57th Orange County Championships Preview at Oak Canyon Park

The two-day event begins at 3:30 p.m. PDT Friday, with small school varsity races highlighting the eight-race schedule at 5:05 p.m. and 5:20 p.m.

An additional 16 races are scheduled to start at 7:40 a.m. Saturday, with the boys sweepstakes competition at 8:55 a.m., followed by the girls sweepstakes at 9:15 a.m. 

Holly Barker, a senior at Trabuco Hills, has the opportunity to become only the second female athlete to win four years in a row at the event, attempting to join Martha Pinto from Anaheim Katella, who captured championships from 1987-90 at Irvine Regional Park.

Barker won sweepstakes titles in 2021 and 2022 representing Laguna Hills, before setting a 3-mile course record at Oak Canyon Park last season by clocking 16:08.1 for Trabuco Hills.

Allyson Marquand of Irvine University was a three-time winner in 1995, 1996, and 1998 at the Orange County Championships, and had the opportunity to win a potential fourth title, but wildfire caused the cancellation of the 1997 meet at Irvine Regional Park.

Barker is also trying to lead Trabuco Hills to its first girls sweepstakes team championship since 2015, but the Mustangs will have to prevent JSerra from pursuing its own history.

JSerra is seeking a third consecutive sweepstakes team title, which would mark only the second three-peat by a girls program in meet history, joining Esperanza High from 2001-03.

Dana Hills won back-to-back girls titles in 1995-96, but the wildfire in 1997 prevented the Dolphins from securing a third consecutive crown, and Esperanza prevailed in 1998.

JSerra prevailed last season with a 46-110 victory against Trabuco Hills, with the top five athletes in the race all scheduled to return Saturday, in addition to the presence of Irvine High junior Summer Wilson, who finished second behind Barker in the 2022 sweepstakes competition.

Keaton Robar of Newport Harbor was second last year, Sophie Polay from JSerra took third, Annie Ivarsson of Dana Hills finished fourth and El Toro’s Gweneth Williams placed fifth.

Dana Hills held off El Toro by a 133-135 margin for third place last year and San Clemente secured fifth with 194 points.

Additional competitors who finished in the top 25 in last year’s sweepstakes that are also expected to return Saturday include JSerra’s Kaylah Tasser, Reese Holley and Chloe Elbaz, Trabuco Hills’ Millie Bayles and Skylar Watts, Newport Harbor’s Marley McCullough, Tesoro’s Mackenzie Forrest, Santa Margarita’s Alahna Thomas, El Toro’s Lucy Varela, Capistrano Valley’s Audrey Heath and Corona del Mar’s Emilie Steinman.

Tesoro’s Amber Dazey is looking to elevate from a 26th-place sweepstakes finish last season, building momentum following her 10th-place performance in the Bill Buettner girls championship race on Oct. 12 at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno. 

El Dorado sophomore Anneliese Watrous secured second in the medium schools girls varsity race last year and is expected to return.

JSerra has an opportunity to enjoy a double feature Saturday, but another pursuit of multiple sweepstakes championships will unfortunately not materialize.

Dana Hills senior Evan Noonan had the potential to become the first back-to-back boys sweepstakes winner since Austin Tamagno of Brea-Olinda in 2014-15, but following a course-record 13:59.4 effort last season, the Dolphins’ standout has decided not to defend his title.

JSerra could become the first school since Dana Hills in 2016 to win both the boys and girls sweepstakes championships in the same year.

With Beckman resting several top athletes following its victory on Oct. 12 in the Rob Brenner boys championship race at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational, JSerra is looking to follow its Division 4 record team time 79:08 on the 5-kilometer course at Woodward Park with the first boys sweepstakes victory in program history.

Dana Hills edged San Clemente by a 48-53 margin to capture last year’s boys sweepstakes team title, with Trabuco Hills taking third at 104 points, JSerra finishing fourth with 160 points and Santa Margarita placing fifth at 235 points.

Woodbridge is looking to place itself in championship contention following a sixth-place effort last season with 259 points.

Griffin Kushen, a Tesoro senior, is the top returning athlete after taking third in the sweepstakes race last year.

Kushen was the top California competitor on Oct. 12 in the Rob Brenner boys championship race at the 45th ASICS Clovis Invitational, finishing second in 14:43.8 on the 5-kilometer course at Woodward Park.

Bradley Arrey of JSerra and Dylan Jubak from Trabuco Hills are both expected to return after placing in the top 10 last season.

El Toro’s Daniel Bulalacao, Corona del Mar’s Kevin Steinman and Max Douglass, Dana Hills’ Oliver Hunter, Woodbridge’s Aidan Antonio and JSerra’s Taye Newman – an Anaheim Canyon transfer – are all returning competitors who finished in the top 25 in the sweepstakes race last year.

Emmanuel Lopez, a junior at Servite, won the small school boys varsity race last season and is scheduled to return.

By Erik Boal