Runners use Mt. SAC race to prep for Ventura County Championships

Many local cross country runners hope to post their best times of the season Friday at the Ventura County Championships at Lake Casitas in Ojai.

For many schools, there was no better warm-up than last Saturday's Mount San Antonio College Cross Country Invitational.

La Reina, ranked No. 1 in the CIF-Southern Section Division IV coaches' poll, finished first in the Division IVV sweepstakes at Mt. SAC with 66 points.

The Regents were led by junior Sarah Pearson, who finished third with a time of 18:38, and freshman Rachel Brajkovich, who finished fourth with an 18:41. Tara Blanchard came in 12th, while her teammates Mary Thompson and Meghan Murphy finished in 22nd and 29th, respectively.

Mt. SAC "is definitely a great way for us to enter the Ventura County Championships," La Reina head coach Robert Lopez said. "At the beginning of the season, the girls knew they had a decent team, but they didn't know how good it would be until now."

Lopez said the Regents are looking forward to competing at Lake Casitas.

"We love the Ventura County Championships because it's one of the few invitationals where you get to compete against all the divisions, not just your own," Lopez said. "The girls are excited to see how they stack up against the other local teams."

Oaks Christian also did well during the Division IVV sweepstakes, as Tina Boskovich came in 26th place, while her teammate Fallon Cisco finished 45th.

The Simi Valley girls' cross county team finished in ninth place in the Division I-II sweepstakes. Although the Pioneers were among the top 10, the team came away from the meet disappointed.

"I actually thought our performance was rather flat," Simi Valley head coach Roger Evans said.

"I'm hoping we can do better at the Ventura County Championships because of the familiar teams we'll see there. It seemed we weren't chasing anyone at Mt. SAC. Maybe we need to see some green jerseys (Royal High) for us to get more motivated."

Pioneer junior Liberty Miller was seventh overall with a time of 17:36.

Royal finished 10th in Race No. 82 with 292 points. Kelly Upson led the Highlanders by coming in 33rd place with a time of 20:14.

In Division II, Newbury Park finished in first place in Race No. 56. Shannon Byrne led the Panthers with a fourthplace time of 18:58, while her teammate Jenny Mallen finished in eighth with a 19:15.

In Race No. 57, Westlake finished in fifth place with 173 points. The Warriors were led by Meghan Mann, who came in 22nd with a mark of 19:59.

In the Division III sweepstakes, Agoura finished in seventh place thanks to Katie Klezak, who was 10th.

Olivia Barry finished in fifth for Calabasas with a 20:15 in Race No. 17 while her teammate, Valerie Burkholder, was seventh.

Oak Park placed 13th in Race No. 19.

On the boys' side, Thousand Oaks dominated the meet by finishing second overall in the Division I team sweepstakes with 128 points.

Leading the Lancers were Sean Gildea and Asher Lober, who finished tied for 10th with a marks of 15:13. Thousand Oaks' Andrew Snyder (17th) and Kevin Joerger (22nd) also ran well.

In Race No. 82, the Royal boys' finished in first place with 110 points. Travis Edwards, back from a knee injury, returned to form with a time of 16:05, good enough for eighth place.

In Race No. 62, Simi Valley finished first with 167 points while Newbury Park was 14th. Leading the Pioneer boys was Steven Semler, who was 11th.

Westlake's Sam Demello and Marcus Lam came in 27th and 28th, respectively, during the same race.

In the Division III sweepstakes, Agoura was ninth with 257 points. The Chargers were led by Brand Severson's 24thplace finish.

Calabasas finished in 16th place in Race No. 14 thanks to Lewis Durand, who came in third with a time of 16:24.

In Division IV-V, Oaks Christian runner Charlie Petrie was sixth with a 16:05.