Warrior boys, Oak Park girls run away with V.C. cross country crowns

Westlake and Oak Park high schools were big winners at last weekend’s Ventura County Cross Country Championships at Lake Casitas in Ojai.

The Warriors edged past shorthanded Royal to claim the boys’ team title, while Oak Park outpaced Simi Valley for the girls’ championship.

Oak Park had five girls finish in the top 20: Melissa Skiba (second), Kaycee Holcomb (sixth), Meira Prescher (12th), Taelor Young (15th) and Jessica Reints (18th).

Liberty Miller of Simi Valley finished first in the girls’ race with a time of 17 minutes, 15 seconds. Skiba was 21 seconds behind Miller.

La Reina standout Sarah Pearson was third (18:36), while Nicki Ghazarian of Westlake finished fourth (18:40). Other local girls in the top 10 were Viewpoint’s Hannah Kirkegaard (seventh) and La Reina’s Rachel Brajkovich (ninth).

Camarillo speedster Heyden Wooff won the boys’ race in 15:16. Thousand Oaks’ Kevin Joerger was second (15:28), followed by Talmage Jones of Newbury Park (15:53), Westlake’s Sam DeMello (15:55) and Simi Valley’s Mike Vorgitch (16:09).

Other locals finishing in the boys’ top 10 were Westlake’s Jon Miller (seventh) and Willson Horne of Newbury Park (10th).

Strong performances by Westlake’s Ryan Chu (12th) and Marcus Lam (19th) helped the Warriors finish in the top spot.