Eagles’ Murray Making Deposits in Coach’s Memory Bank

Dave Zeitler remembers school records as if they were relatives’ birthdays. The Santa Margarita boys’ cross-country coach can recite the top five individual times on any running course the Eagles annually race, when they were recorded and by whom.

Who was Santa Margarita’s fifth runner on its 1993 Southern Section championship team? Zeitler could probably enumerate his mile splits from that morning.

“I’m a statistical kind of guy,” said Zeitler, in his 11th year with the Eagles. “I know what guys have done on different courses and I want my runners to know. You can use that as motivation.”

Zeitler has had to reshuffle his memory bank recently to include Steven Murray, who has emerged as the county’s top junior runner this season and one of the top five overall.

Murray’s latest feat came in a Serra League meet against Servite last Thursday when he finished Santa Margarita’s three-mile home course in 15 minutes 43 seconds, breaking the course record by 11 seconds. The previous record was shared by Mark Gleason of Mission Viejo High, The Times Orange County runner of the year in 1997, and Steven Murray’s brother, Michael, a three-time all-county selection for Santa Margarita from 1994 to 1996.

“It’s exciting to watch him,” said Michael Murray, a junior at UC Irvine who runs on the Anteaters’ cross-country team. “When you set a record you know it’s not going to stand forever, but it’s nice that it was broken by a Murray.”

Steven Murray will try to add an individual and team title to his accomplishments at today’s Serra League finals at Central Park in Huntington Beach. He was fifth a year ago in the Sea View League finals, but as he has in every other event this season, Murray should improve on that finish.

Murray began the season by finishing first in the Division II junior races at the Laguna Hills Invitational (16:09) and the Woodbridge Invitational (15:24). He then won the small-school division race (15:28) at the Bellflower St. John Bosco Invitational at La Mirada Park, helping the Eagles win the team title.

“I set some goals for myself and the team and it has come out good so far,” Murray said. “I’m hoping for me and the team to win at league finals and go on to CIF and state.”

Murray’s best time on the grueling Mt. San Antonio College course last season was 16 minutes 6 seconds, when he finished 15th in the Southern Section Division II race. But two weeks ago at the Mt. SAC Invitational, he ran 15:36 and placed eighth in the individual sweepstakes races. His time was the second-best among county runners behind Edison’s Scott Brandos (15:29).

Murray ran 15:54 at the Orange County Championships last season, but won the Division II race last month in 15:20, which was the third-best time overall behind Esperanza’s Ryan Bousquet (15:06) and Villa Park’s Augie Escobar (15:18).

“When Steven showed up two seconds behind Augie, it really motivated him,” Zeitler said. “It showed that he was good enough to run with the top guys. Ever since then, he has been riding a wave.”

Murray and his teammates have caught the attention of the state pollsters, who currently rank the Eagles ninth in Division II. Many believe the best is yet to come for Santa Margarita, which has no seniors among its top 10 runners.

“We’re looking pretty strong down the road,” Zeitler said.

OTHER LEAGUE FINALS

The five teams in the Sea View League will get together for the third time this season at the league finals today at Irvine Regional Park. In order to cut down on the number of races during the season, the league voted to run two regular-season league meets with all five teams involved, followed by the league final.

The Newport Harbor boys’ and Woodbridge girls’ teams are each 8-0 and are league title favorites. Newport Harbor junior Amber Steen was the girls’ winner at the five-way meets, which were held at Irvine Regional Park and Woodbridge, and is the favorite today.

The individual boys’ competition is less predictable. Martin Rocha of Laguna Hills finished 12 seconds ahead of Aliso Niguel’s Jesse Armijo in the first meet at Irvine Regional Park four weeks ago, but Armijo came back to win by 21 seconds at Woodbridge last Friday.

Other league finals today include the Empire League at Irvine Regional Park, the Freeway League at Clark Park and the Garden Grove League at Mile Square.

The Pacific Coast and South Coast leagues will run their finals Friday. The Pacific Coast League finals will be held at Irvine Regional Park and the South Coast League finals at Laguna Niguel Regional Park.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Cross-Country Polls

Southern Section Coaches’ Poll

BOYS

Division I--Chino Don Lugo, 2. Katella, 3. Long Beach Poly, 4. Rialto, 5. Santa Ana Valley, 6. Mission Viejo, 7. Canyon Country Canyon, 8. Dana Hills, 9. Edison, 10. Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Division II--1. Villa Park, 2. Santiago, 3. Newport Harbor, 4. Santa Margarita, 5. Agoura, 6. Lake Arrowhead Rim of the Wold, 7. Lake Elsinore Temescal Canyon, 8. Pacifica, 9. Newbury Park, 10. Valencia.

Division III--1. Covina South Hills, 2. Rosemead Don Bosco, 3. La Canada, 4. Ridgecrest Burroughs, 5. San Luis Obispo, 6. La Puente, 7. La Puente Bassett, 8. Lompoc, 9. South Pasadena, 10. Mission Hills Alemany.

Division IV--1. Agoura Oak Park, 2. Ojai Nordhoff, 3. Corona del Mar, 4. Estancia, 5. La Canada St. Francis, 6. Fillmore, 7. Los Angeles Salesian, 8. Yucca Valley, 9. Laguna Beach, 10. Orange Lutheran.

Division V--1. La Canada Flintridge Prep, 2. Lancaster Desert Christian, 3. Downey Calvary Chapel, 4. Riverside Woodcrest Christian, 5. Sierra Madre Maranatha, 6. L.A. Baptist, 7. Pasadena Poly, 8. Claremont Webb, 9. St. Margaret’s, 10. Chino Hills Boys’ Republic.

GIRLS

Division I--1. Palos Verdes Peninsula, 2. Woodbridge, 3. Hesperia Sultana, 4. Yucaipa, 5. Esperanza, 6. Rialto, 7. Redlands East Valley, 8. Thousand Oaks, 9. Capistrano Valley, 10. Los Alamitos.

Division II--1. Foothill; 2. Santa Margarita, 3. Newport Harbor, 4. Brea Olinda, 5. Westlake Village Westlake, 6. Agoura, 7. Pacifica, 8. Tustin, 9. El Modena, 10. Barstow.

Division III--1. La Canada, 2. Covina South Hills, 3. San Luis Obispo, 4. Lompoc, 5. Rosary, 6. La Puente Bishop Amat, 7. La Verne Bonita, 8. South Pasadena, 9. L.A. Southwest, 10. Rancho Alamitos.

Division IV--1. Corona del Mar, 2. Ojai Nordhoff, 3. Woodland Hills Louisville, 4. Morro Bay, 5. La Canada Flintridge Sacred Heart, 6. Pasadena La Salle, 7. Orange Lutheran, 8. Lancaster Paraclete, 9. Estancia, 10. Fillmore.

Division V--1. Palos Verdes Chadwick, 2. Lancaster Desert Christian, 3. Northwood, 4. Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian, 5. Sierra Madre Maranatha, 6. La Canada Flintridge Prep, 7. Pasadena Poly 8. Ojai Thacher, 9. Ontario Christian, 10. Whittier Christian.