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By Zach Cavanagh
Cross Country Shines in Hawaii Debut
The Dana Hills girls cross country team dominated the field, and sophomore Evan Noonan picked up a top-five finish for the Dolphin boys, as both teams opened the season 2,500 miles from home in the Iolani Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Senior Allura Markow (18:38) and sophomore Annie Ivarsson (19:11) finished first and second, respectively, to put Dana Hills well ahead in the girls varsity race. Dana Hills won with 25 points, which was a 62-point margin ahead of second-place Punahou.
Junior Cooper Murphy fit into the top five with a fifth-place finish at 19:27. Junior Paige Scheer (20:08) and senior Zoe Ott (20:09) rounded out the scoring five in eighth and ninth.
Dana Hills’ reserve runners both finished in the top 15 as well, with junior Tessa Anderson (20:29) in 10th and junior Quincy Lott (20:43) in 15th.
On the boys side, Noonan (15:54) came in fourth place to pace the Dolphins in an all-Orange County top four. Dana Hills (73 points) finished behind San Clemente (39), Tesoro (57) and Santa Margarita (72).
Junior Garrett Woodruff (16:25) was the next Dolphin in with a 12th-place finish, and junior Mike Ayala (16:48) was 16th. Seniors Jack Jones (17:02) and Derrick Grassman (17:03) finished 20th and 21st, respectively.
Dana Hills next runs at the Woodbridge Classic at the Great Park in Irvine on Friday, Sept. 16, and the Dolphins host the Dana Hills Invitational on Sept. 24.
Football Hosts Homecoming on Friday
Following a rain-soaked, late-breaking loss to Aliso Niguel, the Dana Hills football team next hosts Woodbridge (3-1) for Homecoming on Friday, Sept. 16.
Each of the past two seasons, Dana Hills has dominated Woodbridge with nearly identical scorelines: a 34-7 win during the delayed 2020 season in the spring of 2021 and 34-6 in the fall of 2021.
However, Woodbridge went on a run at the end of last season to the CIF-SS Division 12 semifinals, and the Warriors have carried that momentum into the early season. After an opening 21-7 loss to Northwood, Woodbridge has won three in a row with a balanced attack.
Junior Edward Ma is the quarterback, with eight touchdowns and just two interceptions in four games. Ma also can run the ball, amassing 112 yards on 19 carries. The main ballcarrier is senior Feiamma Armstrong, who has rushed for 329 yards and four touchdowns on 56 carries.
This is the second Pacific Coast Conference game of the season for the Dolphins, and Dana Hills has gone 7-1 against lower-league opponents since joining the conference two seasons ago, including a 21-14 opening win over University this season. Against Pacific Valley League (now Pacific Hills League) teams last season, the Dolphins outscored the competition by a 139-point margin, 175-36.
Zach Cavanagh
Zach Cavanagh is the sports editor for Picket Fence Media. Zach is a multiple California Journalism Award winner and has covered sports in Orange County since 2013. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @ZachCav and follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SouthOCSports and Instagram @South_OC_Sports. Email at zcavanagh@picketfencemedia.com.
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