Prep Cross-Country Roundup : Rodriguez Sets a Century Mark in League Final

Jimmy Rodriguez of Santa Ana Valley High School set a Century League record while winning the boys’ cross-country championship Saturday at Yorba Regional Park in Anaheim Hills.

Rodriguez, who was among a pack of runners out front at the start of the 3-mile race, broke away in the second half of the race and finished in 14 minutes 38 seconds. Roger Nava of Santa Ana was second in 14:57, and Joe Komarinski of El Modena came in third in 15:10.

The previous league record of 14:42 was established in 1985 by David Moore of Orange High School.

“I didn’t want to go out too fast because if I did, I might have died out there,” Rodriguez said. “I just ran according to my game plan and didn’t make my break until the mile-and-a-half mark.”

The Santa Ana boys’ team (5-0 in dual meets), which entered Saturday’s final ranked fourth among Southern Section 4-A schools, won the league championship with 38 points. Eighth-ranked El Modena (3-2) finished second with 51 points, and No. 7 Villa Park (4-1) was third with 71 points.

Rodriguez, Nava and Komarinski, along with the Santa Ana, Villa Park and El Modena boys’ teams, qualified for the Southern Section 4-A championship preliminaries Friday at Mt. San Antonio College.

In the girls’ competition, Maria Vargas and Teresa Beltran, both of Santa Ana Valley, stayed with favorite Laura Doering of Villa Park early in the race and then pulled away to finish 1-2.

Vargas, who hadn’t beaten Doering in 3 previous races this season, turned in a winning time of 17:49. Beltran finished second in 18:05, and Doering was third in 18:31.

“We told her (Vargas) that she could stay with her (Doering) early in the race and then break loose when she felt like doing that in the finals,” said George Payan, Santa Ana Valley coach. “She used both her teammate (Beltran) and Laura well in the race, and she pulled away at the right point.”

The Villa Park girls’ team (5-0), ranked third behind Palos Verdes and Newport Harbor in the Southern Section 4-A, won the league title with 55 points. Santa Ana (0-5) and Foothill (2-3) tied for second with 10th-ranked Canyon (2-3) with 77 points each. Santa Ana was awarded second place over Foothill (third) and Canyon (fourth) because of a better finish by Santa Ana’s sixth-place runner.

Eighth-ranked Santa Ana Valley (4-1) tied with Foothill for second place in the overall league standings--which are based on both dual meet and league final results--despite its fifth-place showing Saturday. Canyon (2-3) and Santa Ana tied for fourth in the overall standings. El Modena (2-3) finished sixth.

Vargas, Beltran and Doering, along with the Villa Park, Foothill and Santa Ana Valley teams, will represent the Century League in the Southern Section 4-A preliminaries.

In the Sunset League finals:

The Fountain Valley boys’ team scored 23 points to win the league title at Central Park. Huntington Beach was second with 51 points, and Edison third with 86. Richie Lockwood of Fountain Valley was the individual winner, covering the 3-mile course in 16:03. He was closely followed by teammates David Dannov (third in 16:11), Mark White (fourth in 16:11) and Dave Flatley (fifth in 16:18).

Huntington Beach won the girls’ championship with 35 points. Edison was second with 45 points, and Marina third with 85. Shelley Taylor of Edison won the 3-mile race in 18:57. Natalie Adam of Huntington Beach was third in 19:25.