Southern Section cross-country finals: Dana Hills a surprise winner

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Big upset in the Southern Section Division I boys’ race this morning.

Dana Hills placed its top five runners among the top 60 on the 2.91-mile course at Mt. SAC and scored 94 points to win its first section title since 1988.

Vista Murrieta finished second with 133 points and Murrieta Valley, which came into the event ranked No. 1 in state by dyestat.com, finished third with 137 points. It was the Nighthawks’ first defeat this season.

‘They ran 20 seconds faster than any of us predicted,’ Dana Hills Coach Tim Butler said. ‘Early in the season, we had some problems just with the will to win ... they were soft.’

Riley Sullivan of Trabuco Hills, who helped the Mustangs win a state title last season, won the individual title in 14:48.

It’s always easy to spot the schools that don’t usually qualify teams or individuals for the state finals.

A coach from Anaheim just walked up to the race director and said, ‘I’ve never had anyone qualify for state, what do I do next?’ His runner, sophomore Jose Madera, finished eighth overall in 15:05.

Other individual qualifiers from Division I were Brett Walters of Sultana, who finished second overall in 14:55, Steven Crum of Corona Santiago, Phillip Benavides of Alhambra and Jose Lezama of Leuzinger.

The other team qualifiers were Crecenta Valley, Placentia Valencia, Trabuco Hills and Arcadia.
Defending team champion Royal failed to qualify.

-- Dan Arritt

-- Image of Mt. SAC’s Reservoir Hill from www.dyestat.com