THE PREPS : ROUNDUP : Trueba, Gaston, Strutzel Lead Huntington Beach

The Huntington Beach boys’ cross-country team used a 1-2-3 finish to hold off Santa Ana for the title of the Central Park Invitational Saturday in Huntington Beach.

Tony Trueba, Dan Gaston and Jess Strutzel were the first three finishers in the Division II race, helping the Oilers edge Santa Ana, 48-52.

Trueba and Gaston ran with the Saints’ Wenceslado Morales for the first half of the race, but pulled away to finish in 15 minutes 30 seconds and 15:31. Strutzel, the defending Orange County 400-meter champion, outkicked Morales for third place, 15:45 to 15:47.

Los Alamitos, the second-ranked girls’ team in the county sportswriters poll, was the class of the Division II race, easily defeating second-place La Jolla, 35-88.

Huntington Beach junior Jennifer Spahr won the race (18:09), but Kim Bates (18:57, fourth place), Monica MacManus (19:17, fifth) and Amber Pierce (19:23, sixth) sealed the team title for the Griffins.

Saddleback won the Division I boys’ competition with 72 points. The Roadrunners were led by Jose Alvarado, who finished 10th in 15:54.

University sophomore Martin Brix posted the fastest time by a county athlete, running 15:25 for second place to San Diego Hoover’s Ayub Abdulsalaam (15:09).

Thousand Oaks won the Division I girls’ race (45 points), as Kim Mortensen won in a course-record 17:02. Freshman Allyson Marquand of University edged Fountain Valley senior Angie Winkler for the runner-up spot, each finishing with the fastest time for a county girl (17:55).

Maribel Delgado finished fourth (18:16) for Santa Ana Valley, which took second with 131 points.