SOUTHERN SECTION CROSS-COUNTRY : Saddleback, Santa Ana Valley Boys Qualify

WALNUT — The boys’ teams from Saddleback and Santa Ana Valley high schools qualified for the Southern Section cross-country finals during preliminaries Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.

Saddleback, the second-ranked team in its division, won its Division I-AA heat with 53 points over Wilson, which had 71. Channel Islands won the other I-AA heat with 57 points, with Santa Ana Valley (62) and Fountain Valley (105) finishing second and third. The top three teams in each race and the top four individuals not on a qualifying team will advance to the finals on Saturday. Hart, which won its I-A race, had the fastest team time among Division I schools (2,021 or more enrollment) over the three-mile Mt. SAC course. Saddleback was next, followed by Channel Islands and Santa Ana Valley. Dana Hills and El Toro also qualified.

Twelve teams will compete Saturday in each of the state’s four enrollment divisions with the top four teams in each division advancing to the state meet Nov. 24.

In the girls’ races, Irvine won its I-A heat with 38 points. The Vaqueros finished ahead of Buena (50) and Los Alamitos (63).

Katella’s Martha Pinto finished her II-A heat in 18 minutes 6 seconds, the fastest time among county girl runners. Edison’s Shelley Taylor, who won her race, had the second-best time among county girls (18:27). Mission Viejo, which had 39 points, upset Edison (54) in the race.

Meet Notes

Other county boys’ teams to qualify: Mission Viejo, Villa Park, La Habra, Katella, El Modena, Woodbridge in Division II; Laguna Hills and Corona del Mar in Division III. In girls: Dana Hills in Division I; Canyon, Tustin, Woodbridge, Valencia, El Modena in Division II; Foothill, Laguna Hills, Santa Margarita, Corona del Mar in Division III; Laguna Beach, Orange Lutheran in Division IV. Tanja Brix of University, Courtney Grace of La Quinta, Katy Eklof and Denisha Bendz of Costa Mesa, Mike Bernstein of Garden Grove, Lihn Le of Los Amigos, Ray Estrada of Savanna and David Brobeck of Laguna Beach also qualified.