County’s Top Runner Commits to Southern Illinois

Santa Margarita’s Steven Murray, The Times’ Orange County runner of the year in cross-country last fall, committed to Southern Illinois, he said Sunday.

Murray, who won a Southern Section Division II title last season and finished seventh in state, chose Southern Illinois over Drake.

Murray said he was impressed with the television production and broadcasting major offered at Southern Illinois and the outlook for the cross-country and track programs, which compete in the Missouri Valley Conference.

WATER POLO

Foothill, the top-ranked team in Orange County and defending Southern Section Division I champion, was top-seeded for the Division I girls’ water polo playoffs and Corona del Mar was top-seeded in Division IV in pairings announced Sunday at the section office in Cerritos.

Foothill (25-1) hosts Long Beach Millikan (10-12) in the first round Saturday. Foothill broke Bell Gardens’ 85-game winning streak Feb. 3 in the final of the Irvine Southern California Championships.

Bell Gardens is top-seeded in Division III, Agoura is top-seeded in Division II and Riverside Arlington is top-seeded in Division V.

Serra League champion Santa Margarita was seeded second in Division I, Sea View League champion Newport Harbor was third and South Coast champion Capistrano Valley was fourth.