Area cross country teams, individuals advance to state meet




The running will continue for one more week, at least for some area teams and individuals.

Locals competed at the CIFSouthern Section Cross Country Championships last weekend at the rugged and hilly Mount San Antonio College course in Walnut.

Although there were no team or individual champions from the area, several locals turned in fine performances in the final act before the State Championships at Fresno’s Woodward Park this Saturday.

In team competition, the Royal boys, Oak Park girls and La Reina girls advanced to state.

Camarillo’s Heyden Wooff and Kevin Joerger of Thousand Oaks advanced to the Division 2 boys’ meet as individuals, while Simi Valley’s Liberty Miller, Royal’s Kelly Upson and Nicki Maslan of Viewpoint qualified for the girls’ races.

Here is a look at how the competitors fared at Mt. SAC.

Boys

Royal’s boys finished in second place in the Division 1 race with 101 points, trailing only Dana Hills.

Although the Highlanders didn’t enjoy their finest day, they still kept alive their dreams of winning a state championship.

Royal won state titles in 2004 and 2005, head coach Ryan Luce said.

Senior Travis Edwards paced Royal by completing the course in 14 minutes, 57 seconds, good for third place.

Teammates Sean Davidson (15:17, 11th place), Paul Jesson (15:27, 22nd), Korey Yoakum (15:43, 37th) and Colin Keane (15:53, 46th) followed Edwards.

Scott Weir and Sean Upson also contributed for Royal.

“We’re going to be a real hard team to beat at state,” Yoakum said before the Marmonte League Championships. “We want to be strong at the end of the season.”

Westlake’s boys saw their season come to a halt. It was a mild surprise considering the Warriors won the Ventura County Championships.

“I’m shocked about Westlake not making state,” said Thousand Oaks head coach Shawn Morris. “I don’t know what happened.”

WHS finished ninth in the Division 2 race. Newbury Park (12th) and Camarillo (14th) also competed in the same event.

Joerger, a senior at Thousand Oaks, advanced as an individual. Joerger finished in 15:23, good for eighth place.

“He didn’t have a bad race by any means. He now has a chance for some redemption,” Morris said. “The goal we both talked about is a top-10 finish in the state meet. We think that is realistic.”

Wooff of Camarillo had the fastest time of any area boy, finishing in 14:35 for second place overall.

Oaks Christian’s boys were 10th in the Division 4 race. The Viewpoint boys’ team was 12th in the Division 5 event.

Girls

Simi Valley’s girls’ team came within a whisker of qualifying for the State Championships.

Five of seven Pioneers recorded personal-best times last weekend at Mt. SAC, but SVHS placed eighth in the Division 1 race, one spot away from going to state. The top seven teams in each division advanced to Fresno.

“It was heartbreaking,” said Simi Valley head coach Roger Evans. “They did everything they were supposed to do. They ran hard. You can’t control how other people run.”

Senior Liberty Miller finished second overall in 17:19, and will compete as an individual at Woodward Park. Miller will be joined by Royal’s Upson, who notched 10th in 18:13.

“Libby’s goal is to be a state champion,” Evans said of Miller.

Simi Valley’s Nicole Rietveld, Alexis Miller, Amanda Miller, Hanna Jeters and Maddison Hawk broke personal-best times at the course.

Westlake (14th) and Thousand Oaks (15th) competed in the Division 2 event.

Melissa Skiba led Oak Park’s girls to a fourth-place finish in the Division 3 race.

Skiba was second overall in 17:16. Teammates Kaycee Holcomb, Brittany Stalzer, Jessica Reints, Meira Prescher, Taelor Young and Riley McCullough also contributed for the Eagles.

“I’m proud of them,” Oak Park head coach Kevin Smith said. “Realistically we have an outside shot of winning (a state title.) We have a good chance of placing and getting on the podium as one of the top three teams in the state.”

La Reina took third in the Division 4 race, but Oaks Christian’s season came to an end with a 10th-place finish.

Sarah Pearson (18:22, third) led the Regents. Rachel Brajkovich, Katie Kavetsky, Mary Thompson and Lauren Hearne also ran well.

Viewpoint’s Maslan (19:27, eighth) will compete at state after a fine showing in the Division 5 race. Viewpoint was 13th overall.


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