Category: News

Closing out the 2024 season, our Lady Mustangs raced against competitors from D3 schools from across the state Saturday at Woodward Park in Fresno and finished 8^th in the division for the second consecutive year. Congratulations to varsity runners Isabella Wroblewski, Olivia Reed, Brooke Boyd, Penelope Fournier, Mackenzie Dalton, Emily Maurer and Rory Hartzheim.

Toren Habbestad also competed in the mens D3 race, finishing 23^rd out of 214 runners representing D3 schools from the entire state.

Congratulations to all on a terrific season!

Our YLHS Mustangs competed against the “best of the best” Saturday at CIF Southern Section Finals at Mt. SAC and clocked thrilling performances that qualified them for State! Isabella Wroblewski, Olivia Reed, Brooke Boyd, Penelope Fournier, Danela Felix, Mackenzie Dalton and Emily Maurer scored fifth as a team in the Girls D3 race. Junior Toren Habbestad passed two other runners at the last second to secure the fifth and final individual qualifying spot for advancement. As a result of their tremendous efforts, these athletes will compete this Saturday at CIF State Championships in Fresno. This will be the third year in a row that the girls team has competed at state, while it’s the first time in YLHS history that a member of the XC boy’s team will attend.

Team rankings released November 22, 2024 listed our girls team 8^th among state-wide D3 teams. Way to go, ladies! What a strong finish to the season!

Athletes, coaches and parents will drive to Fresno this Friday for Saturday morning’s state-wide competition at Woodward Park. Best wishes, Mustangs, and safe travels!!

For the first time in YLHS history, both boys and girls XC teams are included in state rankings heading into post-season contests. On the heels of CIF-SS Prelims last Saturday, November 16 at Mt. SAC, our Mustang Varsity teams competed against top runners in the D3 division. Led by Isabella Wroblewski and Olivia Reed, our girls team scored a second-place spot among the top teams who advance. Brooke Boyd, Penelope Fournier, Danela Felix, Mackenzie Dalton and Rory Hartzheim brought the team into qualifying position.

Our boys team missed qualification by only one place, coming in fifth behind four advancing teams. Led by Toren Habbestad and Dante Maldonado, teammates Ky Savalia, Rio Maldonado, Ryan Olivas, Jacob Ortillano and Michael Kowalyshyn netted the team 109 points behind West Ranch with 100 points–a very close and disappointing miss. However, in finishing among the top six competitors, Junior Toren Habbestad will advance to CIF-SS Finals this Saturday, November 23, again at the Mt. SAC course.

This Saturday’s performances will determine who will continue on to the CIF State Meet in Fresno on November 30.

Best wishes, Mustangs! Go for the win!

Wednesday, October 30, 2024 – Anaheim, Calif.

The afternoon of Wednesday, October 30 was clear with bright sunshine and little breeze—temps around 72 degrees. Three leagues consisting of 15 area high schools—the Freeway League, the Crestview League and the North Hills League—all converged at Yorba Regional Park for the Century Conference Finals.

Yorba Linda Mustangs won second place as a team in three out of six contests!

Races included JV Boys/Girls, Frosh/Soph Boys/Girls and Varsity Girls and Boys contests. Yorba Linda had twelve top-10 overall finishers in races that included more than 50 runners, and at the varsity level, more than 100 runners. In Girls JV, Junior Lorelai Pohl finished 9^th overall, and 7^th for the Crestview League. 

In the Boys JV contest, Yorba Linda had two overall top-10 finishers. Michael Kowalyshyn rocketed to a new PR of 16:46, taking 30 seconds off his old PR—and placed 2^nd overall in the JV race, while Jack Karcher took 7^th place (5^th in Crestview League). Alex Xu placed 9^th in the Crestview League.

In Girls Frosh/Soph, Yorba Linda had three top-ten overall finishers! Freshman Ella Yal set a new PR at 20:57 and came in 5^th overall, while Freshman Sydney Van Stralen and Lizzy Clark came in 8^th and 9^th, respectively. Ella Do, Noosha Hassanian, Kathryn Thompson, Luna Gu, Alyssa Felix, Katie Pyon and Adriana Colin followed to give the team a second place win! In Crestview League placements, our girls had four top-ten finishers.

Boys Frosh/Soph leader Ryan Wang blazed a new PR at 17:55 and placed 8^th in the Crestview League, while Seth Block also achieved a new PR of 18:30. Freshmen Oscar Barajas and Kaito Pintang also set new PRs. Congrats to finishers Christopher Chiu and Landon Dreyfus.

In the Girls Varsity contest, Yorba Linda came in 2^nd as a team, with Sophomore Isabella Wroblewski winning first place in the overall race (and in the league) with a time of 17:34. Olivia Reed came in 3^rd overall (second in league) with a time of 17:55 and Brooke Boyd came in 5^th overall (4^th in league) with a time of 18:22. Penelope Fournier, Danela Felix, Mackenzie Dalton, and Rory Hartzheim all crossed the line in the top 60/100 runners, ensuring the team a second-place ranking overall and in the Crestview League. Way to go, ladies!

In the Boys Varsity race, Yorba Linda took second place as a team with three top-ten finishers and everyone finishing with sub-17 times!

Senior Dante Maldonado shot past his own YLHS school record for fastest men’s three-mile performance (he broke the 2015 school record in September at League Preview with a time of 14:55). Dante set a new PR of 14:43—beating his former record-setting time by 12 seconds. He came in first place overall and in the Crestview League. Junior Toren Habbestad came in second place overall and in the Crestview league, finishing right behind Dante and also breaking the previous school record and setting a new PR of 14:44. The race’s third-place challenger didn’t cross the finish line for another 19 seconds! Senior Ky Savalia finished in 6^th place with a time of 15:25, followed by Sophomore Rio Maldonado and Freshman Carlos Barry—who blazed a new PR of 16:20, 48 seconds faster than his previous PR! Junior Ryan Olivas also set a new PR of 16:33—29 seconds faster than his previous PR. Jacob Ortillano crossed the finish line in well under 17 minutes, leading the boys to second place as a team overall. Congratulations, guys!

Among 15 area high schools, Yorba Linda achieved the distinction of second place overall with stand-out, record-breaking performances. Boys and girls varsity teams both qualified to move ahead to CIF prelims, which will take place at Mt. SAC on Saturday, November 16 and will feature dozens of area schools. Wish them the best!! Go Mustangs!!!

Other notable highlights, from Coach Don:
Ryan Olivas PR was 19 seconds faster
Rio Maldonado set a PR by .4 seconds 
Alyssa Felix set a new PR by almost two minutes!
Arianna Colin PR by 42 seconds 
Ella Do PR 21:40
Alex Xu PR by 23 seconds 18:11 
Riley Yoon PR by 29 seconds in his final race 19:08

12/17 PRs on the boys team
4/18 PRs on the girls team

Official Century League Finals Results
Finish Line Photos
Team Photo Album

Friday, October 25, 2024 – Walnut, Calif.

Our Yorba Linda Mustangs posted some impressive times at the 76^th Annual Mt. SAC XC Invitational on Friday. This year, race directors adjusted the course to eliminate one of three hills–the notorious “poop-out hill.” Mt. SAC was previously a 2.93-mile course, and this year it was adjusted to three miles, with the last 300 meters finishing in the college’s all-new stadium. Although one hill was removed from the course, there remained steep and daunting hills in the race, but our runners pushed themselves and achieved notable success.

Danela Felix placed first in the D3, 4&5 frosh race, with Ella Yal and Sydney Van Stralen following her in 4^th and 5^th places for three finishes in the top ten. Great job, ladies!

Sophomore Kathryn Thompson finished 9^th in the sophomore race, Lorelai Pohl came in 10^th in the JV race.

Senior Dante Maldonado took first place in the men’s varsity race with an impressive 16:03, followed by Junior Toren Habbestad in 2^nd place with 16:31 and Ky Savalia in 6^th place with 16:59. Yorba Linda Men took 2^nd place as a team in their race! Congratulations, gentlemen.

Our varsity women ran with a “crème de la crème” field of competitors in the team sweepstakes race–including nationally ranked runners–and finished with impressive performances.

Top 10 Finishers:
Danela Felix
Ella Yal
Sydney Van Stralen
Kathryn Thompson
Lorelai Pohl
Dante Maldonado
Toren Habbestad
Ky Savalia

Team Win:
Varsity Boys, 2^nd place

Thanks to all of you contributing to our online team photo album!

See you Wednesday at League Finals! Go Mustangs!!

Team photos album
Jimmy Su photos
Official Race Results

Despite the high winds and dust, our Mustangs showed some impressive performances Saturday, October 19 at the Orange County XC Championships in Silverado Canyon. Team highlights included three top-ten finishes and six new PRs. Dante Maldonado and Toren Habbestad were recognized on the awards stage as performing among the top seven All-County runners in each grade. Dante was the #7 fastest all-county senior mens runner with a time of 15:02.1, and Toren was the #2 fastest all-county junior mens runner with a time of 15:02.2. Great job representing Yorba Linda, gentlemen!

Girls highlights:
Liv Reed 19^th place, Varsity Sweepstakes
Lizzy Clark 7^th place, Freshman
Sydney Van Stralen 11^th place, Freshman
Noosha Hassanian 24^th place, Sophomore

PR
Katie Pyon

Boys highlights:
Dante Maldonado 10^th place, Varsity Sweepstakes
Toren Habbestad 11^th place, Varsity Sweepstakes
Carlos Barry 5^th place, Freshman
Michael Kowalyshyn 12^th place, JV
Ryan Wang 21^th place, Freshman

PRs
Ryan Olivas
Michael Kowalyshyn
Riley Yoon
Seth Block
Ryan Wang

Athletic.net results
Team photo album
Finished Results scores
Rich Gonzales PrepCalTrack recap

Released Thursday, October 10, 2024

Congratulations to our women’s team on their advancement to 4^th place state-wide in division 3! Keep up the fantastic finishes, ladies!

Saturday night fever took hold of our Mustangs as they performed incredibly in nearly every race at the 43^rd Woodbridge Cross Country Classic. Extra effort over the last few weeks led to fantastic achievements all around under the bright lights of the OC Great Park in Irvine. Woodbridge XC Classic draws the highest number of nationwide participants of any local race, and among the thousands of competitors, our Mustangs delivered impressive times. Woodbridge results feature 27 PRs from our runners and two top ten finishes with sophomore Isabella Wroblewski finishing 9^th in the girls varsity rated race and freshman Danela Felix finishing 8^th in the girls frosh contest.

In team rankings, our varsity women took 5^th place overall in the girls varsity rated race. Boys took 9^th place as a team in varsity boys. Best of all, the Lady Mustang’s team performance at Woodbridge moved them up to number two in division 3 rankings!

Keep up the hard work team, and stay charged. Next up is the Central Park Invitational on October 5 in Huntington Beach. Check our team season schedule for more upcoming race dates!

Top YL performers for each race:
Boys Varsity: Toren Habbestad
Boys Senior: Riley Yoon
Boys Junior: Alex Xu
Boys Sophomore: Daniel Hernandez
Boys Freshman: Carlos Barry
Girls Varsity Rated: Isabella Wroblewski *9^th place
Girls Junior/Senior: Rory Hartzheim
Girls Sophomore: Noosha Hassanian
Girls Freshman: Danela Felix *8^th place

PRs
Penelope Fournier
Rory Hartzheim
Olivia Reed
Brooke Boyd
Mackenzie Dalton
Lorelei Pohl
Noosha Hassanian
Emily Maurer
Kathryn Thompson
Isabella Wroblewski
Lizzie Clark
Danela Felix
Luna Gu
Sydney Van Stralen
Ella Yal

Kaayan Savalia
Jack Karcher
Toren Habbestad
Alex Xu
Daniel Hernandez
Oscar Barajas
Carlos Barry
Seth Block
Christopher Chiu
Landon Dreyfus
Kaito Pintang
Ryan Wang

View results here

View and add photos here

MileSplit coverage (results, videos, photos)

Dylan Stewart’s Woodbridge Photo Album here via PrepCalTrack