Locals run big at Mt. SAC

Neither high temperatures in Walnut, nor the sound of an errant air horn blast, could deter the Laguna Beach High girls’ cross-country team at the Mount SAC Invitational on Oct. 20.

Laguna placed fifth among 13 teams in the Division IV Girls’ Sweepstakes race.

Furthermore, senior Alex Crawley turned in a tremendous performance and finished second overall.

Laguna Coach Earl Towner said that his team gave a “solid effort,” but noted that individual times were “slowed considerably” due to temperatures that crept into the high 80s.

Crawley finished in 18 minutes 50 seconds. Other times and finishes turned in by the Breakers included Melissa Lenker (21:31, 28th); Kativa Strickland (22:19, 41st); Chanel Brooks (22:27, 43rd); Gerry Artman (22:51, 46th); Kelly McCarter (23:06, 49th) and Margaux Reckard (23:39, 51st).

“Alex had a magnificent race,” Towner said. “She had a mix-up at the start when someone in the crowd blasted an air horn twice about 10 seconds after the start, which normally indicates that a runner has fallen and it’s a false start.

“But it was not a false start, only a fan showing his enthusiasm for the race. She rushed by about 60 runners to be in fifth place at the half mile. From there, she settled in and continued to move up. With her never-ending determination, she finished in second place, only seven seconds behind the winner. The winner is the secondfastest [girl] in Arizona.

“She’s in great shape to finishing her high school career on a very high note this season.”

In boys’ cross-country:

Sticking to a gameplan that he has implemented in recent years, boys’ coach Dave Brobeck elected to run only three of his varsity runners — and train the other varsity members — at the Mt. SAC Invitational.

In the Division IV Sweepstakes race, Andrew Raub finished in 10th place in16:38, Yann Panassie was 13th (16:44) and Casey Finnerty finished 29th (17:38).

“Our health is pretty good at this point, but there are too many training objective for my top 10 guys that need to be met before the big CIF races,” Brobeck said.

The Orange Coast League finals are set for Thursday and Brobeck said the race will mark the first time since early September that his “true” top seven runners will have race together.

The CIF Southern Section prelims are Nov. 11 and the finals are Nov. 18, both at Mt. SAC.