Close Finishes at the Saddleback XC Cup
Each year, the Saddleback Cross Country Cup previews the best runners in Orange County across 2 miles on the Trabuco Hills High School campus.
In the girls' race, Gweneth Williams from El Toro outkicked Carol Dye to win the varsity girls' 2-mile by two-tenths of a second. Williams ran 10:40.50, improving by more than 20 seconds from her performance last year at the same meet.
However, Carol Dye got the last laugh as Santa Margarita took the team victory over El Toro (57 pts - 66 pts). This is a huge win for Santa Margarita, taking down the defending D3 state champions, though they were missing a few of their varsity runners.
The boys' race also went down to the wire, with Dresden Taylor of Trabuco Hills trying to run down the Redondo Union duo of Mario Montoya and Matteo Sanchez. Taylor managed to catch Sanchez, but not Montoya.
This win secured Montoya's second consecutive Saddleback XC Cup victory and marked an historic moment as the first athlete to break 10 minutes on the course. His 9:59 on Saturday could be the first of many for one of California's top-ranked returners.
Redondo Union also eked out the team race, winning by 42 points over Trabuco Hills' 46 points. Saturday proved to be a great opener for the reigning D1 CIF state champions.