Nordhoff Leaving the Field Dusty

WALNUT —  Dusty Herman and Victor Ochoa of Nordhoff High should be one well-rested duo when the Southern Section cross-country championships are held at Mt. San Antonio College on Nov. 22.

Ranger Coach Ken Reeves saw to that by holding Ochoa out of the section preliminaries at Mt. SAC on Saturday, nine days after he kept Herman out of the Frontier League finals.

“[Reeves] came to me, we talked about it and I said, ‘Yeah. Sure,’ ” Herman said of sitting out the league meet. “I think it’ll help.”

The race off appeared to benefit Herman on Saturday as he clocked a winning 15:40 over the three-mile rain course at Mt. SAC to lead defending section Division IV champion Nordhoff to a 29-54 victory over second-place Notre Dame in its heat.

The rain course, which winds through roads on the Mt. SAC campus before finishing on the track, was used because rains earlier in the week left the hilly dirt course unsafe for competition, according to meet organizers.

Nordhoff placed five runners among the top 10 finishers in posting its victory. The cumulative time of those five was 80:39, the fastest Division IV team time of the day.

“I just ran to win,” said Herman, a senior. “I wasn’t even pushing it that hard and I still won by about 20 seconds.”

Nordhoff’s other scoring runners were senior Mathew Torres in fourth at 16:01, sophomore Aiden Short in seventh at 16:16, junior Chris Proudman in eighth at 16:19 and senior Kent Krumpschmidt in 10th at 16:23.

Junior Kevin Lelles placed second in 15:57 for Notre Dame.

The top four teams in each of three heats and the fifth-place team with the fastest team time advanced to the section divisional championships. Individuals among the top 10 finishers in their heat, but not on a qualifying team also qualified.

Herman was one of six individuals from the region who won heats Saturday and the Nordhoff boys were one of eight local teams to place first.

The girls’ teams from Quartz Hill, La Canada and Nordhoff each posted victories in their heats, as did the Saugus boys.

Quartz Hill edged Chino Hills Ayala, 50-53, in a Division I heat.

Senior Danielle Day finished third in 18:35 and freshman Shell Blevins placed fifth in 18:45 for the Rebels.

Junior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon placed second in 18:18 in that heat, but she slowed drastically in the final 600 yards because of a recurring cramp that caused her to drop out of two races earlier this season.

La Canada, paced by the 1-3-4 finish of junior Kim Garnic, sophomore Christina Ellis and freshman Nicole Bonino, defeated second-place Lompoc, 36-63, in a Division III heat.

Garnic clocked 18:33 with Ellis and Bonino each at 18:52.

Nordhoff got a 1-2 finish from senior Elaine Canchola and sophomore Rae Stumbough to defeat runner-up Santa Maria St. Joseph, 24-48, in a Division IV heat.

Canchola, who is shooting for her fourth consecutive section title, ran 18:03 with Stumbough at 19:01 for the defending state Division IV champions.

Saugus, which won its first Foothill League boys’ title since 1985 last week, edged Katella, 73-76, in a Division II heat.

Junior Danny Klawer finished sixth in 15:37 for the Centurions, who had a team time of 79:39.