South Coast League Finals Recap

Two of the most decorated champions in Orange County history added to their individual legacies Friday, with Trabuco Hills sweeping the South Coast League team titles for the first time since 2011 at Irvine Regional Park.

Trabuco Hills senior Holly Barker won her fourth career league championship, including back-to-back South Coast titles, with Dana Hills senior Evan Noonan capturing his third straight crown, extending the Dolphins’ streak of individual titles to 12 consecutive years.

Barker and Noonan overcame respective health issues and extended periods without competition during the regular season to regain confidence Friday and establish momentum entering the CIF-Southern Section postseason schedule.

Barker, who won a pair of Pacific Coast Conference titles for Laguna Hills in 2021-22, repeated as South Coast champion by covering the 3-mile course in 16 minutes, 16.6 seconds to help Trabuco Hills place five scorers in the top eight and prevail by a 21-47 margin against El Toro.

Holly Barker (11/8/2024)

San Clemente took third with 88 points and Capistrano Valley, led by Audrey Heath taking ninth in 17:30.3, edged Dana Hills – highlighted by a third-place finish from senior Annie Ivarsson in 16:57.6 – on a sixth-runner tiebreaker after the lineups both accumulated 112 points.

The Mustangs, who produced a 43-60 victory last year against El Toro, secured consecutive girls team championships for the first time since winning four in a row in the Sea View League from 2006-09.

Millie Bayles was runner-up in 16:41.7, fellow junior Anna Desormeau finished fourth in 17:01.2, senior Sophie Guilfoile secured sixth in 17:16.0 and freshman Evangeline Williams earned eighth in 17:25.7 for Trabuco Hills, which also had junior Skylar Watts capture 15th in 18:02.8 and sophomore Violet Pinter grab 21st in 18:48.1.

The Mustangs are scheduled to compete in the Southern Section Division 1 prelims Nov. 15 at Mt. SAC, with El Toro expected to race Nov. 16 in Division 2.

Gweneth Williams, a sophomore, was fifth in 17:03.7 and freshman Lily Schroeder achieved seventh in 17:23.8 for El Toro, both the top competitors in the league in their own grades.

The Chargers received strong support from Lucy Varela placing 10th in 17:34.4, followed by fellow senior Sara Johnson (17:48.0) and freshmen Ava Crocker (17:54.0) and Sarah Ann Tok (17:59.1) capturing 12th, 13th and 14th, respectively. Senior Dakota Danaher returned to the El Toro lineup for the first time since Aug. 28 to take 19th in 18:29.2.

Noonan also returned following an extended break from competition, but responded in impressive fashion to win in 14:03.1, matching the South Coast three-peat achieved by former Dana Hills standout Jai Dawson from 2019-21.

Evan Noonan (11/8/2024)

Noonan, who hadn’t raced since Oct. 5 at the Nike XC Town Twilight event in Indiana, led from wire to wire against a veteran group of competitors, including junior teammate Oliver Hunter taking third in 14:27.2.

They are both expected to compete Nov. 16 at the Southern Section Division 3 prelims at Mt. SAC.

But Trabuco Hills had too much depth for the rest of the field, following its Sea View League boys team title last season by placing five scorers in the top 17 to earn a 43-62 victory against San Clemente, which won South Coast championships in 2021 and 2022.

El Toro took third at 63 points, with defending champion Dana Hills placing fourth following a 76-point effort and Aliso Niguel achieving fifth with 86 points. Dana Hills was attempting to win back-to-back South Coast crowns again following a run of nine consecutive championships from 2012 to March 2021, following the cancellation of the 2020 fall season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dylan Jubak led Trabuco Hills by clocking 14:22.0 to place second, fellow senior Ziyad Abdallah was fourth in 14:35.4, Carsten Williams took ninth in 15:03.9, Sebastian Bello clocked 15:07.5 to capture 11th and James Kuhn earned 17th in 15:36.4 for the Mustangs, who are anticipating the return of sophomore Lucan Clemons to the lineup for the Southern Section Division 1 prelims and finals.

El Toro was led by seniors Daniel Bulalacao (14:36.6) and Rogan Arriaga (15:03.6) finishing fifth and eighth, respectively, with San Clemente sophomores Yohan Anderson (14:45.3) and Mattheus Dos Santos (14:51.7) securing sixth and seventh overall.

Aliso Niguel junior Parker McAdam rounded out the top 10 by running 15:06.9.

By Erik Boal