COSTA MESA - Cami Chapus said she felt like wherever she ran Saturday night, the energy of the crowd followed.


The same couldn't be said for the competition.


After taking a conservative approach for the first 1 miles of the girls' sweepstakes race at the 31st annual Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, Chapus broke away from the pack, then answered repeated challenges in the final mile to cover the 3-mile course in 16 minutes, 20 seconds for an eight-second triumph at Estancia High.


"It was just like (the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in) North Carolina, I wasn't feeling that great before the race," Chapus said.


"But the energy of the crowd was amazing. I really felt (the crowd) the entire course. Running under the lights here is so exciting." Chapus, who placed third in the sweepstakes race last year in 16:59, was pleasantly surprised by such a significant improvement.


"I knew we were going fast, but I didn't know we were going that fast," Chapus said. "Once I hit the track, I just started thinking about (former Harvard-Westlake teammate Lauren Hansson) and how I wanted to finish strong just like I did here in track season (at the Southern Section Div. III prelims)."


Simi Valley, led by a ninth-place finish from Erika Barr (16:57) and 10th-place effort from Karla Vernola (17:02), placed second in the team competition with 112 points, trailing only defending champion Great Oak (89).


Harvard-Westlake's Amy Weissenbach (17:24) was 23rd, Simi Valley's Sarah Riggs (17:28) placed 32nd and teammate Madelyn Vorgitch (17:34) was 36th for the Pioneers. Desirae Jones (18:11) placed third in the Div. II freshman race for Simi Valley.


Thousand Oaks' Melanie Joerger placed second in the girls' rated race in 17:07, with Ashton Padberg (17:55) taking 16th and Kalin Padberg (18:05) finishing 21st for the Lancers, who were runner-up to Tesoro by a 45-93 margin.


Knight senior Bryan Guijarro was second in the boys' sweepstakes race in 14:17.


Sam Peckham led four Hart runners in the top 30 in the boys' rated race, helping the Indians win with 101 points. Peckham took sixth in 14:48 and was supported by Austin O'Neil (14:52) in eighth, Gerardo Granados (15:07) in 16th and Josh Sherfey (15:16) in 27th.


Although Golden Valley didn't compete in the boys' rated or sweepstakes events, the Grizzlies made a significant impact in their Div. II races.


Kristian Martinez (14:38) and Juan David Garcia (14:39) swept the top two spots in the senior race, with teammates Nolan Del Valle (15:01) and Brendan Tinoco (15:24) duplicating the feat in the junior race.


Carlos Lopez (15:11) placed fifth and Aaron Nguyen (15:26) was 11th in the senior race for Golden Valley, which won the competition with 34 points after securing victory in the junior race with 112 points.


Harvard-Westlake's Aaron de Toledo (14:59) took fourth in the Div. II senior race, with Simi Valley's Francisco Moncada (15:14) finishing seventh. Crespi's Nick Privitelli (15:09) was second in the Div. IV senior race.


Crescenta Valley's Mike Duncan placed third in the Div. I senior race in 14:57, with Westlake's Mikey Giguere (15:18) finishing second in the Div. II sophomore race.