PREP ROUNDUP : El Modena, Orange Win Cross-Country Titles

The El Modena girls’ cross-country team, which features four freshmen, won the Century League finals Saturday at Yorba Linda Regional Park.

In the boys’ race, Orange, the county’s top-ranked team, won its second consecutive title.

The Vanguard girls, who finished 5-0 in the regular season, were led by senior Tara Whitfield, who was second, and freshman Jessica Dahlberg, who was third. Both finished in 17 minutes 56 seconds.

El Modena finished with 28 points. Foothill (54) was second and Santa Ana Valley (63) was third.

El Modena, ranked seventh in the county, competed in several meets early this season, including an invitational in New York. The experience paid off.

Senior Elly Estrada of Santa Ana Valley ran away with the individual championship in a meet-record 17:30, bettering the mark of 17:32 by Canyon’s Kim Nelson.

“I was trying to decide to go or not at (the halfway point),” Estrada said. “It was tough by myself. Coach (George) Payan says I’m a leader and if I’m going to win, I have to go out and lead the whole race.”

At the halfway point, El Modena looked to have control with runners in the Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 spots.

“Our plan was to have four in the top six,” said El Modena Coach Tom Weber.

The boys’ meet was decided by experience and the advice of Coach Ed Cantu, who told his runners to be “patient” and that “you don’t win a meet in the first mile.”

The Panthers seemed to trail throughout the race and appeared as if they would finish in third with a little over half a mile to go. But Orange made up at least 11 places between three runners before the finish line to win with 35 points. Santa Ana Valley (49) was second and El Modena (55) third.

The Panthers were led by league champion Glen Busch. Busch, a senior, ran a personal best of 14:58.

The top three teams in both boys and girls advance to the Southern Section Preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College on Nov. 12. Teams not finishing among the top three have the opportunity to be accepted as a wildcard, since cross-country playoffs are run on an enrollment basis.

In the Golden West League:

The Santa Ana Saints easily defeated Saddleback, 37-63, for their fourth consecutive league title and sixth in the last seven years. The Saints come into the newly found league from the Sunset League and were led by Danny Revero and Wencelslado Morales, finishing third and fourth respectively.

Taryn Lawson and Kenna Masuda ran to a one-two finish to lead Ocean View to the league championship, narrowly edging Saddleback, 41-44. Lawson and Masuda ran 19:02 and 19:14 as Gaby Martinez of Saddleback placed third in 19:16.

Ocean View senior Eric Wersching used his track speed to come from behind and win the boys’ league title and advance to the section preliminaries. Morales led up to the two-mile mark when Omar Cordero of Saddleback and Wersching passed him. With about 200 yards to go, Wersching started into a full kick and passed Cordero, winning in 15:36 over the hilly three-mile course at Central Park in Huntington Beach.

The top three teams, along with the top three individuals, qualify for the section preliminaries.

Other individuals to qualify were Lisa Ritter of Westminster, Wersching and and Servite’s OC Frank.