San Clemente's cross-country teams showcased strong performances at the Orange County championships held over the weekend at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado. The San Clemente girls' team secured a second-place finish in the sweepstakes race, while the boys' team earned third place in their division, highlighting the talent among local runners.
In the girls’ sweepstakes race on Saturday, San Clemente took second overall with 99 points, behind JSerra, which won the title with 59 points. Individually for San Clemente, Ortiz finished eighth, clocking in at 17 minutes 1.1 seconds. Huntington Beach junior Rebecca VanPeteghen led all local girls, placing sixth in the sweepstakes race with a personal-best time of 16 minutes 56.1 seconds. Senior Sydney Rubio, also from Huntington Beach, finished 13th in 17 minutes 26.8 seconds, competing for the second consecutive week this season. Rubio noted it was a blustery morning and she remained behind the pack to mitigate the wind. She also expressed admiration for VanPeteghen’s improvement, stating she "just been shaving seconds off every race."
The boys’ sweepstakes championship saw Trabuco Hills secure first place with 55 points, followed by Woodbridge with 69 points, and San Clemente in third with 106 points. San Clemente’s Anderson finished second individually with a time of 14 minutes 19.1 seconds, while Dos Santos took fifth place, finishing in 14 minutes 35.3 seconds.
Other South Orange County coast schools also had notable showings across various races. On Friday afternoon, Laguna Beach’s boys’ and girls’ teams swept the small schools titles. Senior Carson Kull delivered a personal best time of 15 minutes 48.3 seconds for a runner-up performance to lead the Breakers boys. For the Laguna Beach girls, senior Ella Volpe placed fourth in 19 minutes 23.7 seconds. Laguna Beach girls’ cross-country coach Steve Lalim noted the teams "met expectations" and competed with a winning mindset, aiming to carry that momentum forward. Corona del Mar senior Grace DeCicco also had a strong performance in the girls’ small schools race, finishing second in 19 minutes 13.6 seconds.
In the open and small schools varsity races, several area schools flooded the leaderboard. Newport Harbor freshman Lyle Torribio ran an area-best 15 minutes 0.6 seconds, placing third and contributing to the Sailors' second-place finish in the boys’ open race. Torribio expressed optimism for his team, saying, "I think we have a lot of potential." Ocean View senior Elisha Case placed sixth in 15 minutes 23.1 seconds, and Edison senior Zachary Byerley finished ninth in 15 minutes 26.2 seconds in the same race.
For the girls' open race, Newport Harbor sophomore Allie Cabal was the runner-up with a time of 17 minutes 58.4 seconds. Cabal mentioned not feeling well before the competition, but observed, "It’s always the worst races you surprise yourself." Marina freshman Madison Dahl placed fourth in 18 minutes 10.0 seconds, and Fountain Valley junior Teagan Bradshaw finished eighth in 18 minutes 29.4 seconds. These results from Oak Canyon Park provided local distance runners an opportunity to gauge their performance against regional competitors.
