Mira Costa senior runs 15:43.5 on 3-mile layout to eclipse 2016 meet record by NXN champion Oakley by 10 seconds, leading four athletes to sub-16 efforts; Runner-up McDonnell produces third-fastest all-time mark, helping Newbury Park edge Flower Mound and Buchanan for first girls sweepstakes crown

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

NORCO, Calif. – Despite running the fastest 3-mile performance of her career Sept. 3 at the Cool Breeze Invitational, senior Dalia Frias of Mira Costa High in California knew that tactically, her race could have been better.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS | RACE HIGHLIGHTS

That’s because Frias, a 2019 Foot Locker All-American, allowed the final kilometer of the race at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena to come down to a kick against the fastest 14-year-old miler in the world, Ventura freshman Sadie Engelhardt.

Frias demonstrated Saturday in the Bob Day Sweepstakes race at the 40th Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, presented by ASICS, that not only has she developed her speed, but she is also a quick study.

Competing against Engelhardt and several other elite athletes in the deepest field she has raced against since the Foot Locker Nationals during her sophomore season, Frias made a decisive move before the 2-mile mark and never relinquished control.

Her strategy paid off with not only a new 3-mile personal-best 15 minutes, 43.5 seconds at SilverLakes Sports Complex, but also the fastest time in meet history by a full 10 seconds.

Frias, who ran 16:01.1 to place second in the Cool Breeze Sundown Showdown, eclipsed the all-time Woodbridge mark of 15:53.6 achieved by 2016 Nike Cross Nationals champion Brie Oakley of Grandview High in Colorado. She prevailed against fellow senior Samantha McDonnell, who ran the third-fastest time in meet history by clocking 15:54.6 to lead Newbury Park to its first sweepstakes team title with a 124-130 victory over Lewisville Flower Mound High from Texas.

Senior Natalie Cook from Flower Mound took third in 15:56.3, the fourth-fastest performance in meet history, remaining within a second of Frias at the 2-mile mark, before the Mira Costa standout ran a 4:56.8 final mile to secure the record.

Cook produced the fastest time by a Texas female athlete in meet history, eclipsing the 2009 mark of 16:01 by Sarah Andrews of Conroe The Woodlands.

Isabel Conde de Frankenberg of Cedar Park High in Texas finished fourth in 15:59.5, doubling the total number of sub-16 efforts achieved at the event in one night. The reigning UIL 5A champion also elevated to the No. 2 all-time Texas competitor, as well as the second-fastest sophomore athlete, trailing only two-time sweepstakes winner and former Buchanan High of California standout Corie Smith (15:58.4) from 2017.

Sydney Sundgren, a junior, improved almost a full minute from her Woodbridge debut in 2019, placing fifth in 16:03.3 for Buchanan, which took third overall with 136 points.

Junior Lauren Ping of Desert Vista High lowered her Arizona all-time mark to 16:04.5 to secure sixth, with Engelhardt taking seventh in 16:04.6, eclipsing Ping’s fastest freshman performance of 16:09.8 from 2019.

Flower Mound fed off Cook’s strong start to lead at the mile mark, before Newbury Park surged to grab the advantage at the 2-mile split. Although Buchanan made up significant ground on both teams in the final mile, Newbury Park was able to contribute to a sweep of both sweepstakes titles with its boys team, which set all-time records for lowest score with 25 points and fastest team time at 69:30.9.

In addition to being separated by 12 points, the overall gap among the top three girls programs was seven seconds. Flower Mound set a new Texas all-time best by running 84:56.4, followed by Newbury Park at 85:01.8 and Buchanan at 85:03.2.

McDonnell was supported by Morgan Nygren (17:05.2) finishing 27th, freshman Tiffany Sax taking 30th in 17:07.6, Lexi Darley placing 47th in 17:22.8 and Ailish Hawkins earning 56th in 17:31.6.

Cook had sophomore twins Nicole Humphries (16:48.8) and Samantha Humphries (17:06.8) finish 19th and 29th, respectively. Alexandra Fox was 54th in 17:27.9, with Virginia Knight taking 62nd in 17:36.6 for the Jaguars.

Sundgren was followed by fellow junior Grace Hutchison (16:36.7) in 11th, with three first-time Woodbridge participants rounding the scoring runners for Buchanan. Freshman Elle Lomeli (17:12.3) was 33rd and fellow ninth-grader Sierra Cornett (17:32.4) took 58th, with sophomore Stefania Sesock placing 6th in 17:38.5.

Desert Vista was fourth at 258 points, followed by Texas programs Southlake Carroll with 289 and Austin Vandegrift at 295.

Mira Costa relied on Frias and a 10th-place finish from junior Anna Chittenden (16:36.2) to secure seventh with 301 points and JSerra, which was in the top five through the 2-mile mark, earned eighth with 331 points, ahead of Anaheim Canyon on a sixth-runner tiebreaker after the Comanches achieved the same score.

Cathedral Catholic led all San Diego programs with 333 points for 10th place, followed by Torrey Pines at 343, led by senior Annika Salz finishing eighth at 16:34.9, just ahead of McClatchy junior Anna McNatt in ninth at 16:35.3.

Oaks Christian sophomore Payton Godsey won the girls varsity rated race in 17:00.1, followed by El Paso Eastwood teammates Lauren Walls-Portillo (17:17.6) and Adelynn Rodriguez (17:20.1).

El Toro High of California secured the varsity rated team title with 189 points, ahead of the 'B' lineup from Great Oak with 206 points.