She Moves to Front in Short Order

By all standards, including her own, Ligaya Lange was destined to be an also-ran when she joined the girls’ cross-country team at St. Margaret’s last season.

Lange had run track during her freshman year at San Clemente, but her personal best time of 6 minutes 24 seconds in the 1,600 meters hardly raised an eyebrow among teammates and coaches, even at the Division V private school in San Juan Capistrano.

It was at her father’s urging that Lange went out for the team, and she immediately felt comfortable among the other runners, but she didn’t mince words downplaying her abilities.

“I was telling them, ‘You know, I’m probably not going to be that good of a runner,’ ” Lange said. “I didn’t expect to be very good because I wasn’t very good at track.”

Lange backed up that statement a couple weeks later when she ran 24:55 in the novice race at the Laguna Hills Invitational and finished seventh among first-time runners on her team.

But things quickly began to change for Lange. Two weeks later, she was the third finisher on her team at a dual meet at Salt Creek, improving her time to 21:49.

At the Mt. San Antonio Invitational, Lange finished fourth on her team (24:01), then third on the same course in the Southern Section Division V finals (21:02). Lange capped off the season impressively by finishing 26th in the state meet in 20:47. She was second on her team only to Jacqueline Wilkins in helping the Tartans to a fifth-place finish.

Lange, now a junior, took the advice of Coach Walt Linaweaver and continued to train through the summer, running four days a week with the team and four or five days a week along Pacific Coast Highway or around the track at an intermediate school across from her home in San Clemente.

“When I started making really big improvements I was like, ‘Wow, I can do this. If I work really hard, I can do this,’ ” Lange said.

Lange’s persistence has pushed her ahead of Wilkins and Kipp Downey as the top runner for the Tartans this season, and she has already proved to be one of the county’s top runners in her division.

On an alternate, more difficult course at the Laguna Hills Invitational this month, Lange ran 19:51 and placed sixth overall in the Division III junior/senior race, then ran 18:48 while placing third in the Division III junior/senior race at last weekend’s Dana Hills Invitational.

“Last year she had about a five-minute difference. It’s amazing,” said Downey, an state qualifier two years ago. “My times have stayed relatively the same and she just gets better and better. I’m so proud of her, she’s doing so well and helping this team a lot.”

THIS WEEKEND

Several of the county’s top teams will be competing Saturday at the Stanford Invitational, the largest and most prestigious invitational in Northern California.

Corona del Mar, the top-ranked girls’ team in the county and in Division IV, will have the best opportunity for a team title. Last season, the Katella and Newport Harbor boys and the Santa Margarita and Esperanza girls won titles.

Also competing will be Costa Mesa, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Trabuco Hills, Mater Dei and Katella.

Locally, Brea Olinda is hosting an invitational at Carbon Canyon Regional Park on Saturday. Orange, Century, Buena Park, Troy and Magnolia also are entered.

Santa Ana’s third-ranked boys’ team is competing at the Temecula Invitational on Saturday.

If you have an item or idea for the cross-country report, you can fax us at (714) 966-5663 or e-mail us at ocsports@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Southern Section Polls

BOYS

Division I--1. Chino Don Lugo; 2. Katella; 3. Long Beach Poly; 4. Rialto; 5. Santa Ana Valley; 6. Mission Viejo; 7. Hesperia Sultana; 8. Palos Verdes Peninsula; 9. Saugus; 10. Santa Ana.

Division II--1. Agoura; 2. Valencia; 3. Burbank Burroughs; 4. Santa Margarita; 5. Santa Barbara San Marcos; 6. Santiago; 7. Tustin; 8. Barstow; 9. Newport Harbor; 10. Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World.

Division III--1. Rosemead Don Bosco; 2. Covina South Hills; 3. La Canada; 4. La Puente Bassett; 5. San Luis Obispo; 6. La Puente; 7. South Pasadena; 8. Lompoc; 9. South El Monte; 10. Chaparral.

Division IV--1. Agoura Oak Park; 2. Ojai Nordhoff; 3. Fillmore; 4. Corona del Mar; 5. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame; 6. Los Angeles Salesian; 7. Morro Bay; 8. Orange Lutheran; 9. Laguna Beach; 10. Estancia.

Division V--1. Lancaster Desert Christian; 2. La Canada Flintridge Prep; 3. Los Angeles Cathedral; 4. Downey Calvary Chapel; 5. Sierra Madre Maranatha; 6. Oxnard Santa Clara; 7. Mammoth; 8. Pasadena Poly; 9. L.A. Baptist; 10. St. Margaret’s.

GIRLS

Division I--1. Palos Verdes Peninsula; 2. Yucaipa; 3. Rialto; 4. Hesperia Sultana; 5. Woodbridge; 6. Esperanza; 7. Redlands East Valley; 8. Capistrano Valley; 9. Los Alamitos; 10. University.

Division II--1. Santa Margarita; 2. Brea Olinda; 3. Foothill; 4. Pacifica; 5. Westlake Village Westlake; 6. Trabuco Hills; 7. Laguna Hills; 8. Newport Harbor; 9. Lakewood St. Joseph; 10. Tustin.

Division III--1. La Canada; 2. Covina South Hills; 3. San Luis Obispo; 4. Lompoc; 5. Rosary; 6. South Pasadena; 7. La Verne Bonita; 8. La Puente Bishop Amat; 9. Hesperia; 10. South El Monte,

Division IV-1. Corona del Mar; 2. Ojai Nordhoff; 3. Woodland Hills Louisville; 4. Morro Bay; 5. Pasadena La Salle; 6. Santa Maria St. Joseph; 7. Estancia; 8. Ventura St. Bonaventure; 9. Malibu; 10. Fillmore.

Division V--1. Northwood; 2. Lancaster Desert Christian; 3. Palos Verdes Chadwick; 4. Bermuda Dunes Desert Christian; 5. La Canada Flintridge Prep; 6. Sierra Madre Maranatha; 7. St. Margaret’s; 8. Oxnard Santa Clara; 9. L.A. Baptist; 10. Downey Calvary Chapel.