ORANGE — The conditions this time at the Orange County Cross Country Championships were ideal for Cait Williamson.
No mud to deal with in the 42nd annual event. Unlike like last year, when the rain from the night before ruined the course.
It was back to the traditional three-mile course at Irvine Regional Park instead of the shortened 2.7-mile course due to safety issues.
Almost everyone last year achieved a personal record, which didn’t count.
Williamson’s did Saturday morning. She set a Sage Hill School record.
The senior finished in 18 minutes, 23 seconds and won the Division III race for the first time in her career.
Fourteen seconds separated her from the nearest opponent.
The difference was the hill, the one that was so sloppy last year you could’ve slid down face first. The hill was hard this year as it usually is for runners.
The hill is where Williamson hit her stride at the end of the first mile.
“I love hills,” she said.
Williamson came down the hill a couple of steps away from the leader, Loara junior Brittany Olivia.
One mile later, Williamson took over the lead and no one was about to catch her.
It might have seemed a little unusual to a majority of the 145 runners that someone from a CIF Southern Section Division V program claimed first in a Division III race.
Her coach felt the same way.
“A little odd for us because we’re bumped in there with a lot of big schools and you never know quite what to expect,” Nate Miller said.
Williamson beat her previous mark by five seconds. She bettered last year’s third-place result and the Lightning’s in the team race.
Sage Hill, ranked No. 3 in the CIF Southern Section Division V poll, moved up three spots and took ninth. The rest of Sage Hill’s top runners were Caroline Grant (20:49, 58th), Jackie Dion (20:54, 62nd), Megan Culberson (22:22, 98th) and Lena Xiao (23:45, 127th).
Estancia placed seventh and Costa Mesa 11th. Santiago edged out Woodbridge, 85-86, for the title.
Freshman Erika Garcia finished with the Eagles’ best mark at 19:36 (20th), followed by Mariah Chapin (20:12, 33rd), Jessica Dominguez (21:17, 71st), Alejandra Peralta (21:51, 86th) and Heather Flores (22:07, 91st).
For the Mustangs, sophomore Hunter Strodel posted the top time of 20:14 (36th), followed by Kaitlin Yamamoto (20:32, 46th), Raquel Friedmann (20:35, 49th), Kelsi Bauermeister (23:07, 116th) and Cheyenne Lopez (23:52, 128th).
