Dorostkar becomes first female athlete in meet history to run under 16 minutes on 3-mile course; Denker extends streak of Dana Hills boys individual winners to six years in a row

By Alex Valladares for DyeStat

One winning effort was about tradition and the other was about legacy Saturday at the 46th Dana Hills Invitational at Dana Hills High in Dana Point, Calif.

Canyon Crest Academy CA senior Carlie Dorostkar not only repeated as the Division 1 senior/invitational winner, but she delivered the most memorable girls performance in meet history on the 3-mile layout that concludes on the school’s track.

Dorostkar set a new course record as she clocked 15 minutes, 57.5 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 16:15.1 set by Capistrano Valley’s Haley Herberg in 2017.

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“I have more confidence to be up at the front,” said Dorostkar, who earned all-state Division 1 honors last season.

“Last year, I knew I could be there but I was always a little bit behind the pack or in the middle.  Now, I feel I can be up there with the top girls.”

It’s the fourth time in the past six years a San Diego Section athlete won the Division 1 girls senior/invitational race, with Canyon Crest Academy’s Kelly Bernd (2014), La Costa Canyon’s McKenna Brown (2016) and Dorostkar last season in 16:49.3.

“I’m really proud to represent San Diego and my school,” said Dorostkar, who helped the Ravens to a second-place overall team finish with 96 points.

Hana Castimanes of San Clemente CA finished second (16:44.9), Lavanya Pandey of Sage Creek CA was third (16:54.8), Maria Hernandez of Santa Ana CA came in fourth (16:55.3), followed by Carly Corsinita of Capistrano Valley CA, who took fifth (16:58.1).

Based on the strength of winning three of the four girls Division 1 races, Great Oak CA prevailed as the top team based on its five fastest overall performances to secure a 125-175 victory over Canyon Crest Academy.

San Clemente CA junior Kelsie Yamano won the Division 1 junior race (18:00.6), Fountain Valley CA’s Kaho Cichon prevailed in the sophomore race (18:17.2) and Clovis East CA’s Erika Nyberg was victorious in the freshman race (17:36.4).

In Division 2, Alyssa Davis of San Diego Ramona CA won the senior race (18:04.4), Ashley Learn of Rancho Bernardo won a grade race for the second straight year, capturing the junior race (17:42.3), Shirin Dunker of San Juan Hills was victorious in the sophomore race (18:12.5) and Chloe Ellermeyer of Scripps Ranch CA was the winner in the freshman race (18:14.1).

Coming off a varsity race victory Sept. 21 at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, Santee CA senior Norma Alvarez won the Division 3 junior/senior race (17:55.1) and South Pasadena CA sophomore Mai Koyama was the freshman/sophomore race winner (18:47.8).

Following the footsteps of Mason Coppi (2014), Jack Landgraf (2015-17) and Simon Fuller (2018), Carrick Denker became the sixth consecutive Dana Hills male athlete to win the boys Division 1 senior/invitational race.

“It was super important for me to come out and win this meet and run a solid time,” said Denker, who clocked 14:33.2.

“We have such a legacy here at Dana Hills. It’s amazing to keep it going.”

Dana Hills won the overall team title based on the results of all four races with a 72-94 victory over Great Oak.

Capistrano Valley CA’s Sean Robertson finished second (14:38.2), Great Oak’s Leandro Candray and Austin Montez placed third (14:41.7) and fourth (14:49), respectively, and Point Loma CA’s Jake Richardson rounded out the top five at 14:50.7.

In other Division 1 boys races, Michael Ortiz of Paramount CA clocked 15:37 to win the junior race. Great Oak’s Jaxon Kaeller and Nathan Lennox won the sophomore and freshman races in 15:48.2 and 15:43.1, respectively.

Steele Canyon CA senior Ricky Cleaves clocked 15:39.3 to win the boys Division 2 senior race. Daniel Echeveste of Bonita CA won the junior race (15:25.4), Taylor Bramel of Santa Ana Foothill CA was the sophomore winner (15:22.3) and Jack Stevens of Capistrano Valley CA won the freshman race (16:06.4).

Raymond Ruvalcaba of Garden Grove Rancho Alamitos CA prevailed at 15:23.8 to win the boys Division 3 senior race, Holtville CA junior Alan Jimenez won the junior race at 15:41.1, Ocean View CA sophomore Diego Gonzalez won the sophomore race (15:35.1) and Hillcrest CA’s Dylan Harpster (16:43) was the boys freshman race winner.