NORCO – To gauge the quality of runners who competed under the lights in the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic at the Silver Lake Sports Complex on Saturday night, a quick glance at the results in the showcase races is all the information needed.
The top 60 finishers in the boys sweepstakes race – the premier boys event in the two-day competition – completed the 3-mile course under the lights in under 15 minutes.
The top 26 finishers in the girls sweepstakes race finished in under 17 minutes.
Competing with that level of competition resulted in personal records for several Orange County runners.
In the boys rated race, which was just a notch below the sweepstakes class, Capistrano Valley’s Ty Savely finished first with a time of 14:43, a PR by at least 35 seconds.
“I think around the first mile, I was maybe ninth,” Savely said. “As we finished the first lap, I decided I better just go out right now. The crowd is crazy, always at this meet. I love the atmosphere.”
Brea Olinda and Capistrano Valley were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the rated race.
Laguna Beach’s Sebastian Fisher (14:38.8) and Ryan Smithers (14:40) finished 30th and 34th, respectively, in the boys sweepstakes, helping the Breakers finish 10th overall and first among county schools.
Trabuco Hills’ Josh O’Neil finished 15th in the sweepstakes race and was the top county finisher.
Several county girls turned in respectable performances in their sweepstakes race.Mission Viejo’s Kelli Hines (16:49) was 16th overall and first among county runners.Hanna Catsimanes of San Clemente finished 17th in 16:50.8.
A week after winning the Division 3 race for juniors at the Laguna Hills Invitational in 17:53.3, Costa Mesa’s Diane Molina ran 17:00.3 to finish 28th.
“The race was pretty crowded,” Molina said. “I kind of twisted my ankle at the first one-and-half. It was kind of mental thing trying to push through the pain. I liked the competition. It was kind of fun to run with the best in the state.”
Many of the county runners who were at the Woodbridge Classic will be competing again next week at the Dana Hills Invitational.