Orange County Prep Cross-Country : Dana Hills Coasts to South Coast Title

The Dana Hills High School boys’ cross-country team, ranked second in the Orange County coaches’ poll, raced to an easy victory in the South Coast League finals at Irvine Park Thursday, but the day’s surprise was unranked Irvine’s second-place finish.

Senior Mike Tansley (13 minutes 45 seconds) finished first and Javier Barrera (13:49) second to lead Dana Hills (29 points) on the Irvine Park course that was shortened to 2.75 miles because of the recent rains.

Irvine had 73 points to surprise Mission Viejo (76), which is ranked fourth in the county. Capistrano Valley (100) finished fourth, San Clemente (101) fifth and El Toro (127) sixth.

Mike Farrell (13:58) of San Clemente was the third-place individual finisher, Greg Lamb (14:15) of Mission Viejo fourth and Kevin Chase (14:16) of Irvine was sixth.

“Overall, I’m very pleased,” said Tim Butler, Dana Hills coach. “Heck, this is the best team I’ve had here.”

Dana Hills has won the South Coast League the last two seasons and four of the last six.

Barbara Kozlowski (16:46) of Irvine won the girls’ race and teammate Andrea Caminiti (16:54) was second, but El Toro won the team competition with 56 points.

Irvine (58) was second, Mission Viejo (81) third, Dana Hills (83) fourth, San Clemente (91) fifth and Capistrano Valley (122) sixth.

Kirstin Quigley (17:00) of Dana Hills was third, Shannon Liddy (17:14) of El Toro fourth, Regina Schudlich (17:24) of Dana Hills fifth and Amy King (17:29) of San Clemente sixth.

In the Freeway League:

Terrence Mahon (15:10) of La Habra won the boys’ three-mile race at Craig Park, but Marty Barati (15:21) and Gabriel Sanchez (15:29) of Buena Park finished second and third to lead Buena Park (38) to the team title.

Sonora (55) was second, La Habra (60) third, Sunny Hills (93) fourth, Troy (118) fifth and Fullerton (133) sixth.

Sita Jones (18:21) of La Habra won the girls’ race, and La Habra won the team championship with 28 points. Sunny Hills (54) was second, Fullerton (90) third, Buena Park (112) fourth, Troy (122) fifth and Sonora (124) sixth.

In the Garden Grove League:

Anthony Hale of Garden Grove ran a 15:43 on the 3.1-mile course at Mile Square Park to lead Garden Grove (40) to the league championship. Kennedy (67) was second, Santiago (91) third, Pacifica (92) fourth, Los Amigos (120) fifth, La Quinta (132) sixth, Rancho Alamitos (161) seventh and Bolsa Grande didn’t have enough runners to score.

Kathy Cannon of La Quinta won in a time of 18:09, but Santiago, which placed 4 runners in the top 10, won the team title with 40 points. La Quinta (57) was second, Pacifica (82) third, Los Amigos (90) fourth, Kennedy (102) fifth, and Garden Grove, Rancho Alamitos and Bolsa Grande didn’t have enough runners to score.

In the Academy League:

St. Margaret’s placed 6 runners in the top 10 and won the league meet at Cook Park in San Juan Capistrano. Whitney (53) was second, Newport Christian (65) third and Leffingwell Christian (100) fourth.