Kelli Hines leads Diablos to first girls sweepstakes crown; Dana Hills becomes first boys program in meet history to secure four consecutive titles, with Alexis Garcia prevailing in individual battle

By Alex Valladares for DyeStat

One team continued the most impressive legacy in meet history. Another program looked to start one of its own.

Dana Hills CA became the first boys team in the meet’s 52-year history to win a fourth straight Orange County Championships sweepstakes title, with the Mission Viejo CA girls team capturing its first team crown in program history at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, Calif.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

The Dolphins placed five runners in the top 13 of the boys sweepstakes race for a 31-149 victory over El Toro CA for their eighth title in the past 12 years and meet record 10th overall.

“It was real important for us to run a good race after Clovis (Invitational) to regain our confidence,” said Cole Stark, who finished sixth, covering the muddy 3-mile course in 15:08.1.

“The gap today was about 20 seconds, which was really solid. It’s definitely a confidence booster heading into Mt. SAC.”

Simon Fuller was the top finisher for Dana Hills, as he placed second in 14:57.5, followed by Carrick Denker in third at 15:03.5. Garrett Hough finished seventh (15:08.5) and Hayden Stein rounded out the scoring runners for the Dolphins in 13th (15:17.6).

“Rain or no rain, we came out here to perform,” Fuller said. “We bounced back from Clovis, we all performed well and now we can focus on the rest of the season.”

Newport Harbor’s Alexis Garcia was the individual winner in 14:53.6, finally breaking through after placing second as a sophomore and seventh last year to become the first Sailors’ champion since 2000.

“I haven’t had the best season like I want to have,” Garcia said. “But today was a really good day and it builds up my confidence.”

Trabuco Hills’ Josh O’Neill finished fourth (15:03.8), Anaheim Canyon’s Logan Underwood placed fifth (15:05.4), Aliso Niguel’s Ben McKenna was eighth (15:09.9), El Toro’s Mitch Groff came in ninth (15:11.3) and Capistrano Valley’s Ty Savely took 10th (15:14.3).

“I wanted to compete and drop a good time, so it looks good on my resume,” Savely said. “We have a really good team, so it would be awesome to get to state which has never been done before in Capo Valley (boys) history.”

Segerstrom’s Ruben Garcia won the boys Division 2 varsity race in 16:31.8. Placentia Valencia secured the team title by a 67-82 margin over Edison.

With some visible cuts and scrapes on her legs, senior Kelli Hines was the girls sweepstakes individual winner, helping the Mission Viejo girls to a 66-72 victory over Anaheim Canyon for the Diablos’ first team title in meet history.

“It was a super fun race,” said Hines, who left shortly after becoming the first Mission Viejo female winner since 1983 for an official recruiting trip to Cal Berkeley.

“From the jump, it was all about staying on your feet. I didn’t think about time. I just wanted to secure the win.”

Emma Hicken finished sixth (15:54.7), Morgan Calcagnie placed 17th (18:25.8), followed by Sophie Mendelson in 18th (18:28.9). Lauryn Simons took 30th (18:46.6) to round out the scoring runners for the Diablos.

“We had some ‘beef.’ We just had to win. We had to have it,” Calcagnie said with a big smile.

“For four years, we were getting third and fourth place. We were kind of just there and we didn’t all have good days. We finally all had a good day today.”

Freshman Emma Hadley and sophomore Sarah Paino finished second (17:40.2) and fourth (17:51.4), respectively, to lead Anaheim Canyon.

“Going into it, we just said, ‘If you slip and slide, just get right back up and make the most of it,’” Paino said. “We never get to race in the rain, so we were looking forward to it.”

Capistrano Valley’s Carly Corsinita finished third (17:47.7) and Tesoro’s Clara Meade placed fifth (17:53.3).

Costa Mesa’s Diane Molina (seventh, 17:55.8), Aliso Niguel’s Carly Schuerger (eighth, 17:57.3), Yorba Linda’s Siena Palicke (ninth, 17:58.7) and Foothill’s Bella Goode (10th, 17:59.8) rounded out the top 10.

Newport Harbor’s Mia Matsunami won the girls Division 2 varsity race in 18:35, although her effort wasn’t enough to lift the Sailors to the championship, with Woodbridge securing a 56-96 victory.

Santa Ana Calvary Chapel’s Elizabeth Radmilovich won the girls small school race Friday, clocking 17:46.4. Brea-Olinda captured the team title by a 70-99 margin over Santa Margarita.

Esperanza swept the top three spots in the boys small school race, with John Welch (15:34.4), Zane Cox (15:37.4) and Josh Moore (15:37.7) contributing to a 25-82 victory over Ocean View.