The Laguna Hills Invitational has a slogan: “OCXC Starts Here.”
“OCXC” stands for Orange County cross country. The Laguna Hills Invitational is not the first meet of the season, which began last month. Once again though, it is among the first major meets of the season.
The Laguna Hills Invitational is Saturday at Laguna Hills High. It starts at 7:45 a.m. with Division 3 freshman girls racing and concludes with Division 1 senior boys at 11:40 a.m.
Among the schools entered are Dana Hills, led by last year’s Orange County boys runner of the year Evan Noonan. Now a senior, he was a CIF Southern Section champion last year for the second year in a row. He was the fastest of all runners in the CIF State Cross Country Championships.
Also entered is Huntington Beach, which has standout sophomore Sydney Rubio on its girls team. She was third in the CIF State Championships last year.
San Clemente was a CIF-SS team champion in cross country last year. That was a senior-heavy team, but a few underclassmen contributed so the Tritons could be solid again this year.
NOTES
The biggest offseason news in cross country was the transfer of Summer Wilson from JSerra to Irvine. Wilson, now a junior, finished second at last year’s CIF State meet. She will sit out the first 30 days of the cross country season because she did not make the change of residence required for immediate athletic eligibility at Irvine. …
JSerra’s girls team still has a deep roster. Among the returnees from last year’s team that won a third straight CIF-SS Division 4 championship and second-straight CIF State title are seniors Brynn Garcia, Sophie Polay and Kaylah Tasser. …
JSerra’s boys team will be formidable, too. The Lions finished second in the CIF State Division 4 finals last year. Among their returning runners is senior Bradley Arrey who was 10th in the CIF State Division 4 race last season. …
The Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, one of the more prestigious meets in the western United States, is Sept. 20 and 21 at Great Park in Irvine. …
The Trabuco Hills girls team is led by senior Holly Barker, last year’s Orange County girls cross country athlete of the year for the second season in a row after finishing second in the CIF-SS and CIF State finals. Other top runners from what could be an outstanding Trabuco Hills girls team are juniors Millie Bayless, Anna Desormeau and Skylar Watts. …
CIF-SS championship prelims are Nov. 15 and 16 at Mt. San Antonio College. The finals are at Mt. SAC on Nov. 23. …
The course at Mt. SAC for this season was slightly lengthened to 3 miles. The course path has eliminated one hill but remains mostly similar to its past configuration. The stadium scoreboard will be used to show runners’ times and spectator views of the course will be improved. …
The CIF State meet is Nov. 30 at Woodward Park in Fresno.
