57th Orange County Championships: Saturday Sweepstakes Recap
The stage was set Saturday at the 57th Orange County Championships for a pair of potential historic performances from prominent champions in the girls sweepstakes race.
Instead, the spotlight shifted to a trio of first-time winners, as well as a return to the top of the podium for a program that had waited nearly a decade since the last time it raised the perpetual team trophy.
Tesoro senior Griffin Kushen and Irvine junior Summer Wilson both withstood significant challenges to capture their first career sweepstakes titles on the 3-mile course at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, in addition to the JSerra boys team making history by securing a long-awaited championship in impressive fashion.
But perhaps all of them were upstaged by the depth of the Trabuco Hills girls lineup, which placed five scorers in the top 15 – including three-time individual winner Holly Barker taking third in her final Orange County Championships race – to not only deny JSerra a potential three-peat with a 32-80 victory, but also achieve the Mustangs’ first sweepstakes title since 2015.
Trabuco Hills junior Millie Bayles courageously battled an unforgiving headwind up front in an effort to separate from Wilson during the second mile, but the Irvine standout patiently waited to deliver a definitive surge in the final kilometer and was rewarded with the victory in 16:22.0.
Wilson, who didn’t compete in the sweepstakes race last year while still attending JSerra, improved from running 17:01.5 at the Orange County Championships in 2022, when she overcame vomiting during the race to rally for a second-place performance as a freshman.
Bayles ran 16:24.8 to secure second Saturday, with Barker closing well during a challenging final mile to take third in 16:24.8 for the Mustangs.
Barker was looking to match the career achievement of Anaheim Katella’s Martha Pinto, who won four years in a row at the Orange County Championships from 1987-90, but contributing to Trabuco Hills’ fourth sweepstakes team championship during the past two decades was a significant achievement for the Colorado-bound competitor, who was victorious in 2021-22 at Oak Canyon Park representing Laguna Hills.
Anna Desormeau, a junior, secured seventh in 17:15.0, with senior Sophie Guilfoile – a transfer from Irvine Portola – taking 13th in 17:47.6 and junior Skylar Watts achieving 14th in 17:49.1 for the Mustangs.
Trabuco Hills also had freshman Evangeline Williams earn 39th in 18:40.4 and junior Kayla Skinner place 67th in 19:42.6.
JSerra was looking to join Anaheim Esperanza (2001-03) as the only girls programs in meet history to win three consecutive sweepstakes titles, but Trabuco Hills established a lead at the mile mark against the Lions and never relinquished control.
Sophie Polay, a senior, took 10th for JSerra in 17:34.5 and sophomore Reese Holley was 12th in 17:40.7 for the Lions, who had prevailed against runner-up Trabuco Hills the past two seasons at Oak Canyon Park.
El Toro, despite not competing with a full lineup, still took third with 92 points, led by sophomore Gweneth Williams securing sixth in 17:14.0.
Tesoro placed fourth at 135 points, benefiting from junior teammates Mackenzie Forrest (17:01.3) and Amber Dazey (17:21.0) finishing fourth and eighth, respectively.
Santa Margarita, featuring a 16th-place effort from Alahna Thomas in 17:50.3, captured fifth with 172 points and Newport Harbor relied on a fifth-place performance from Keaton Robar (17:13.5) and a ninth-place result by fellow senior Marley McCullough (17:22.1) to secure sixth at 195 points.
Annie Ivarsson was 11th in 17:38.5 for Dana Hills, which only had two entries in the sweepstakes race.
A week after achieving the top mark by a California competitor with his second-place finish at Woodward Park in Fresno in the Rob Brenner boys championship race at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational, Kushen rose to the occasion again despite the quick turnaround and unforgiving wind gusts, separating himself in the final mile from Woodbridge sophomore Aidan Antonio to triumph in 14:22.4.
Kushen, who took third in the sweepstakes competition last season, became the first Tesoro male athlete in meet history to win the boys individual title. Emily Scharmann was the first sweepstakes champion in school history for the Titans in 2010, followed by Amanda Gehrich in 2015.
Antonio clocked 14:35.4, improving from a 24th-place sweepstakes finish in his Orange County Championships debut as a freshman, with Trabuco Hills senior Dylan Jubak taking third in 14:41.3.
From there, it was all JSerra, which followed its Division 4 all-time mark of 79:08 on the 5-kilometer course at Woodward Park during the Rob Brenner championship race Oct. 12 at Clovis, by having five scorers in the top 30 in a memorable 78-127 victory against Trabuco Hills that produced the team’s first sweepstakes crown.
Taye Newman, an Anaheim Canyon transfer, finished fourth in 14:44.9 and fellow senior Bradley Arrey rebounded from illness a week earlier at Clovis to achieve sixth in 14:51.5 for the Lions, who elevated from a fourth-place team performance in last year’s sweepstakes.
Cole Carlson clocked 15:12.0 to earn 18th, Luke Friedl placed 21st in 15:16.4 and Jack Burnett grabbed 30th in 15:33.1 for JSerra, which also had sophomore Zac O’Leary capture 38th in 15:37.3 and JohnPaul De Santos finish 100th in 16:27.1.
Tesoro prevailed against San Clemente, winner of the 2021 and 2022 sweepstakes titles, on a sixth-runner tiebreaker for third place after both lineups accumulated 149 points, with El Toro finishing fifth at 182 points.
Oliver Hunter, a junior, placed fifth in 14:47.4 for reigning sweepstakes champion Dana Hills, which took 12th at 370 points as a result of the absence of last year’s individual winner Evan Noonan.
El Dorado sophomore Jack McDonald achieved seventh in 14:52.1, Trabuco Hills senior Ziyad Abdallah ran 14:54.5 to earn eighth, with El Toro’s Rogan Arriaga taking ninth by clocking 14:59.7 and Yorba Linda teammates Dante Maldonado (15:02.1) and Toren Habbestad (15:02.2) capturing 10th and 11th, respectively.
Official Results:
By Erik Boal