Record Night at Woodbridge for Frias, Young, Newbury Park


Junior Leo Young celebrates after winning the Sweepstakes boys race and setting a course record at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic on Saturday night at SilverLakes Sports Complex. (Raymond Tran photo)

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This article has been updated with details throughout.

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NORCO -- The fast track at SilverLakes Sports Complex was all of that and more Saturday night, as high school cross country runners from Mira Costa and Newbury Park rewrote the records on the swift, flat 3-mile course at the 40th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic. 

The boys of Newbury Park swept the top four spots in the marquee sweepstakes race, led by junior Leo Young, who shattered his brother Nico's course record, running 13:38.1, as the Panthers boys dropped four under 13:50 on a course that had previously only had four sub-14 times since 2016.

Junior Aaron Sahlman was second for Newbury Park in 13:42.3, junior Lex Young, Leo's twin, was third in 13:44.4, and senior Colin Sahlman was fourth in 13:48.0. Junior Hector Martinez was 25th overall in 14:38.1 as Newbury Park totaled 69:30.9, breaking the team time record of 71:13.7 set by the 2019 team.

Both Leo Young's time and Newbury Park's team time are considered all-time high school bests for 3-miles.

Nico Young, now at Northern Arizona University, had set the SilverLakes course record in 2019, running 13:39.7. Leo Young also broke his brother's junior class course record of14:01.1 set in 2018. 

In the girls sweepstakes race, Mira Costa (SS) senior Dalia Frias (pictured) held off Newbury Park senior Samantha McDonnell to eclipse Brie Oakley's course record, running 15:43.5. On a course that had only seen three other girls since 2016 go sub-16, four did it Saturday night.

Oakley ran 15:53.6 for Grandview (CO) in 2016. Frias also broke Oakley's senior class course record. 

McDonnel was second in 15:54.6 in leading the Panthers girls to the team title. Natalie Cook, a senior from Lewisville (TX) Flower Mound was third in 15:56.3, Isabel Conde de Frankenberg, a sophomore from Cedar Park (TX), was fourth in 15:59.5, and Buchanan (CS) junior Sydney Sundgren was fifth in 16:03.3.

Ventura (SS) freshman Sadie Engelhardt was seventh in 16:04.5, breaking the freshman class course record of 16:09.8 set by Lauren Ping of Desert Vista (AZ) in 2019. Ping, now a junior, placed sixth in the Sweepstakes race, just ahead of Engelhardt in 16:04.5

In the girls' team race, Newbury Park was six points better than Flower Mound with 2019 team champion Buchanan third, just 12 points behind Newbury Park. 

Senior Morgan Nygren was 20th in scoring, running No. 2 for Newbury Park (17:05.2), freshman Tiffany Sax was next (17:07.6), followed by senior Lexi Darley (17:22.8) and junior Ailish Hawkins (17:31.6) as the Panthers placed five among the top 43 scorers. 

Kevin Sanchez, a junior at Austin (TX) Vandegrift, was the first non-Newbury Park boy across the line in the Sweepstakes race, placing fifth in 14:06.0. Clovis (CS) junior Christopher Caudillo was sixth in 14:09.3 and West Torrance (SS) senior Conor Gibson was seventh in 14:19.9. 

Great Oak (SS) was second in the team competition with Desert Vista (AZ) third, Southlake Carroll (TX) fourth and El Paso (TX) Eastwood fifth. Clovis West (CS) was sixth, as the No. 3 team from CA. 

Senior Carson Smith (14:45.5), junior Mark Cortes (14:46.8), and junior Ramses Cortes (14:49.6), and senior Cameron Smith (14:59.5) led Great Oak.

Oaks Christian (SS) sophomore Payton Godsey held off two visitors from El Paso (TX) Eastwood to win the Girls Rated race in 17:00.1, and Santa Fe Christian (SD) senior Mark Trammel held off Maria Carrillo (NC) senior Jacob Donohue to win the boys race. Trammel ran 14:36.4 with Donohue in at 14:40.5.

Broen Holman, a freshman at Sonora (SJ), just missed the class course record, running 14:37.9 for 24th in the Sweepstakes race. That record is 14:37.4 set by Lex Young in 2019.


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Inserted photos by Raymond Tran and Jeffrey Parenti.