Sunset Conference runners show strength at Orange County Championships
In a chance to show where they stand, Sunset Conference cross-country teams fared quite well in the Orange County Championships at Oak Canyon Park.
Across the two-day event, local runners found themselves at or near the top of the leaderboard, with the area claiming two of the six varsity races.
Corona del Mar High’s Melisse Djomby-Enyawe got it started Friday, winning the girls’ small schools race by a full minute with a time of 17 minutes, 24.6 seconds.
Bea Douglass (fifth, 18:43.9), Ellie Rosing (seventh, 18:59.9), Mimi Mikulka (ninth, 19:10.1) and Alex Law (35th, 20:13.1) also contributed to the team victory for CdM, which held off Laguna Beach by a score of 44-69.
The runner-up performance for the Breakers was led by Yolo Javier (eighth, 19:09.2), a first-year cross-country runner as a junior, and Sydney Sydney (11th, 19:14.8).
Corona del Mar placed third in the boys’ small schools race, paced by fast-emerging freshman Kevin Steinman (second, 15:29.9). He already had grade-level race wins at the Laguna Hills Invitational and the Sunny Hills Wayne Walker Invitational this season.
When the races resumed Saturday, teams arrived at a course with ideal running conditions. The cool temperatures, combined with course changes that cut out the hills, allowed the competitors to chase fast times.
Marina’s Ella Murray (17:54.6) joined the local victors in the girls’ medium schools race, breaking 18 minutes for the first time in her career.
“It definitely was a big thing to break 18 [minutes] for the first time,” Murray said. “My coach always tells me if I make a move, I have to stick with it, so I think halfway, I decided to commit to a move and just make sure to stay in front, so that really just pushed me through.”
The Vikings placed third in the race, followed by Newport Harbor in fourth. Keaton Robar (second, 18:01.8) and Marley McCullough (third, 18:13.2) paced the Sailors.
Newport Harbor’s Kenny Wanlass continued to shine in his senior season, finishing ninth with a time of 14:49.2 in the boys’ sweepstakes race.
Huntington Beach placed 10th as a team, two spots and 20 points clear of Newport Harbor. Jacob McQuirk (19th, 15:12.9) led the Oilers.
In the girls’ sweepstakes, Huntington Beach placed fifth. The Oilers, ranked No. 5 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 poll, were led by Makenzie McRae (fourth, 17:09.0). The junior was coming off a new lifetime-best on a 5K-course, having run 17:57.0 in the Clovis Invitational on Oct. 8.
“We didn’t have our No. 2 runner today, so I think we just kind of worked with the girls that we had,” McRae said. “[We tried] to close the gap with the team and make the pack bigger. We finished fifth overall, which I think is pretty good.”
Edison’s Wylie Cleugh (second, 15:18.5) was just a couple ticks behind University’s Ansh Parashar. Although the win evaded Cleugh, who has four top-10 finishes in five three-mile races this year, he was in good spirits. Cleugh notched a new personal record, bettering his Woodbridge Classic performance by 14 seconds.
Cleugh and Wanlass shared a conversation with friends after their races, and they even went on their cool-down run together.
“It’s such an individual sport, and at the end of the day, I think what’s really fun about cross-country is you can look at the guy next to you and know that they went through the same stuff that you did,” Cleugh said. “We’re all just out here pushing each other, having a good time, and we’re only here to make each other better. I really like that about cross-country.”
BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Orange County Championships
At Oak Canyon Park
3-mile course
Sweepstakes Race
Team Results
1. San Clemente 34; 2. Trabuco Hills 99; 3. Tesoro 136; 4. El Toro 138; 5. Dana Hills 160; 6. Woodbridge 216; 7. El Dorado 236; 8. Godinez 238; 9. Santa Ana 254; 10. Huntington Beach 269; 12. Newport Harbor 289
Individuals
1. Chantaca (San Clemente) 14:26.4; 2. Noonan (Dana Hills) 14:26.8; 3. Ephraim (San Clemente) 14:28.4; 4. Catsimanes (San Clemente) 14:29.7; 5. Hartline (El Toro) 14:31.1; 6. Hernandez (Godinez) 14:31.7; 7. Williams (Trabuco Hills) 14:33.9; 8. Dominguez (Santa Ana) 14:35.4; 9. Wanlass (Newport Harbor) 14:49.2; 10. McDaniel (Mission Viejo) 14:51.6
Medium Schools
Team Results
1. University 63; 2. Portola 69; 3. JSerra 87; 4. El Modena 118; 5. Edison 122; 6. Orange Lutheran 150; 7. Northwood 165; 8. Marina 195; 9. Sunny Hills 207; 10. La Quinta 235
Individuals
1. Parashar (University) 15:16.1; 2. Cleugh (Edison) 15:18.5; 3. Rodriguez (Cypress) 15:28.9; 4. Arrey (JSerra) 15:30.5; 5. Morales (JSerra) 15:31.0; 6. Nguyen (Tustin) 15:31.9; 7. Chan (Portola) 15:35.5; 8. O’Donnell (Orange Lutheran) 15:45.7; 9. Calabrese (Mater Dei) 15:47.8; 10. Friedl (JSerra) 15:54.5
Small Schools
Team Results
1. Brea Olinda 52; 2. Mission Viejo 118; 3. Corona del Mar 133; 4. Fullerton 134; 5. Pacifica 139; 6. Santiago 178; 7. Sonora 185; 8. Ocean View 185; 9. Crean Lutheran 199; 10. Bolsa Grande 215; 12. Pacifica Christian 299; 16. Estancia 494
Individuals
1. Galindo (Savanna) 15:08.0; 2. Steinman (Corona del Mar) 15:29.9; 3. Garcia (Brea Olinda) 15:44.2; 4. Glick (Mission Viejo) 15:48.3; 5. Rivas (Crean Lutheran) 15:51.4; 6. Arizmendi-Suarez (Saddleback) 15:59.4; 7. Mayo (Brea Olinda) 16:02.1; 8. Aquino (Esperanza) 16:05.0; 9. Spangler (Rancho Alamitos) 16:06.8; 10. Castillo (Laguna Hills) 16:08.1
GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Orange County Championships
At Oak Canyon Park
3-mile course
Sweepstakes Race
Team Results
1. JSerra 34; 2. Trabuco Hills 85; 3. Dana Hills 113; 4. El Toro 135; 5. Huntington Beach 160; 6. Canyon 162; 7. San Clemente 163; 8. Santa Ana 201; 9. Tesoro 215; 10. Woodbridge 235
Individuals
1. Barker (Laguna Hills) 16:51.6; 2. Wilson (JSerra) 17:01.5; 3. Garcia (JSerra) 17:03.6; 4. McRae (Huntington Beach) 17:09.0; 5. Markow (Dana Hills) 17:18.2; 6. Brinkman (Trabuco Hills) 17:23.0; 7. Tasser (JSerra) 17:28.9; 8. Zdanavage (Portola) 17:31.4; 9. Danaher (El Toro) 17:40.8; 10. Lopez (Santa Ana) 17:41.2
Medium Schools
Team Results
1. Portola 99; 2. Orange Lutheran 112; 3. Marina 129; 4. Newport Harbor 131; 5. Capistrano Valley 132; 6. Foothill 141; 7. Northwood 142; 8. JSerra 153; 9. University 206; 10. El Dorado 209
Individuals
1. Murray (Marina) 17:54.6; 2. Robar (Newport Harbor) 18:01.8; 3. McCullough (Newport Harbor) 18:13.2; 4. Grahn (Capistrano Valley) 18:19.1; 5. Guilfoile (Portola) 18:22.1; 6. Diaz (Santa Ana Valley) 18:32.7; 7. Laygo (Northwood) 18:33.7; 8. Kargenian (Orange Lutheran) 18:34.1; 9. Scheumann (Newport Harbor) 18:41.1; 10. Bailey (Portola) 19:01.3
Small Schools
Team Results
1. Corona del Mar 44; 2. Laguna Beach 69; 3. Brea Olinda 72; 4. Mission Viejo 129; 5. Irvine 142; 6. Pacifica 143; 7. Buena Park 167; 8. Fullerton 217; 9. Bolsa Grande 241; 10. Ocean View 253
Individuals
1. Djomby-Enyawe (Corona del Mar) 17:24.6; 2. McAndrew (Fullerton) 18:25.2; 3. Boyer (Esperanza) 18:32.1; 4. Lane (Esperanza) 18:43.2; 5. Douglass (Corona del Mar) 18:43.9; 6. Kanitkar (Irvine) 18:51.4; 7. Rosing (Corona del Mar) 18:59.9; 8. Javier (Laguna Beach) 19:09.2; 9. Mikulka (Corona del Mar) 19:10.1; 10. Mia (Brea Olinda) 19:12.5
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