PREP CROSS-COUNTRY ROUNDUP : Costa Mesa Girls Wait Until Pacific Coast League Finals to Lose a Meet

The moment she crossed the finish line Thursday afternoon, Katy Eklof was elated. The Costa Mesa High School junior had won the Pacific Coast League girls’ cross-country title at O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon, upsetting teammate Denisha Bendz in course-record time.

Then came the bad news.

Eklof’s team, which entered the league final with a 5-0 league dual-meet record, lost the title to Laguna Hills, which placed five runners in the top 25 to win with 49 points. Costa Mesa was second with 56, followed by Laguna Beach (71).

The top three teams in each league advanced to the Southern Section preliminaries Nov. 10 at Mt. San Antonio College.

“I am so shocked,” Eklof said of her victory in 19 minutes 47 seconds for three miles, one that surpassed the course record of 20:03 set by Bendz earlier this year.

Eklof then was told Laguna Hills was the upset winner.

“Oh, we’re dead,” she said. “We’d finished one-two-three in every league meet. Everyone thought we’d win. . . . We’re rather embarrassed by this.”

There was no embarrassment in the boys’ race. Chris Lynch’s victory led Laguna Hills (5-0 in league meets) to the team title with just 33 points. Costa Mesa was second at 43, Laguna Beach third (90).

Lynch, a junior, had a 10-yard lead on Laguna Beach’s David Brobeck at the two-mile mark, the point in the course where runners begin their run down an extremely steep, rocky trail. But Brobeck, Laguna Beach’s No. 1 runner, tripped on a tree root and landed face first about 10 yards away. Dazed and bruised, Brobeck did not finish.

“I never ran with Brobeck before,” said Lynch, whose time of 16:19 ranks third best on the all-time list at O’Neill Park. “He tripped going down that hill. I heard a big thump. That’s the part of the race I like, though. I like the hills. This is a great course for me.”