Dybdahl edges Fast Horse by 14:04.5 to 14:05.1 margin on adjusted 3-mile rain course at Mt. SAC, lifting Santa Barbara to Division 2 title; Noonan clocks 13:56.0, as Dana Hills joins San Clemente, St. Francis and Viewpoint in defending section crowns

By Pete Marshall for DyeStat

WALNUT, Calif. – Anthony Fast Horse held bragging rights over Andreas Dybdahl, having defeated him twice this season in Channel League races.

But Dybdahl, a Santa Barbara senior, edged out Fast Horse in the final meters Saturday to win the Division 2 race at the CIF-Southern Section Championships at Mt. San Antonio College.

Due to expected inclement weather that did not pan out, the 3-mile race was run on the adjusted flatter rain course, rather than Mt. SAC’s famous hilly 2.93-mile layout.

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With the race finishing on the track, Dybdahl ran 14:04.5, to prevail. Fast Horse, a Ventura senior, finished in 14:05.1.

“I love that course because it has some track on it,” Dybdahl said. “And track is really what I love. When I got to the track, I knew I was going to chase the Horse down today. I’ve had a pretty mediocre season, so I’m super happy to get a win here today.”

That slight edge ended up giving Santa Barbara the team title by an 86-88 margin over Ventura. Had Fast Horse not been passed by Dybdahl in the final meters, Santa Barbara and Ventura would have tied with 87 points, although Santa Barbara would still have been the team champion on the sixth-runner tiebreaker.

“The last bit I went for it and it happens, you win some and you lose some,” Fast Horse said. “Going into the race, I was a little sick, but it doesn’t really matter. I ended up not taking the win, but I’m happy for Andreas and I just have to get my head straight for next week and hopefully NXN after.”

Fast Horse did not want to use the fact that it was a flatter course as an excuse.

“I don’t think it was really any disadvantage for what course we ran,” he said. “I think it (a flatter course) is going to help us going into next week. At the end of the day, everybody’s running the same course. It doesn’t really matter.”

It was the closest individual race on the boys side as teams and individuals were not only vying for section titles but also trying to finish among the top seven programs or among the top five other individuals on non-qualifying teams in each division to advance to race Nov. 25 at the CIF-State Championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

The top boys time of the day came in the Division 3 race, where Dana Hills’ Evan Noonan was victorious in 13:56.0, his third sub-14 performance on a 3-mile layout this season, including the Sept. 16 at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic and Oct. 14 at the Orange County Championships. He ran with teammate Jayden Hernandez for a while, then pulled away, as Hernandez finished in 14:12.4.

The Dolphins easily repeated as the Division 3 team champion with 29 points as West Ranch was runner-up with 108.

“What more could you ask for?” Noonan said. “We came out here and we knew what we wanted to do as a team and we executed perfectly. I think winning CIF is a very good morale booster for us.”

Not far behind Noonan’s time was Jason Parra of Long Beach Millikan, who won the Division 1 race in 13:57.4, winning by more than 10 seconds.

Although it wasn’t announced officially until Friday that the rain course would be used instead of the regular Mt. SAC layout, Parra knew it was a possibility early in the week. And he felt confident if they ran the rain course instead.

“I wasn’t worrying about the rain course because if the rain course was actually the one we were going to do, then I’m really good at flat. And I was pretty confident I would be the one to take it,” Parra said.

Parra’s heroics weren’t enough to advance his team to state, however. Millikan finished eighth, three points behind Crescenta Valley for the seventh and final Division 1 state qualifying berth.

San Clemente won the Division 1 team crown for the second year in a row, edging out Great Oak, 60-84. Great Oak had held a projected 80-81 lead in the final checkpoint before the finish line.

While Brett Ephraim led the Tritons with a third-place finish (14:10.7), his teammates Taj Clark (ninth), Kai Olsen (10th), Pierce Clark (21st) and Dallin Harrington (25th) each moved up at least five spots between the final checkpoint and the finish.

“That was an absolutely legendary finish,” Clark said. “We paced out the first two miles well and finished with all we could for our team.” 

Junior Eyan Turk of Woodcrest Christian might have been competing in the race for the smallest schools, Division 5, but nonetheless turned in an outstanding time in the first race of the day (14:07.3), winning by nearly 30 seconds for his second straight title.

“I would have to find another way to break from the pack instead of on the hills like I normally would,” said Turk on how he adjusted his strategy from the regular course to the rain course. “I knew I would have to put a gap or just be prepared to fight at the end that last 300 meters. But it all worked out in the end.”

The closest boys team race came in Division 5, as Viewpoint edged out Cate by a 115-116 margin to repeat as champions.

In Division 4, Cathedral’s Emmanuel Perez won the individual title (14:09.1), with St. Francis capturing back-to-back team titles with an 82-119 victory against JSerra.