual for CIF was Aliso Niguel senior Danica Wyson, who was fourth in the race with a time of 17:24.9.