Training around Newport’s Back Bay pays off for locals at Laguna Hills Invitational

Read Full Article here: https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports/story/2025-10-02/local-cross-country-runners-find-success-at-laguna-hills-invitational

By Andrew Turner - Staff Writer. Daily Pilot: 

LAGUNA HILLS — In mild conditions, with the temperature keeping to the low 70s, local cross-country runners — particularly those who train around Newport Beach’s Back Bay — showed well in burning up the course at the Laguna Hills Invitational on Saturday.

Kevin Steinman, a senior at Corona del Mar, crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 13.7 seconds to win the small schools junior and senior race. Steinman raced to victory in each of his four career appearances at the meet.

The Sea Kings secured the top three spots in that race, with seniors Aidan Algazi (16:43.2) and Pierce Frankfort (16:52.4) coming in behind the CdM ace.

Edison’s Avery Williams (339) competes in the girls’ championship varsity race of the Laguna Hills Invitational on Saturday. (Andrew Turner)

Sophomore Miles Ward was also a race winner for CdM, completing the course — and its challenging Hawk Hill — in 16:45.8.

Laguna Hills has traditionally offered exclusively grade-level competition, but in the 41st running of its invitational, a varsity championship was contested for the first time. Some schools admitted being unfamiliar with the entry or selection process, leading to fewer schools entering those races.

San Clemente, led by race winner Yohan Anderson (15:17.5), placed four runners in the top nine to best St. Margaret’s 25-73 for the inaugural boys’ title.

Long Beach Wilson doubled up Downey Warren 32-64 to win the girls’ championship, with the individual honors going to West Torrance’s Kamilah Salim (17:21.6).

Newport Harbor’s Ethan Soule won the boys’ medium schools sophomore race at the Laguna Hills Invitational on Saturday. (Andrew Turner)

The future looks bright for the Newport Harbor boys, who were first among a quintet of schools to have enough runners to post a team score in the medium schools sophomore race. Ethan Soule (16:57.8) finished first for the Sailors.

“I think we have a good chance of making it to CIF,” Soule said, adding that having five sophomores who compete well foreshadows what they will be able to do later in their prep careers. “We definitely have some underclassman talent, so in a couple years, we should be getting better. But right now, I think we can still make it to CIF as a team.”

Junior Khyler Bonaparte could also be a part of that equation, as he placed third in his race with a time of 16:52.7.

Three local girls produced runner-up performances at the meet, including CdM junior Emilie Steinman (sister to Kevin), whose 19:17.4 race time was narrowly beaten by Samueli Academy senior Lyari Chavez (19:15.9). Chavez made the pass near the finishing chute after Steinman led during an uphill run approaching the stadium.

Corona del Mar’s Emilie Steinman leads Samueli Academy’s Lyari Chavez near the end of a race in the Laguna Hills Invitational. (Andrew Turner)

Junior Grace DeCicco, making her Sea Kings debut, also ran up front for a good portion of the race, placing fourth in 20:03.3.

“She moved from Calvary Chapel to our team just this year,” Steinman said of DeCicco. “We had [the] Woodbridge [Cross-Country Classic] first, and because she transferred, she had to miss a certain amount of days, so she didn’t run Woodbridge. This is the first time running on the team with me, and I love it. I grew up with her. We have a good friendship, so it’s nice running with her.”

More promising prospects in the lineup bring hopes of team success.

“I think for my high school career, I was mostly racing individually,” Steinman said. “This season is going to be the first time we’re really racing as a team. We want to try to qualify for CIF.”

Corona del Mar’s Emilie Steinman (218) and Grace DeCicco (211) ran up front in the Laguna Hills Invitational on Saturday. (Andrew Turner)

Newport Harbor’s Sophia Garcia-Ramirez (20:06.6) placed second in the junior and senior race in the medium schools division, while Costa Mesa’s Arianna Anderson (23:01.1) was second among freshman girls in the small schools division.

Edison’s top performers entered the varsity races as individuals. The pace-setters for the Chargers were juniors Zachery Byerley (17:09.3) and Avery Williams (18:53.9).

Fountain Valley will host the Central Park Invitational in Huntington Beach on Saturday. The boys’ sweepstakes race is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., with the girls’ sweepstakes race to follow at 9 a.m.

BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY - Laguna Hills Invitational @ Laguna Hills High

3-mile course

Championship Race

Team Results

1. San Clemente 25; 2. St. Margaret’s 73; 3. Los Alamitos 82; 4. Aliso Niguel 93; 5. Monrovia 115; 6. Capistrano Valley 137; 7. Santiago 139; 8. Northwood 156

Individuals

1. Anderson (San Clemente) 15:17.5; 2. Johansson (San Clemente) 15:25.9; 3. Pincherli (Long Beach Wilson) 15:29.5; 4. Dos Santos (San Clemente) 15:32.4; 5. Menlove (Monrovia) 15:41.2; 6. Bank (Monrovia) 15:42.3; 7. Wadhwa (St. Margaret’s) 15:42.8; 8. Cause (St. Margaret’s) 15:43.3; 9. Troester (San Clemente) 15:46.0; 10. Mayhue (Los Alamitos) 15:46.8; 37. Byerley (Edison) 17:09.3

Large Senior / Junior

1. Mehnert (West Torrance) 15:30.8; 2. Yarbrough (Del Norte) 15:50.7; 3. Jaurigue (San Clemente) 15:51.9; 4. Miranda (West Torrance) 15:53.7; 5. Sidhu (San Clemente) 16:15.1

Large Sophomore

1. Wheeler (West Torrance) 15:51.6; 2. Mashburn-Gillia (West Torrance) 16:12.3; 3. Burris (West Torrance) 16:13.2; 4. Ramirez (Del Norte) 17:05.9; 5. Whitesides (Aliso Niguel) 17:09.2

Large Freshman

1. Chantaca (San Clemente) 16:49.7; 2. Mak (Northwood) 17:08.4; 3. Montijo (Aliso Niguel) 17:11.0; 4. Hsiao (Northwood) 17:13.1; 5. Nader (Long Beach Wilson) 17:15.8

Medium Senior / Junior

1. Gish (University) 16:44.0; 2. Bletscher (Foothill) 16:46.1; 3. Bonaparte (Newport Harbor) 16:52.7; 4. Ayala (Foothill) 17:09.1; 5. Neujahr (Foothill) 17:12.3

Medium Sophomore

1. Soule (Newport Harbor) 16:57.8; 2. Campus (Temescal Canyon) 17:05.3; 3. Xanthos (Capistrano Valley) 17:09.7; 4. Paxia (University) 17:11.4; 5. Chantaphakul (Capistrano Valley) 17:16.3

Medium Freshman

1. Xu (University) 18:13.9; 2. Harashima (Capistrano Valley) 18:49.2; 3. Aiza (Capistrano Valley) 18:49.4; 4. Rasmussen (Edison) 18:52.9; 5. McNair (Edison) 19:24.6

Small Senior / Junior

1. K. Steinman (Corona del Mar) 16:13.7; 2. Algazi (Corona del Mar) 16:43.2; 3. Frankfort (Corona del Mar) 16:52.4; 4. Cichon (Samueli Academy) 17:02.5; 5. Alvarez (Godinez) 17:04.6

Small Sophomore

1. Ward (Corona del Mar) 16:45.8; 2. Labovitch (St. Margaret’s) 16:55.4; 3. Weitzman (Corona del Mar) 17:02.6; 4. Magana (Godinez) 17:13.7; 5. Soroosh (Laguna Hills) 17:37.5

Small Freshman

1. Clampitt (St. Margaret’s) 17:38.4; 2. Grzeskowiak (St. Margaret’s) 18:43.6; 3. Oh (St. Margaret’s) 18:44.0; 4. Garcia (Samueli Academy) 18:57.6; 5. Vazquez (Godinez) 18:59.5

GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY - Laguna Hills Invitational @ Laguna Hills High

3-mile course

Championship Race

Team Results

1. Long Beach Wilson 32; 2. Warren 64; 3. Monrovia 70; 4. Aliso Niguel 77; 5. Los Alamitos 122; 6. Rosary 151; 7. Orange Vista 154

Individuals

1. Salim (West Torrance) 17:21.6; 2. Mejia (Long Beach Wilson) 17:46.2; 3. Terrill (Monrovia) 17:49.6; 4. Ursinin (Mira Costa) 17:57.7; 5. Turner (Mission Viejo) 18:05.0; 6. Blanco (University) 18:16.0; 7. Buckley (Long Beach Wilson) 18:26.2; 8. Jones (Aliso Niguel) 18:37.9; 9. Gomez (Warren) 18:43.8; 10. Huerta (Warren) 18:47.1; 12. Williams (Edison) 18:53.9

Large Senior / Junior

1. Ziemer (Warren) 20:17.8; 2. Bryant (Long Beach Wilson) 20:54.5; 3. Honore (Warren) 21:07.1; 4. Gabison (Long Beach Wilson) 21:11.5; 5. Santana (Warren) 21:15.1

Large Sophomore

1. Zamani (Aliso Niguel) 20:23.9; 2. Calvin (San Clemente) 20:39.9; 3. Hart (San Clemente) 20:52.8; 4. Singer (Warren) 20:54.1; 5. Emi (Los Alamitos) 21:05.4

Large Freshman

1. Ball (San Clemente) 19:12.3; 2. Camera (Los Alamitos) 19:31.2; 3. Kim (Mira Costa) 20:04.7; 4. Carranza (Warren) 20:06.3; 5. George (Long Beach Wilson) 20:30.0

Medium Senior / Junior

1. Dilworth (Foothill) 19:55.1; 2. Garcia-Ramirez (Newport Harbor) 20:06.6; 3. Aguas (Foothill) 20:14.9; 4. Conley (University) 20:16.3; 5. Butcher (Newport Harbor) 20:25.7

Medium Sophomore

1. Banuelos (Dana Hills) 19:49.1; 2. Diaz (Foothill) 20:05.4; 3. Saragoza (Dana Hills) 20:32.0; 4. Huse (Foothill) 20:43.5; 5. Lin (University) 21:40.5

Medium Freshman

1. Mooney (Foothill) 19:53.2; 2. Papineau (Temescal Canyon) 19:54.7; 3. Cabal (Newport Harbor) 20:03.9; 4. Miller (Capistrano Valley) 21:12.4; 5. Tangredi (Foothill) 21:38.2

Small Senior / Junior

1. Chavez (Samueli Academy) 19:15.9; 2. E. Steinman (Corona del Mar) 19:17.4; 3. Yoast (Laguna Hills) 19:49.5; 4. DeCicco (Corona del Mar) 20:03.3; 5. Li (St. Margaret’s) 20:17.6

Small Sophomore

1. Beshk (St. Margaret’s) 20:11.0; 2. Gonzalez (Godinez) 21:04.2; 3. Uriostegui (Godinez) 21:12.8; 4. Nestorov (Corona del Mar) 21:29.8; 5. Garcia (San Diego) 21:34.8

Small Freshman

1. Yeh (St. Margaret’s) 21:40.6; 2. Anderson (Costa Mesa) 23:01.1; 3. Buby (San Diego) 23:14.0; 4. Casteneda (Samueli Academy) 23:23.5; 5. Lang (San Diego) 23:26.9

Read Full Article here: https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports/story/2025-10-02/local-cross-country-runners-find-success-at-laguna-hills-invitational