SILVERADO, Calif. – Holly Barker already had the course record and three individual sweepstakes victories at the Orange County Championships, but the fourth title was perhaps the most significant of all to the Trabuco Hills High senior.
Tesoro had already showcased girls sweepstakes champions in Emily Scharmann and Amanda Gehrich, but nearly a decade later, the Titans were finally able to celebrate their first boys winner in Griffin Kushen.
JSerra already produced the Division 4 all-time boys performance at Woodward Park, so the Lions wanted to make history again Saturday with a breakthrough effort at Oak Canyon Park.
And Summer Wilson already prevailed in one head-to-head matchup this season against fellow junior Millie Bayles, but strong winds and challenging conditions required the Irvine High standout to rely on one decisive move in the final kilometer and she made it count in order to capture her first Orange County cross country crown after winning the 3,200 championship in the spring.
Summer Wilson of Irvine | Alex Case photo
Wilson, who placed second as a freshman in the sweepstakes race representing JSerra, returned to competition at Oak Canyon Park and outlasted one of the deepest fields in the meet’s 57-year history to prevail on the 3-mile course in 16 minutes, 22.0 seconds.
Bayles, who also finished runner-up Oct. 5 against Wilson at the 43rd Central Park Invitational, remained up front through the 2-mile mark before placing second in 16:24.8 for Trabuco Hills, which had five scorers in the top 14 to capture the program’s first girls sweepstakes title since 2015 with a 32-80 victory against two-time champion JSerra.
Millie Bayles of Trabuco Hills | Alex Case photo
Barker rallied in the final mile to take third for the Mustangs in 16:48.8, contributing to a team sweepstakes triumph for the first time in her career after winning the first two individual championships in 2021-22 representing Laguna Hills, before joining the Trabuco Hills program last season and setting the Oak Canyon Park record with a 16:08.1 performance.
Barker was attempting to join Anaheim Katella’s Martha Pinto, who won Orange County individual titles four years in a row from 1987-90.
Instead, the Colorado-bound Barker was part of achieving history in a different manner Saturday, as Trabuco Hills matched the most dominant performance by a girls lineup at the Orange County Championships since Dana Hills had two competitors among the first four finishers and placed five athletes in the top 14 in the 1995 sweepstakes race at Irvine Regional Park.
Anna Desormeau secured seventh for the Mustangs in 17:15.0, with Irvine Portola transfer Sophie Guilfoile (17:47.6) and junior Skylar Watts (17:49.1) placing 13th and 14th, respectively. Freshman Evangeline Williams achieved 39th in 18:40.4, with junior Kayla Skinner clocking 19:42.6 to grab 67th for Trabuco Hills, which also captured girls sweepstakes titles in 2007 and 2011 at Irvine Regional Park.
Trabuco Hills girls cross country | Erik Boal photo
JSerra, which had prevailed by a 34-85 margin against Trabuco Hills in 2022 and produced a 46-110 victory against the Mustangs last season, found itself trailing at the mile mark Saturday and unable to gain ground running into a stiff headwind during the remainder of the race.
Sophie Polay was 10th in 17:34.5 and Reese Holley placed 12th in 17:40.7 for the Lions, who were trying to join Anaheim Esperanza (2001-03) as the only girls programs in Orange County Championships history to win three consecutive sweepstakes crowns.
El Toro took third at 92 points, despite racing with a short-handed lineup, but still had sophomore Gweneth Williams achieve sixth in 17:14.0 and senior Lucy Varela earn 17th in 17:50.8.
Tesoro, led by juniors Mackenzie Forrest (17:01.3) and Amber Dazey (17:21.0) taking fourth and eighth overall, produced a fourth-place team performance with 135 points.
Keaton Robar was fifth in 17:13.5 and fellow senior Marley McCullough grabbed ninth in 17:22.1 for Newport Harbor, which secured sixth with 195 points, trailing fifth-place Santa Margarita (172 points), led by a 16th-place effort from Alahna Thomas in 17:50.3.
Annie Ivarsson, one of two Dana Hills athletes competing in the sweepstakes race, finished 11th in 17:38.5 and San Juan Hills sophomore Carol Dye placed 15th in 17:49.3.
With reigning boys sweepstakes champion Evan Noonan of Dana Hills deciding not to compete Saturday, the opportunity for Kushen to add another amazing achievement to his remarkable resume materialized and the senior took full advantage.
Despite the challenging conditions, Kushen relied on his experience to separate from Woodbridge sophomore standout Aidan Antonio in the final mile and capture the sweepstakes crown in 14:22.4, joining girls champions Scharmann (2010) and Gehrich (2015) for the Titans.
Griffin Kushen of Tesoro | Alex Case photo
Kushen elevated from third last season behind Noonan and Jayden Hernandez from Dana Hills to not only capture the championship, but lead Tesoro to a third-place finish with 149 points after the Titans prevailed on a sixth-runner tiebreaker against 2021 and 2022 sweepstakes champion San Clemente.
Antonio improved from a 24th-place effort in his Orange County Championships debut last season, running 14:35.4 to help the Warriors secure seventh place with 226 points, edged by a one-point margin against sixth-place El Dorado and fellow sophomore Jack McDonald achieving seventh individually in 14:52.1.
Aidan Antonio of Woodbridge | Alex Case photo
Dylan Jubak (14:41.3) and Ziyad Abdallah (14:54.5) finished third and eighth, respectively, for runner-up Trabuco Hills, which had 127 points.
But JSerra produced a wire-to-wire victory with 78 points, led by Anaheim Canyon transfer Taye Newman capturing fourth in 14:44.9 and fellow senior Bradley Arrey grabbing sixth in 14:51.5, as the Lions followed their Division 4 record 79:08 on the 5-kilometer layout Oct. 12 at Woodward Park in the Rob Brenner championship race at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational by having five scorers in the top 30 at Oak Canyon Park.
Cole Carlson earned 18th in 15:12.0 and Luke Friedl finished 21st in 15:16.4, with Jack Burnett achieving 30th in 15:33.1 for JSerra, which also had sophomore Zac O’Leary take 38th in 15:37.3 and JohnPaul De Santos run 16:27.1 for 100th place.
The Lions ascended from fourth in the boys sweepstakes competition last season, as reigning champion Dana Hills – led by junior Oliver Hunter finishing fifth in 14:47.4 – was unable to overcome Noonan’s absence and took 12th with 370 points.
Rogan Arriaga was ninth in 14:59.7 for El Toro, which placed fifth at 182 points.
Yorba Linda teammates Dante Maldonado (15:02.1), a senior, and junior Toren Habbestad (15:02.2) achieved 10th and 11th, respectively, as the Mustangs took 10th with 288 points.
Corona del Mar’s Max Douglass finished 12th in 15:03.9, Irvine University’s Jackson Young achieved 13th in 15:04.4, with San Clemente sophomore teammates Yohan Anderson (15:05.7) and Mattheus Dos Santos (15:09.1) earning 14th and 16th, respectively, and Irvine Northwood’s Logan Shaw also clocking 15:05.7 to capture 15th.
Anaheim Katella’s Jose Escobedo prevailed in the boys varsity medium school race in 15:40.5, improving by more than two minutes from competing last season at Oak Canyon Park.
Nathan Nguyen of Garden Grove Santiago was second in 15:42.5, leading the Cavaliers to an 84-124 victory against Huntington Beach Edison.
Tyler Yesenosky of Garden Grove Pacifica prevailed by a 15:28.7 to 15:28.9 margin against fellow junior Maury Young of Ocean View in the boys varsity small school race Friday at Oak Canyon Park.
Garden Grove Pacifica’s Tyler Yesenosky, left, and Ocean View’s Maury Young | Alex Case photo
Brea-Olinda, led by junior teammates Taj Aragon (15:40.1) and Marius Nielson (15:40.7) taking fourth and fifth, triumphed against Ocean View by a 74-96 margin.
Isaac Chikami, a senior at Garden Grove Pacifica, took third in 15:37.7 to help the Mariners also place third with 105 points.
Anaheim Esperanza’s Lesley Ledesma ran 18:14.5 to win the girls varsity small school race Friday and help the Aztecs earn runner-up honors at 80 points, with sisters Lucy Hendriks, a senior, and sophomore Evelyn Hendriks helping Garden Grove Pacifica secure the team victory with 56 points.
Lucy Hendriks was second in 18:24.0 and Evelyn Hendriks clocked 18:50.4 to capture fourth, with Anaheim Century’s Monserrat Santillan achieving third in 18:36.0.
Corona del Mar sophomore Emilie Steinman had battled illness throughout the week after competing Oct. 12 in Fresno at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park, but she still rallied from a 10-second deficit entering the final mile to win the girls varsity medium school race Saturday in 18:27.4.
Emma Siok, a junior, clocked 18:36.9 and senior Casey McConn ran 18:49.8 to place second and third, respectively, for Huntington Beach, which triumphed with 72 points.
Anneliese Watrous placed fourth in 19:07.1 for runner-up El Dorado, which had 107 points.
Huntington Beach also had another significant result in the girls medium school sophomore race, with Sydney Rubio – a Nike Cross Nationals qualifier last year as a freshman – making her season debut and winning in 18:25.5.
Rubio, also a member of the Oilers’ flag football program, had been recovering from soreness in her left knee before returning to competition Saturday.