THE TIMES 1995 FALL ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : She’s Only Lacking Experience : Runner of the year: In her first competitive season, University High freshman Marquand is at the front of the pack.

IRVINE —  Sometimes, not knowing what to expect when undertaking an endeavor can be a blessing. Just ask standout cross-country runner Allyson Marquand.

The University High freshman began her season never having run competitively. Three months later, she is The Times Orange County girl runner of the year.

“Over the summer, I ran with the team, but I didn’t really know what I could do,” Marquand said. “I was just hoping to make varsity and get into the Southern Section prelims.”

She not only qualified for the section preliminaries, but the Division II-AA race gave her the reputation as one of the West Coast’s finest prep runners.

Leading from the start, Marquand’s first effort on the hilly course at Mt. San Antonio College was one for the record books. She won in 17 minutes 40 seconds, the third-fastest time by a freshman on the course and only five seconds behind the freshman record time set by Nordhoff’s Elaine Canchola.

“She’s as impressive a newcomer as I’ve ever seen in this sport,” section historian Doug Speck said. “It’s shockingly pleasing to have talent like this roll in in the ‘90s.”

Said Marquand: “I wasn’t expecting my time to be that fast. I was just hoping to break 18 minutes at prelims.”

The next week at the section finals at Mt. SAC, Marquand dropped two seconds off her time to win the individual title and help University finish second to Dana Hills. The Trojan team advanced to the state meet for the first time.

“She was a big addition and we couldn’t have done it without her,” Trojan Coach Janice Rolfing said. “The whole team, her included, put in a lot of work to make that happen.”

Marquand has begun playing with the girls’ soccer team, and the week before the state cross-country finals, she strained a muscle in her lower left leg during practice. The injury slowed her bid for the individual title at the Division II finals in Fresno, but she managed to finish fifth in 18:17.

The next week, on the same course in Fresno, she finished 19th in the Foot Locker Western Regionals, which left her with a goal for her second season of cross-country next fall.

“I didn’t even know what regionals or nationals were until halfway through the season, so I was pretty happy with my 19th place,” said Marquand, who will work to finish among the top eight in the region to qualify for the national meet.

She has played for the Mission Viejo Soccer Club the last four years. Even at the start of her first cross-country season, Marquand gave top priority to soccer, running only when there wasn’t a schedule conflict.

“I’ve been playing soccer for so long that I wasn’t ready to just give it up like that,” Marquand said.

Balancing the two became crucial, as meets and club games would often be scheduled on the same day.

“I did a lot of running out of [finish] chutes and into the car this year,” Marquand said.