Locals shine at county cross country championships

The Ventura County Cross Country Championships were held last Friday at Lake Casitas in Ojai, and no schools ran faster than the Thousand Oaks High boys' squad and the Simi Valley girls' team.

The Thousand Oaks boys' finished in first place with 82 points, ahead of Royal, which placed second with 95 points.

The Lancers didn't have a runner place in the top 10, but all five of their runners finished in the top 20. Sean Gildea was No. 14 with a time of 16:06.30, just ahead of his teammates Asher Lober (16:06.73) and Kevin Joerger (16:07).

Lancers Andrew Snyder and Hans Weidman finished in 18th and 19th place, respectively.

Head coach Shawn Morris was pleased with his team's performance, especially after he almost decided to withdraw Thousand Oaks from the race.

"The Ventura County Championships is a great race, and it's run well, but the outcome doesn't really have anything to do with the Marmonte League," Morris said.

"I almost took the boys out of the race, but nobody was sick or injured, and I figured if we didn't compete we'd have a workout anyway. Plus, I thought the boys deserved the chance to win the race."

While Thousand Oaks owned the boys' race, Simi Valley was first on the girls' side by finishing eight points ahead of rival Royal with 89 points.

Leading the way for the Pioneers was junior Liberty Miller, who finished in second place overall with a time of 17:52, 14 seconds behind winner Melissa Skiba from Oak Park. Meghan McNally finished in 17th place with a time of 19:34.

The Oak Park boys and girls both finished in third place, but the Eagles' story of the day was the performance of Skiba.

Skiba's first-place time of 17:38.91 was the third lowest in the history of the course for girls. Only Jordan Hasay of Mission Prep (17:04) and Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks (17:35) have run faster times.

"I'm very proud and happy for Melissa," Oak Park head coach Kevin Smith said. "She's very driven, and she really wants to be exceptional. I thought the competition with her and Miller really helped as well. They've battled each other the last few years, and Melissa seemed to be just a little better this time."

James Goldstein of Oak Park finished in second place on the boys' side with a 15:33, 21 seconds behind winner Heyden Wooff of Camarillo. Other Eagles that contributed were Gareth Morl, eighth with a time of 15:56, and Aaron Kurland, who was 12th.

Finishing just behind Goldstein on the boys' side in third place was Garret Drogosch of Westlake. Lewis Durand of Calabasas finished fourth, while Royal's Travis Edwards came in fifth, just ahead of teammate Korey Yoakum, who was sixth.

Steven Semler of Simi Valley came in seventh place, while his teammate, Brian Reina, was 11th.

Sean Grumney of Newbury Park was 10th. Tyler Benson, another NPHS runner, came in 13th.

Agoura's Brandon Severson was 20th.

La Reina, which finished in fifth place on the girls' side, had a strong performance from Sarah Pearson, who was third.

Pearson's was just ahead of teammate Rachel Brajkovich, who was fourth with a 18:20.23. Tara Blanchard finished in 16th place for La Reina.

Kelly Upson of Royal finished in seventh place, while her teammates Sophie Mateu and Taylor Mogg finished in 12th and 15th place, respectively.

Jenny Mallen of Newbury Park was eighth with an 18:59, while her teammate Shannon Byrne came in 10th.

Katie Klezek of Agoura was ninth with a 19:04. Alexandra Smith, who came in 19th place, also ran well for the Chargers.

Oak Park's Kaycee Holcomb was 14th, while Westlake runners Molly Norling-Christensen and Meghan Mann finished 18th and 20th, respectively.

The Marmonte League finals will take place today at Agoura High beginning at 3 p.m.

The Tri-Valley League finals get underway at the same time today at the Fillmore High Farm.