by staff reports.
Posted Octoer 22, 2011
Building upon its resume as the state's No. 1-ranked Division II girls cross country team, Simi Valley High made history Saturday at the Mount San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut.
In winning the team sweepstakes race over a field that included No. 2-ranked La Costa Canyon and Division I top-ranked Great Oak, Simi Valley set a Division II meet record with a team time of 89 minutes, 42 seconds, matching the seventh-fastest overall in course history.
Defending state individual champion Sarah Baxter of Simi Valley won the race in 16:59. The next four Pioneers were separated by only 30 seconds: Karla Vernola, fifth, 17:56; Rachel Vinas, 11th, 18:07; Erica Barr, 15th, 18:14; and Sarah Riggs, 23rd, 18:26.
Simi Valley outdistanced runner-up La Costa Canyon, 55-105.
With three weeks left before the postseason begins, Simi Valley has postured itself well.
And it isn't the only one.
Over the two-day meet, seven Ventura County teams won races.
Thousand Oaks was eighth in the girls team sweepstakes with 248 points. The Lancers had a 20-second gap from No. 1-No. 5. Kalin Padberg (18:59) and Ashton Padberg (19:01) were 42nd and 44th. Close behind were Genevieve Johnson, 47th, 19:06; Melanie Joerger, 57th, 19:18; and Caitlin Turner, 58th, 19:19.
In the girls individual sweepstakes race, Ventura and Royal were seventh and 11th, respectively.
Leading Ventura, ranked No. 5 in the state in Division I, were Hannah Kirkegaard (10th, 18:08) and Paige Shelton (19:13). For Royal, Brianne Holland (18:05) and Sophie Mateu (18:50) were ninth and 23rd.
Not to be undone by the school's girls team, Simi Valley boys won their Division II race by 14 points. The Pioneers had a mere 60-second gap between their five scorers. Francisco Moncada was second in 15:51. Placing eighth was Jackson Chirigotis in 16:26. Fourteenth was Bryan Quintero in 16:47.
Moorpark and Camarillo placed first and third, respectively, in their Division II girls race. Monika Gyalay (19:37) and Leandra Ito (20:03) were fourth and eighth for Moorpark. Camarillo's Rachel Naumann (19:24) and Kathleen Dunne (20:19) were third and 12th.
With a 1-2 scoring punch from Nicki Ghazarian (18:58) and Jenny Giguere (19:12), Westlake won its Division II girls race. All seven Westlake runners placed in the top 30.
Three Ventura County teams won races on Friday.
Rio Mesa won its Division III race with 68 points. Geno Arthur was the individual champion in 15:37. Jesse Williams (16:28) and Connor Soudani (16:55) were sixth and 16th. Hueneme's Eduardo Juarez was 30th in 17:27.
Placing six runners in the top 20, Thacher won its Division V race with 47 points. Justin Myles (16:37) and Simon Novich (16:41) were third and fifth. Grace Brethren's Craig Whitt was 28th in 18:40.
Thacher captured its Division V girls event with 37 points. The Toads placed five runners in the top 17, led by Melanie Reimer, second in 19:09, and Julianna Childs, fourth in 19:30. Ojai Valley's Reika Kijima was the individual champion in 19:06.
Three Ventura County schools placed in the top 10 of a Division II boys race on Saturday.
In one of the final heats of the day, Moorpark placed third ahead of Westlake (sixth) and Camarillo (seventh).
Moorpark had four top-30 finishers, led by Teerth Patel, who was 12th. Camarillo's Joel Gonzalez (15:58) and Cole Couchman (16:08) were third and 10th. Westlake's No. 1 runner was Mike Giguere, who was ninth.
Thousand Oaks and Royal were seventh and 13th in their Division II race. Tommy Lopez was 15th for Thousand Oaks at 16:10.
Oxnard placed seventh in its Division II boys race. Angel Orozco was ninth in 17:17 and Kyle Mochizuki was 14th in 17:31.
In other Friday highlights, La Reina and Fillmore had top-10 sweepstakes finishes.
La Reina was fourth in the Division IV girls sweepstakes. Ariana Brajkovich was fourth in 18:45. Krista Andreassen was 21st in 19:37.
In the Division IV boys sweepstakes race, Fillmore finished ninth. Also placing were Nordhoff (13th), St. Bonaventure (18th) and Oaks Christian (20th). Top individual finishers included: Anthony Allen, St. Bonaventure, seventh, 15:47; Gustavo Sanchez, Nordhoff, eighth, 15:48; and Jose Almaguer, Fillmore, 30th, 16:29.
Oak Park finished 14th in the Division III boys sweepstakes as Sahm Bazargan (15:54) and Ryan Zelada (16:03) were 21st and 30th.
Fillmore was third in its Division IV girls race. Kiana Hope placed fifth in 20:02.
Sabrina Sewel (12th in 20:22) led Rio Mesa to fourth in its Division III girls race. Anika Gasner was 19th (20:53), Brittany Gonzalez was 24th (21:02) and Maddie Schmader was 26th (21:07). Jenna Nava finished 44th (21:50).
Other top girls team finishes for Ventura County schools included: Nordhoff, sixth in Division IV; Oak Park, eighth in Division III; and Hueneme, ninth in Division III.