El Toro's Kevin Durham Is Leader of Cross-Country's Returning Pack

Here is a look at the top returning girls and boys cross-country runners among those schools covered by Orange County Patch sites for the 2011 season, which officially begins for most teams with the Laguna Hills Invitational, beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

BOYS

• Kevin Durham, Sr., El Toro -- The county’s top returning runner, Durham leads the highly regarded Chargers into the 2011 season.  El Toro is ranked No. 4 in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 preseason poll and No. 3 in the Orange County Register’s preseason county poll -- behind South Coast League rivals Dana Hills and Trabuco Hills in both. Selected the Register’s boys cross-country runner of the year in 2010, Durham completed last season with a 37th-place finish at the seventh annual Nike Cross Nationals Finals in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 4. His time of 17 minutes 0.6 seconds was the fastest among any county athlete competing in the prestigious event. He finished fifth in the CIF Division 1 state championship meet in a county-best 14:55, third in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 finals in another county best (15:25) and first in his heat at the CIF-SS Division I prelims, again in the fastest time turned in by any county runner in any division. Durham was also the top individual runner in the team sweepstakes race at the Mt. SAC Invitational and finished seventh in the sweepstakes race of the Woodbridge Invitational, where he also turned in the county's top individual time (14:45).

• Billy Gaudreau, Sr., St. Margaret’s -- Gadreau was selected to the all-county first team in 2010, when he finished first in the CIF Division 5 state championship meet (15:39) to lead St. Margaret’s to the team title. He was also first in the CIF-SS Division 5 finals, becoming the only county runner to win individual titles at both events. He was the Acadmy League individual champion and won the OCC's Division 3 title. Though he is, perhaps, the primary reason ESPN Rise has named the Tartans the top-ranked Division 5 boys team in the state going into this season, Gaudreau has plenty of company as St. Margaret's, ranked fourth in the county, has its entire team returning.

• Brandon Pugh, Sr., San Juan Hills -- Another first-team all-county selection last season, Pugh finished third (15:28) in the CIF Division 3 state championships, second in the CIF-SS Division 3 finals and second in the sweepstakes race of the OCC. He was the Sea View League's individual champion and led San Juan Hills to the league championship. He also won the De La Salle/Carondelet Nike Invitational. The Stallions are No. 5 in the CIF-SS Division 3 preseason poll and No. 6 in the county.

• Jared Hazlett, Sr., Trabuco Hills -- Chasing the shadow of his more celebrated teammate, Jantzen Oshier, last season, Hazlett still played an important role as the Mustangs’ No. 2 runner, helping them win the team sweepstakes title at the Orange County Championships and the South Coast League title. He finished 25th (15:41) at the CIF Division 1 state championships, where Trabuco Hills finished third behind Arcadia and Dana Hills. Despite losing Oshier, Ryan Herson, Scott Albright and Brian Gomez to graduation, the Mustangs are still No. 1 in the county's preseason rankings and No. 4 in the CIF-SS Division 1 preseason poll.

Others to Watch -- Tareq Alwafai, Sr., Aliso Niguel; Chris Andras, Jr., Sage Hill; Jake Barber, Jr., Newport Harbor; Paul Brenneman, Sr., St. Margaret’s; Lance Capel, Sr., Dana Hills; Kyle Cate, Sr., Mission Viejo; Davis Clarke, Jr., Aliso Niguel; Lucas Dorman, Sr., Trabuco Hills; Hunter Edington, So., St. Margaret’s; Jason Engel, Jr., Santa Margarita; Kyler Fisk, Sr., Tesoro; Nic Fracassi, So., JSerra; Connor Garcia, Sr., Dana Hills; Juan Gonzalez, Jr., El Toro; Kevin Hurley, Sr., Capistrano Valley; Ryan Jones, Sr., Laguna Beach; Ethan Lawrence, Sr., Dana Hills; Brendan McCabe, Jr., Trabuco Hills; Reid Meckler, Jr., Corona del Mar; Ricardo Medina, Sr., San Juan Hills; Jordan Millington, Sr., Fountain Valley; Max Moncure, Jr., Trabuco Hills; Blake Myers, Sr., Corona del Mar; Tyler Nichols, Sr., Laguna Beach; Naoki Omatsu, Jr., Trabuco Hills; Forest Parkinen, Sr., El Toro; Nick Plumb, Sr., Trabuco Hills; Brandon Price, Jr., St. Margaret’s); Michael Salzle, Sr., JSerra; Jeff White, Sr., Laguna Beach; Ross Williams, Sr., Aliso Niguel; Kyle Willis, Sr., JSerra.

GIRLS

• Ashlee Powers, Sr., Corona del Mar -- The Sea Queens’ No. 1 runner and an all-county first-team selection by the Orange County Register last season, Powers finished 10th in the CIF Division 3 state championships, turning in the fourth-fastest time (18:11) among all county runners in all five divisions. She was a fourth-place finisher at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 finals, posting the county’s fastest time of the day. Powers finished third in the Pacific Coast League finals and was eighth in the sweepstakes race of the Orange County Championships. Corona del Mar is ranked No. 2 behind Palos Verdes in the CIF-SS Division 3 preseason poll and No. 8 in the county by the Register.

• Melissa Eisele, So., San Clemente -- Another returning all-county first-teamer, Eisele finished 22nd in the CIF Division 1 state championships (18:25) to help the Tritons to an 11th-place finish. Her time of 18:51 was good enough for a 17th-place finish at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals. Both finishes were the sixth-best among all county runners and best among all county freshmen competing. Eisele won the South Coast League individual title and was the second-fastest freshman in the OCC sweepstakes race. The Tritons are No. 5 in the CIF-SS Division 1 preseason poll and No. 4 in the county.

• Sheridan Gomez, Sr., Dana Hills -- A second-team all-county pick in 2010, Gomez is the top returning runner on a Dolphins team that has state title aspirations. Despite her rough outing at the CIF Division 1 state championships last year -- she finished out of the scoring in 20:45 -- Gomez is looking to bounce back for Dana Hills, which is No. 2 behind Great Oak in the CIF-SS Division 1 preseason rankings and No. 5 in the county. She led her team with a 15th-place finish in 18:49 at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals.

• Stephanie Lapidus and Emily Scharmann, Jrs., Tesoro -- While Lapidus is a returning all-county second-team selection, this spot also belongs to Scharmann, as the two are the key returning runners for a strong and deep Titan squad that is ranked No. 2 in the county behind Foothill, but only No. 6 in the CIF-SS Division 2 preseason rankings. Scharmann won the sophomore race in the season-opening Laguna Hills Invitational in 18:08.30, ahead of runner-up Lapidus (18:08.91). Lapidus won the Division 1 sophomore race at the Dana Hills Invitational in 17:12, the best time among all county runners and the second-fastest overall time of the meet; Scharmann finished second in 17:22. Scharmann won the individual sweepstakes race at the OCC in the fastest time of the day among county runners (17:22), helping Tesoro post the third-fastest team time ever (89:14) on the modern course in winning its first team sweepstakes title. Scharmann finished fourth (18:36) in her heat at the at the CIF-SS Division 1 prelims, but Lapidus was the Titans’ top finisher at the CIF-SS Division 1 finals, running a 19:01 to place 26th. At the CIF Division 1 state championships, Tesoro finished 10th. While then-senior Nicci Corbin led the Ttians with a time of 18:34, good for 27th place, Lapidus finished 29th in 18:37 and Scharmann was 32nd in 18:39.

Others to Watch -- Kathryn Bishop, So., Trabuco Hills; Amber Bragdon, So., Fountain Valley; Paige Canterbury, Jr. Dana Hills; Brooke Dorsey, Jr., Dana Hills; Ashley Elliott, Jr., Tesoro; Stephanie Fedele (Fountain Valley, Jr.); Natasha Gunther (Dana Hills, Sr.); Madison Huffman, Jr., San Clemente; Hannah Hunsaker, So., JSerra; Kora Johnson, Sr., Trabuco Hills; Sara Kebede, Jr., San Clemente; Stephanie Lapidus, Jr., Tesoro; Erica Liem, So., Tesoro; Colby Lindholm, Jr., JSerra; Molly Mann, Sr., San Clemente; Jessica McIntyre, Jr., Los Alamitos; Ellen Naruse, So., Corona del Mar; Caitlin Nilssen, Jr. JSerra; Katie Orr, Sr., San Juan Hills; Sarah Parsons, Jr., Tesoro; Sarah Porter, Sr., Santa Margarita; Shelby Perez, Jr., Corona del Mar; Claire Rainey, So., Los Alamitos; Dominique Regalado, So., Trabuco Hills; Kristen Rivera, Sr., Corona del Mar; Taylor Romine, Jr., El Toro; Grace Schaefer, Fr., Capistrano Valley; Cassandra Smith, Sr., Trabuco Hills; Natasha Strickland, Sr., Laguna Beach; Emily Venable, Jr., St. Margaret’s; Sierra Wallen, Sr., San Clemente; Danica Wyson, Sr., Aliso Niguel; Megan Zwerling, Sr., Corona del Mar.