Blade triumphs on adjusted 3-mile rain course to lead Santiago past Barker and Trabuco Hills; Oaks Christian’s Godsey three-peats and JSerra extends streak in Division 4, with Engelhardt earning back-to-back Division 2 titles for champion Ventura

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

WALNUT, Calif. – Corona Santiago finally joined the club Saturday morning.

The Sharks’ long ascension to becoming an elite program took another step when they won their first CIF-Southern Section Division 1 championship in a 49-65 triumph over Trabuco Hills at Mt. San Antonio College.

Saugus (156 points) and Vista Murrieta (157) were third and fourth, respectively.

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The other team winners Saturday read like an old list you’d expect – Ventura and Sadie Engelhardt (Division 2), Dana Hills (Division 3), JSerra (Division 4) and St. Margaret’s (Division 5).

“We knew that if we put ourselves in the race and just competed to the best of our ability, we knew we would have a good shot at winning,” said Corona Santiago junior Rylee Blade, who ran the No. 2 female time of the day on the adjusted 3-mile Mt. SAC rain course in 15 minutes, 32.8 seconds.

“We honestly just ran with heart and ran for each other and I think it worked out today.”

Corona Santiago advanced to race Nov. 25 at the Division 1 state final at Woodward Park in Fresno, looking to end the three-year championship run of Buchanan High.

“We definitely knew that every single point mattered,” said sophomore Braelyn Combe, who finished third Saturday in 16:32.4, passing two girls in the final 100 meters.

“That was me going around in the last lap and I was like, ‘OK, I have to get these girls right now, I have to get these girls. I don’t know what the score is, but I know every point matters.”

Sophomore Taylor Davis (14th, 17:10.5), senior Madilyn Siana (16th, 17:14.1) and junior Audrey Buckley (27th, 17:42.8) rounded out Santiago’s five scorers.

After missing a title by five points a year ago, Saturday was sweet vindication for the Sharks, especially against a Trabuco Hills lineup that included Holly Barker placing second in 16:06.6.

“It just means everything,” Blade said. “All the hard moments, all the good days, all the bad days, every sweat and every tear, it just all came together today. I’m just extremely proud of the girls and just how we did.”

While Santiago was throwing a new wrinkle into Division 1, Division 2 lived up to the promise of depth that was offered. Engelhardt won her second consecutive section championship in 15:26.8, and while she won by a lot – 68 seconds – she has a lot of competitors.

“I wasn’t necessarily going for a time, I don’t think,” Engelhardt said. “But I did want to hammer the first and second mile and see what I got at the end.”

Arielle Avina led Murrieta Valley’s resurgence and first qualification for the state meet in nearly 15 years by placing second in 16:34.2. Teammate Sofia Lieberman was sixth in 16:49.5 for the Nighthawks, who took third with 109 points.

Claremont wound up as the Division 2 runner-up behind Ventura by a 61-94 margin. Senior Denise Chen placed fifth in 16:47.7.

Freshman Gweneth Williams led El Toro to a state meet berth after placing third in 16:37.1. Newport Harbor junior Marley McCullough will go individually after finishing fourth in 16:40.6.

Another stacked race was Division 4, where JSerra dominated as a team, defeating Oaks Christian 31-79 for its third consecutive section championship.

Four JSerra runners – Sophie Polay (third, 16:35.4), Kaylah Tasser (fourth, 16:38), Summer Wilson (fifth, 16:50) and Brynn Garcia (seventh, 17:12.6) – led them to a big team win.

Individually, though, Oaks Christian senior Payton Godsey dominated in winning her third straight title in 16:12.7.

“I kind of just went out and into the race just wanting to do the best I could for my team,” Godsey said. “I didn’t even have a superset game plan. I just went out there and went by feel and I went out and kind of noticed I was alone after a couple of hundred meters, so I was like, ‘All right, this is my game plan to just run hard from the start.’”

In Division 3, Corona del Mar senior Melisse Djomby Enyawe won by nearly a half-minute, finishing in 16:46.6 after placing second last season.

Dana Hills, led by junior Annie Ivarsson finishing second in 17:15.0, won the team title by an 84-122 margin against Santa Margarita.

In Division 5, St. Margaret’s achieved a 94-105 victory over Thacher. Pacifica Christian senior Ella Murray topped the field in 17:52.6, with Joyce Li leading the Tartans by placing second in 17:58.0.