Jack Landgraf leads Dana Hills into battle with Brea Olinda - the two teams that together have won the last 3 county titles.
Preview by Ben Crawford
With the ability to consistently produce national caliber runners, it is safe to say
that Orange County is one of the most competitive counties in the United States. With
that being said, let's check out some of the biggest headlines of this years OC XC Championships.
On the boys' side, a new champion will be crowned following Austin Tamagno's graduation last spring. Many runners look to emerge as the new king of the hill after patiently sitting behind the Brea Olinda star for the past several years. The pre-race favorite has to be Jack Landgraf of Dana Hills. Landgraf ran 15:14 over the 5k course last weekend at the Asics Clovis Invitational, placing 5th in the sweepstakes race. He also ran 14:33 to capture the individual title at the Nike Dana Hills Invitational. The challengers are Stuart Kendall, Gio Orellana, Jacob Smith, and Alexis Garcia. Kendall ran an impressive race at the Woodbridge Invitational where he won the rated race in a time of 14:36. However he faded at the Stanford Invitational, running 15:40 for 5k. It is very possible that we see another Brea Olinda Wildcat take first as senior Gio Orellana seems better than ever and looks to strike. Recently committed to Biola, Orellana has run 14:47 this year and looks to only be getting faster. Both Jacob Smith and Alexis Garcia have the chance to pull away from the pack and win as well. Keep an eye out for these runners. In team scoring, Dana Hills enters as the early favorite, but don't count out Brea Olinda. Brea, the 2013 and 2014 team champions, look to continue their dynasty after an off year in 2015. However, Dana Hills wants to prove their win last year was no fluke and they are there to stay. El Toro is the shoe in for third place after their convincing win in the D1 Varsity Race last weekend in Clovis. Fourth place looks to be in the control of Canyon High School, but if they falter, Newport Harbor hopes to sneak onto the podium in their place. (Note that the top 4 teams make the podium.)
For the girls, we will also see a new champion as Amanda Gehrich graduated last spring. Haley Herberg is the favorite, having run 16:45 this season so far. Mission Viejo's Kelli Hines has not raced since the Cool Breeze Invitational as she was out with a foot injury. It is uncertain what kind of performance we will see from Hines, but expect her to be towards the front as she is very competitive. Sara Leonard and Hannah Tobin are also both contenders who look to capitalize on any mistakes made by the lead runners. Leonard has run 16:57 this year and Tobin has run 17:02. Both are national caliber times. It is unlikely that any team will be able to beat Canyon as they look to take home their first county championship on the Irvine Regional Park course. Last years winners, Trabuco Hills are joined by Dana Hills and Capistrano Valley as the major players for second place. If Dana Hills wants to take second, it is crucial for their #1 runner, Kathryn Kaloroumakis to step up and have a big race. Same goes for Capistrano Valley except they need to close the gap between their #2 and #3 to under 60 seconds if they want to have a real shot at contending. If Herberg wins the individual title, it will be the first of its kind for Capo.