PREP CROSS-COUNTRY ROUNDUP : Corona del Mar, Newport Harbor Win Titles

Kelly Roda of Irvine had a straight-forward strategy at the Sea View League cross-country championships Thursday afternoon at Woodbridge High.

Roda decided to go out fast and hang on. She did, winning the girls’ race in a quick 17 minutes 40 seconds over a mostly flat three-mile course, which was substituted for an Irvine Park course because of wind damage and fallen trees. Corona del Mar’s Tracy Clark was second in 17:55, and Tustin’s Liza Alexander was third in 17:59.

Alexander closely trailed Roda until the two-mile point, when Roda opened a 10-yard lead. Roda, a senior, wasn’t sure who was behind her.

“I didn’t know who she was,” said Roda, a senior. “My main focus was to beat Tracy Clark, but I was glad Alexander was there pushing me.”

Clark, who wasn’t in the lead pack at the start, eventually made her way to the front, but the move was too late. Although Roda took first and teammate Jennifer Gillis was fourth (18:18), Corona del Mar won the league title by packing its five scorers among the first 10. The Sea Kings, top-ranked in State Division III, had 30 points.

Irvine was second (40) and Newport Harbor was third (88). The top three teams, plus any individual in the top six but not on a top-three team, qualified for the Southern Section preliminaries Nov. 14 at Mt. San Antonio College.

“It was a very amazing race to me,” said Corona del Mar Coach Bill Sumner. “I told my girls that Alexander and the whole Irvine team would take off hard, but I never thought that hard. They took off and were gone.”

Newport Harbor, top-ranked in State Division III, won the boys’ title in a fashion similar to that of the Corona del Mar girls, placing fourth, sixth, seventh, 12th and 13th for 42 points. Saddleback was second with 55 and Corona del Mar had 84. University’s Nathan Elston, who won in 15:19, and Santa Margarita’s Ryan Wilkinson and Matt Huss, who were second and third, also advanced.