Newport Harbor’s Keaton Robar sets school record in Woodbridge Classic
IRVINE — Newport Harbor’s recent success in distance running has emboldened the program to go after big goals.
Seniors Keaton Robar and Marley McCullough found themselves in a top-flight field on Saturday night, as the Sailors’ returning state qualifiers competed in the Bob Day girls’ sweepstakes of the 43rd annual Woodbridge Cross-Country Classic.
School history was made on the flat, mostly grass course at the Great Park in Irvine. Robar placed 20th in 16 minutes 28.5 seconds, ascending to the top of the Sailors’ all-time three-mile performance list.
Paige Tennison set the previous school record of 16:33.0 in the Woodbridge Classic when it was held at Estancia High in 2012. Tennison was also a senior at the time.
Robar and McCullough each placed among the top 12 in the Division 2 race of the CIF State cross-country championships last fall. They helped the Sailors to a runner-up finish in the Southern Section’s track and field championships in the spring.
Newport Harbor coach Haley Bates called the sweepstakes race the “hardest effort of the year thus far,” but she was also excited to have top competition push the Sailors to new heights.
Corona Santiago’s Rylee Blade obliterated the meet record with a winning time of 15:20.3, besting a standard of 15:32.5 set last year by Provo (Utah) Timpview’s Jane Hedengren. The race saw 53 girls achieve times of under 17 minutes.
“As a coach, you should always be supporting all runners — all high school runners,” Bates said. “You also want better competition for your kids because that pushes you to be better. It was cool for me to see all these young girls having that confidence. It’s like, ‘I’m going to go for it, and I’m going to see what I can do.’”
Newport Harbor workouts have also received a boost from the return of a highly-accomplished and well-regarded alumnus. Alexis Garcia, who remains the boys’ three-mile school record-holder with a time of 14:21.1 in the Sunset Conference finals at Huntington Beach’s Central Park in 2018, has joined the coaching staff as an assistant after competing at Cal State Fullerton.
“It’s been one of the biggest things for the program, and also, just for me, in general, to have someone who is running with them, too,” Bates said of Garcia, who was the Orange County champion as a senior and a three-time league champion. “... He can talk about his experiences here, and the kids are like, ‘Oh my gosh, you did all this.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, well you can do it, too.’
“For years and years, people have heard his name — Coach [Eric] Tweit and Coach [Nowell] Kay talking about his name, and all the boys gunning for those records. Now, he’s here, and they can talk to him, get his idea of how things were then, perspective and all that.”
Bates added that Garcia and herself share an ambition to have Newport Harbor become a dynasty. Athletes are being encouraged to have goals that “sound crazy,” she said.
So was Robar’s school record in line with those goals?
“We’ve had a couple of runs where it’s just us two,” Bates said. “I said, ‘Listen, in my mind, my ticket to watch you in the trials and in the Olympics is booked because you can get there. Now, you have to have your next coach, who when I pass the torch is going to believe in that too and believe in you and you say that they’re going to go, ‘Yes, let’s go,’ because that is an option.
“Is it a crazy option? Yes, but it’s something that can happen, if you’ve got someone who’s going to match your crazy. That was a stepping stone to our senior-year crazy, and so we’re definitely on the right path.”
McCullough wound up 42nd in 16:49.9. She holds a lifetime-best time of 16:40.6, established in placing fourth in the CIF Division 2 final last year at Mt. San Antonio College. She ranks third among Newport Harbor girls’ cross-country runners.
Corona del Mar’s Max Douglass drew into the Doug Speck boys’ sweepstakes race as an individual. The Sea Kings senior was coming off a grade-level race win at the Laguna Hills Invitational.
Douglass noted that his offseason involved ample cross-training, including aqua jogging in the school pool and biking. A former football player, Douglass added that he continues to work to transform his body.
“The past year and a month and a half, running has been my life,” said Douglass, who crossed the line 74th in 14:39.9. “I’m always invested in what’s going on around me in the running world. I’m looking at how to improve. I’m looking at the people who have been running many more years than I have, and I’m trying to learn how they got to where they are, what it takes, and I’m going 100% every day.”
Corona del Mar competed without its distance ace in the boys’ rated race. Of the group of six that toed the starting line for the Sea Kings, three produced times under 16 minutes — junior Kevin Steinman (94th, 15:23.8), senior Logan Walsh (163rd, 15:47.7) and junior Aidan Algazi (175th, 15:52.7).
BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Woodbridge Invitational
At Great Park, Irvine
3-mile course
Doug Speck Boys’ Sweepstakes
Team Results
1. Herriman 58; 2 Southlake Carroll 173; 3. Crater 187; 4. Hamilton (AZ) 226; 5. Coeur D’Alene 258; 6. Rock Canyon 275; 7. Mercer Island 305; 8. Mira Costa 324; 9. Matilda Torres 382; 10. Shadow Ridge (V) 400
Individuals
1. Powell (Mercer Island) 13:30.3; 2. Tostenson (Crater) 13:30.5; 3. Cervi-Skinner (Coeur D’Alene) 13:37.0; 4. Leonard (Southlake Carroll) 13:41.8; 5. Kitchen (Crater) 13:43.5; 6. Spencer (Herriman) 13:49.2; 7. Zavaleta (Martin Luther King) 13:56.4; 8. Ogomo (Herriman) 13:57.3; 9. Turk (Woodcrest Christian) 13:57.6; 10. Holman (Sonora) 13:57.6; 74. Douglass (Corona del Mar) 14:39.9
Rated Race
Team Results
1. Mountain View 148; 2. Bozeman 176; 3. Oaks Christian 179; 4. El Toro 218; 5. Redondo Union 226; 6. Herriman 269; 7. Vacaville 321; 8. Dos Pueblos 342; 9. Santiago/C 379; 10. Southlake Carroll 388
Individuals
1. Yoder (Oaks Christian) 14:15.7; 2. McNee (Oaks Christian) 14:16.5; 3. Martin (St. Francis/LC) 14:23.1; 4. Divinity Redondo Union 14:32.1; 5. Young (University) 14:34.7; 6. Stream (Vacaville) 14:35.1; 7. Stegge (Yosemite) 14:35.3; 8. Brown (Herriman) 14:35.5; 9. Smith (Air Academy) 14:35.7; 10. Cafaro (Monte Vista) 14:35.9; 94. Steinman (Corona del Mar) 15:23.8; 163. Walsh (Corona del Mar) 15:47.7; 175. Algazi (Corona del Mar) 15:52.7; 199. Harris (Corona del Mar) 16:06.8; 225. Prieto (Corona del Mar) 16:44.3; 230. Day (Corona del Mar) 16:56.0
GIRLS’ CROSS-COUNTRY
Bob Day Girls’ Sweepstakes
Team Results
1. Lewisville Flower Mound 92; 2. Ventura 112; 3. Santiago/C 141; 4. Buchanan 161; 5. JSerra 214; 6. Air Academy 263; 7. Southlake Carroll 268; 8. Conroe The Woodlands 270; 9. Tesoro 299; 10. Herriman 323
Individuals
1. Blade (Santiago/C) 15:20.3; 2. Dailey (La Jolla) 15:28.2; 3. Alder (Timpview) 15:28.9; 4. Hedengren (Timpview) 15:36.7; 5. Engelhardt (Ventura) 15:40.2; 6. Thomsen (Montgomery) 15:40.7; 7. S. Rodriguez (Mercer Island) 15:47.5; 8. Meineke (Riverdale Ridge) 15:58.2; 9. Combe (Santiago/C) 16:02.9; 10. V. Rodriguez (Mercer Island) 16:08.6; 20. Robar (Newport Harbor) 16:28.5; 42. McCullough (Newport Harbor) 16:49.9
Rated Race
Team Results
1. El Toro 90; 2. Crater 109; 3. Mira Costa 228; 4. Desert Hills 273; 5. Yorba Linda 280; 6. Ayala 298; 7. Eagle 338; 8. Canyon 345; 9. Palisades Charter 348; 10. Oak Park 349
Individuals
1. Kirk (Vista Murrieta) 16:33.0; 2. Williams (El Toro) 16:35.1; 3. Bangerter (Jackson) 16:45.8; 4. West (Crater) 16:50.9; 5. Ramos (Point Loma) 17:04.1; 6. Peck (Long Beach Poly) 17:11.2; 7. Clarke (Mira Costa) 17:11.5; 8. Wilson (Mira Costa) 17:15.2; 9. Wroblewski (Yorba Linda) 17:17.2; 10. Janssen (Glendale Preparatory Academy) 17:17.8
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