If its girls track and field team is known for one thing, it's distance running.

But after a half-decade's worth of local dominance, the track and field team finally earned its moment in the CIF spotlight after winning Saturday's CIF-Southern Section Division II team title at Cerritos College.

And it did so in an unusual way.

"I had no idea that this was going to happen," said Jenna Vincej, whose individual title in the 400-meter run paced the sprint team's invaluable contributions. "The sprinters have just worked so hard for this and I'm so proud."

In 2009, Saugus used 28 points in the distance events to finish second at the CIF-SS Div. II meet.

Those points primarily came from girls who were also cross country runners, including Kaylin Mahoney, Stephanie Bulder, Karis Frankian and Annie Randall.

But on Saturday, the bulk of the points came from sprinters. Vincej and Amber Wright teamed with Sarah Huitink and Jamie Molacek to score points in the
4x100-meter relay. Vincej and Wright teamed with Nicole Penick and Alex Hampton to score points in the 4x400 relay. Wright scored points in the 200 and 400.

While some of the sprinters are also products of the cross country program, they've definitely established themselves as a major component of Saugus' track team, both now and in the future.

For Rene Paragas, who coaches both the distance runners and the cross country team, it's a welcome addition.

"I would say it's relieving," he said. "I felt like we were holding the mantle for a long time. But without the 10 distance points, we wouldn't have won."

Indeed, Saugus' distance runners hardly slacked this season. Despite Mahoney opting to not come out for track this season, Bulder and Frankian teamed with Amber Murakami to score points at the CIF-SS Div. II finals.

Frankian's fourth-place finish in the 3,200 was valuable. So was Murakami's seventh-place finish in the 1,600.
Bulder was clearly affected by illness but she still found a way to gut out an eight-place finish in the 1,600. Then, when the team needed her, she pushed past a couple of runners in the final lap of the 3,200 to finish seventh.

"To me, it was like a Willis Reed moment," Paragas said, referring to the former New York Knicks forward who made a surprise start despite injury in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals and scored the first two baskets to will his team to a title. "(Bulder) scored one point in the mile and I told her not to run again unless it was close, and it turned out to be close."

Even though Saugus' sprinters took the mantle from the distance runners this season, the team never had any chemistry issues. Instead, the athletes worked together.

"It wasn't distance versus sprints," Penick said. "If one of us had a bad day, then the other would pick them up."