City Section Cross-Country Finals : Granada Hills’ Lawson Claims Title by a Step

Who said it wasn’t good to be a creature of habit? It certainly wasn’t Gordon Weisenberger, the Belmont High cross-country coach whose Sentinels won their seventh consecutive City Section title Saturday at Pierce College.

But new habits also were taking hold as Craig Lawson of Granada Hills came from 30 yards behind to overtake sophomore Martin Morales of Wilson in the final stretch and give the Highlanders their second individual crown in 2 years.

Ian Alsen, now at Arkansas, won last year’s individual title.

Lawson, who came into the final as an underdog, trailed Morales by as much as 40 yards through the first 2 miles. “I closed the gap a little bit,” Lawson, a senior, said. “But I didn’t catch him until the final stretch.”

Lawson finished in 15 minutes, 4.2 seconds, a heartbeat in front of Morales, who clocked 15:05.7.

Granada Hills Coach Mal Stock was especially pleased with the way Lawson ran. “Craig has never been a sprinter,” Stock said. “I told him to close the gap and he did the rest himself.”

Belmont, led by Natividad Gaona (third in 15:17.8) and Gabriel Garcia (fifth in 15:30.1) scored 35 points to easily defeat Wilson (91). Venice (102), Narbonne (113) and Roosevelt (140) rounded out the top 5.

Belmont, ranked third in the state Division I, and Wilson advance to the state championship meet Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno. Lawson, Obed Aguirre (San Fernando), Richard Raya (Carson), Danny Jordan (Venice) and James Moore (Verdugo Hills) qualified as individuals.

In the girls’ competition, Wilson’s Arcelia Gomez (18:18.7) broke away from defending champion Martha Segura of Lincoln (18:29.2) in the last 300 yards to capture the individual title and lead the Mules to their third consecutive team championship. Garfield (79), San Pedro (103), Belmont (125) and South Gate (144) placed second through fifth.

Christy Stubbs of El Camino Real (fourth in 19:08) was the top Valley finisher.

Teammate Alex Guidi, who ran 18:57 to win her preliminary heat last week, was forced to drop out after 1 1/2 miles because of a nagging knee injury.

Wilson and Garfield qualified for the state Division I championships, however neither is ranked among the state’s top 10. Segura, Rosetta Hunter (Locke), Stubbs, Lillian Soliman (Roosevelt) and freshman Heather Ballard (Birmingham) qualified for individual competition.