County Teams Hit the Ground Running

Division II is considered the deepest and most competitive in Southern Section girls’ cross-country. At the section preliminaries Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College, a group of local teams showed they’re a big reason why.

Nine of the 16 teams that qualified for next weekend’s finals came from Orange County, including defending section and state champions Woodbridge and Foothill.

Woodbridge, which won its titles in Division I last season, defeated Foothill by 14 points in one of four preliminary heats, posting the third-fastest team time overall.

The Warriors were paced by sophomore Kristen Berglas, who won her heat on the 2.93-mile course in 18 minutes 45.7 seconds. Jessica Kanin finished fifth for Woodbridge in 19:03.2 and Meghan Bellotti was sixth in 19:08.3.

“We were aiming for first,” Bellotti said. “We knew we would have competition from Foothill, so we just wanted to do our best.”

Foothill, the defending Division II champion, ran without injured junior Laura Strachan, a first-team all-county selection last season who was the Knights’ top runner. Strachan is still feeling the effects of a broken bone in her lower back, especially when running downhill, so Foothill Coach Jeff Farr decided to hold her out until Saturday’s finals, which will be run on the same course.

“It won’t be a true test until Laura gets back next week,” said Foothill junior Emily Haigh, who finished fourth in 18:59.0.

Newport Harbor edged Brea Olinda by two points to win another Division II heat. Amber Steen, the defending Division II champion, finished first for the Sailors in 18:05.8, the second-fastest time in the division behind Agoura’s Laura Jakosky, who was runner-up to Steen last season.

Laguna Hills was the biggest surprise among county teams in Division II, finishing second to Canyon Country Canyon and just ahead of Santa Margarita. Also advancing in the division were Mater Dei, El Modena and Trabuco Hills. Individuals advancing were freshman twins Claire and Stacy Kim of Sunny Hills and Cypress senior Michelle Icban.

Five teams qualified in Division I, led by heat winner Fountain Valley. The Barons were paced by junior Julie Allen, the 1999 Times’ Orange County runner of the year, who won her heat in 17:29.7. Allen’s time was a personal best on the course by 11 seconds.

“I had a plan this time,” Allen said. “I wanted to stay patient. I wasn’t just going out and running.”

Esperanza qualified in the same heat, led by a second-place finish by sophomore Alison Costello, and University qualified third. Dana Hills had four runners in the top 10 and easily won its Division I heat. Mission Viejo also advanced.

Individual qualifiers in Division I were Marina’s Vanessa Kelly, Capistrano Valley’s Britney Webster, Saddleback’s Claudia Ochoa and Edison’s Maryann Pynchon.

County teams won all three heats in Division IV, led by Corona del Mar, the division’s top-ranked team in the section and state polls. Northwood and Orange Lutheran also won their heats.

Rosary won its heat in Division III.