Laguna rolls dice ? gamble pays off

After running in three invitationals to start the 2006 season, the Laguna Beach High cross-country program had its first dual meet of the year Wednesday when it hosted Estancia.

The meet not only was Laguna’s first head-to-head competition against a single opponent, it also marked the school’s initial foray into Orange Coast League competition.

In their league debut, Breakers boys’ coach Dave Brobeck rolled the dice, but his gamble paid off: Laguna toppled the Eagles, 23-33, at Alta Laguna Park.

Senior Andrew Raub took first-place honors with a time of 16:58. Junior Yann Panassie finished third (17:16). Also earning top 10 finishes were freshman Richard Mattingley (17:24) who was in fourth-place, sophomore Casey Finnerty (18:01) was seventh and freshmen Blake Hofmeister (18:14) and Reed Thompson (18:29) finished in eighth- and 10th-place, respectively.

Sophomore Rand Hardy (18:53) was in 13th-place.

“This was a big win for us because I really gambled,” Brobeck said. “I chose to sit Jeremy Eaton, our No. 1 runner, Peter Hastings and Michael Brown — three of our normal top five runners — and give my three top freshmen a shot at varsity competition.

“These three frosh rose to the occasion and were instrumental in securing this important league win. Andrew cruised easily to a comfortable individual win. This team win should intensively secure our seating as the Orange Coast League team champion. It’s a great feeling to win this race while saving three upperclassmen for another day.”

In girls’ cross-country, Laguna’s Alex Crawley cruised to an easy victory in 20-minutes flat, but the Breakers fell to the Eagles, 20-40, at Alta Laguna Park.

Melissa Lenker (22:34) placed seventh and Kativa Strickland (23:23) ninth, to give Laguna two more top 10 placements.

“Our varsity right now is not in very good shape,” Laguna girls’ coach Earl Towner said. “With injuries and illness, five of the top seven sat out.”