Still bearing a scab on his left knee resulting from a fall Oct. 29 at the Ventura County Championships, Newbury Park's Sean Grumney picked his spot during the Marmonte League cross country finals Thursday at Agoura High.
With tempartures in the low 90s, there would be no mishap this time as Grumney separated himself from the pack running up the first hill on the 3-mile course to capture the individual title in 15minutes, 41.46 seconds.
"I heard a lot of guys breathing heavy the first time up the hill. I knew I had to take advantage," Grumney said. "I'm ecstatic. This is what I have been training for."
While Grumney celebrated his individual victory, the Westlake boys' team had reason to cheer as well, capturing its first league championship in 31 years.
The Warriors had 47 points, followed by Thousand Oaks with 52. Newbury Park (64), Royal (72) and Simi Valley (128) rounded out the top five.
Jonathan Miller was the top finisher for Westlake, clocking 15:50.11 to take second place. Timmy Snyder (16:18.60) came in sixth, Martin Arreola (16:22.67) finished seventh, Mikey Giguere (16:37.60) was 15th and Ryan Chu (16:43.71) placed 17th.
"Winning the league title means so much to our team," Miller said. "We have been pushing each other the last couple of races and it's paying off. We want to carry this momentum all the way to the state finals."
In the girls' competition, Simi Valley placed seven in the top 12, scoring 30 points to win its second straight league title. Agoura placed second with 78 points.
Simi Valley freshman Sarah Baxter continued to impress, capturing the individual crown in 17:56.84.
The Pioneers swept the Nos. 5-7 spots with Erika Barr (18:55.69), Megan McNally (18:56.04) and Chelsea Feller (18:56.90). Freshman Madelyn Vorgitch was 12th (19:19.11).
"I ran OK today," Baxter said. "With the conditions, it was a difficult course to run with all the winding and turning."
Royal's Sophie Mateu was second in 18:30.50, followed by Newbury Park's Shannon Byrne in third at 18:38.85 and Westlake's Nicki Ghazarian in fourth at 18:48.54.
