Sports

Sports Shorts: Trabuco Hills Shines at Seaside Invitational

Mustangs' cross-country teams run wild; results in from Laguna Hills Invitational; Stanton receives kudos; Eagles' volleyball team bounces back, and Stokes looks to make a difference.

Trabuco Hills’ boys cross-country team finished tied for first with Palos Verdes and the Mustangs’ girls team finished runner-up to Saugus in the Seaside Invitational Friday afternoon at San Buena Ventura Park in Ventura.

Palos Verdes, No. 1 in the , has won four state titles and is a favorite for another this season. The Sea Kings turned in a team time of 76:04, which Trabuco Hills (No. 3 in Division 1) matched exactly. Jonah Diaz finished first for Palos Verdes in 14:28, followed by Trabuco Hills’ Nick Plumb (14:38), Knight’s Bryan Guijarro (14:58), Palos Verdes’ Justin Unno (14:59) and Trabuco Hills’ Jared Hazlett (15:02.80).

Trabuco Hills' Naoki Omatsu, who placed second in the sophomore class race last year, won the junior class race Friday in 15:08, nearly a minute faster than his winning time in 2010.

The Saugus girls team (No. 1 in Division 2), which has won the last five state division championships, recorded the third-fastest team time in the meet’s 22-year history, easily outdistancing runner-up Trabuco Hills (No. 7 in Division 1) and Palos Verdes (No. 1 in Division 3).

Karis Frankian of Saugus won the senior-class race in 17 minutes 6 seconds, 36 seconds ahead of runner-up Rebecca Mehra of Palos Verdes.
 
As pointed out by Rich Gonzalez, editor of DyeStatCa./ESPNHS and producer of the Southern Section cross-country rankings, Saugus dominated the event, but its biggest challengers were from Divisions 1 and 3. Top Division 2 schools, including Woodbridge and Tesoro, did not send teams.

Three of Trabuco Hills' five fastest runners competed in the sophomore-class race:  Dominique Regalado (third in 18:35), Kathryn Bishop (fifth in 18:46) and Rachel Wilson (ninth in 18:56).

Photos of the competition can be found here.

Laguna Hills Cross-Country Invitational

Patch couldn't get to Laguna Hills High on Saturday for the area's first cross-country meet of the season, and didn't feel like typing in all of the results, so go ahead and click on this ESPNHS/DyeStat link to see them.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Locally, Tesoro competed in Division 2 and won the boys sophomore and junior girls races, finished third in the girls sophomore race, and fourth in the boys junior and girls freshman races. Kyler Fisk won the boys senior race in 15:05.98.

Santa Margarita's girls competed in Division 3 and finished third in the senior race, third in led by Sarah Porter's second-place finish (18:32.21), second in the junior race and fourth in the sophomore.

Find out what's happening in Rancho Santa Margaritawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

(Aside: I once asked a librarian friend of mine if people expected her to have all the answers. She said no, but added that she knew where to find them.)

What's next? The 31st annual Cross-Country Classic, co-hosted by Woodbridge, Estancia and Costa Mesa highs, begins Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. at Estancia High in Costa Mesa.

Stanton Steps Up in Big Game

Quarterback Johnny Stanton, who guided in the “Rumble at the Ranch, Part 2” on Friday night, has been named the Orange County Register’s football player of the week.

The junior completed 11 of 16 passes for 225 yards, including first-half touchdown passes of 34 and 15 yards. He also rushed for 63 yards and one touchdown.

The Eagles (2-0), ranked No. 6 in the , travel a couple of miles down Rancho Santa Margarita Parkway to take on Trabuco Hills (2-0), among the poll’s “other” teams, on Thursday night in a nonleague game on the Mustangs’ home field. .

The teams haven’t met since 2003 but have played seven games against one another, with Santa Margarita holding a 5-2 edge.

Eagles Volleyball Team Bounces Back

Santa Margarita’s girls volleyball team lost the first two games of its season at home on Friday, but the Eagles rallied to defeat visiting Santa Barbara, 17-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-16, 15-6.

Sofia Martinez-Lavin had 25 kills for the Eagles, currently . Katy Crouse had 22 digs and 13 kills, Brittany Ptak added 10 kills and Taylor Whittingham had 21 digs. Kendall Cygan led her team with 30 assists.

Santa Margarita hosts Newport Harbor, No. 5 in Division 1AA, tonight (Tuesday) at 6 p.m. The Eagles travel north to participate in the 15th annual Archbishop Mitty tournament in San Jose Thursday through Saturday.

Making a Difference

Tesoro senior football player Thomas Stokes is collecting football equipment and money to assist the Compton Centannial football program, according to the Orange County Register. Stokes read about its financial struggles and decided to do something about it.

You can help him at trsgoblue1@yahoo.com.

Have some high school news or a score that you'd like to share? Send it to O.C. Patch sports editor Bob Rohwer at bob.rohwer@patch.com.


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