Cross country runners ready for Mt. SAC
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

When high schools begin their cross country seasons, the one goal most teams share is to make it to Fresno for the CIF-Southern Section Finals. During the CIF-SS Prelims last week at Mount San Antonio College, many local area schools and runners qualified for the finals this Saturday.

In Division I, both the girls' and boys' teams will be represented from Royal High. Helping the boys' team qualify last week was Alex Routh, who posted a time of 15:08.

The Thousand Oaks High girls' team did not qualify for Saturday's event, but Lancer senior Kaitlyn Sullivan earned a trip with a time of 19:02. The TOHS boys' team also qualified.

In Division II, the Westlake High boys' team qualified after coming in fourth place in its heat.

The girls' teams from both Simi Valley High and Newbury Park High both qualified. Leading the way for the Pioneers was sophomore Liberty Miller, who finished with a 17:54 at the prelims, good enough for third place. Coming in right behind Miller in sixth place was Newbury Park's Jenny Mallen.

The Agoura High girls' team qualified after placing third in its heat. Leading the way for the Chargers was Erin Baird, who finished third overall with a time of 18:27.

Charging ahead in Division III were the girls' and boys' teams for Oak Park High. The Eagles boys' squad was led by sophomore James Goldstein, who finished first in his heat with a time of 15:42. The girls' were paced by sophomore Melissa Skiba, who finished second in her heat with a time of 18:46.

"Right now, I've been very impressed with Goldstein and Skiba," Oak Park head coach Kevin Smith said. "I think James knew his first year here that he was good, but he didn't quite have the physical maturity to run with the top runners. Now he has that physical maturity, and it shows. Melissa is running exceptionally well for us, too."

La Reina High punched its ticket for the finals by placing first at the prelims. Sarah Pearson finished in first place for the Regents with a time of 18:40.

Oaks Christian will also have both of its girls' and boys' teams represented. Both teams finished first in their respective heats last weekend.