High school cross country overview: County teams are up to speed

Led by Simi Valley girls, programs receive top rankings

By Jim Carlisle, Posted September 20, 2012 at 2:02 p.m.

As long as Sarah Baxter is a high school student, Simi Valley will dominate girls cross country in Ventura County.

But there are plenty of other exceptional runners who continue to extend the region's reputation for being a cross country hotbed.

Eight teams — four boys and four girls — are ranked this week in the CIF-Southern Section by PrepCalTrack.com.

But any discussion of the sport starts with Simi Valley's girls, who won the CIF-SS Division 2 championship last season, but were forced to settle for fourth place at the state meet. This season, enrollment has moved the Pioneers back up to Division 1, where they are currently ranked second behind Temecula-Great Oak. Simi is No. 3 in the state.

Behind Baxter, a junior who has won two straight CIF section and state individual titles, Simi Valley continues to have a deep team. But the Pioneers are waiting for senior Rachel Vinas and sophomore Olivia Rosellini to return from injuries.

"I've been really pleased with how the team has filled in without them," coach Roger Evans said. "It's almost like going back to last year when we didn't have Sarah (because of injury) for the first part of the season and the team had to kind of jell and come on."

Sarah Riggs is currently Simi's No. 3 runner and turned in a notable time of 17 minutes, 35 seconds at the recent Woodbridge Invitational. But Evans noted with the Pioneers at full strength, that time would be fifth best on the team.

Sophomore Desirae Jones, senior Courtney Korven and junior Charlotte Utash round out Simi Valley's top runners. But, as always, the main attraction is Baxter.

"If Sarah continues like she is, we know what she is going to be," Evans said. "But she's only one runner. She can't carry the load. That's one point. We're going to have to have a very fast pack behind her. … This year we have to have our five scorers — and probably six or seven — be up there and very fast."

Below Simi Valley, the Marmonte League is very competitive, with Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake among the best.

Junior Sammie Cox and sophomores Lauren Porter and Elizabeth Ging lead a fast pack of Newbury Park runners. Thousand Oaks is led by seniors Genevieve Johnson and Parker Navarro, and Westlake's top runners are sophomore Jenny Giguere, senior Andi Lorch and sophomore Clarice Douille.

Ventura is ranked No. 4 in CIF-SS Division 1 and No. 6 in the state after finishing seventh at the CIF-SS meet and sixth at the state meet last season. Coach Preston Biller's Cougars are led by senior Hannah Kirkegaard, who was third in the section meet and 10th at state. Other returning runners are senior Emily Hooke and juniors Becky Guadiana, Paige Shelton, Mega Kearney and Jenny Veyna.

"Their goal for the season is just to improve on their sixth-place finish at the state meet," Biller said. "They've been working hard to do that."

La Reina is ranked No. 3 in CIF-SS Division 4 and No. 4 in the state and is led by sophomore Ariana Brajkovich, who ran 13:04 at the 2.45-mile Mount Carmel Invitational, and by juniors Alyssa Frank and Megan O'Toole.

Thacher is the top team in Division 5 and No. 2 in the state, led by senior Melanie Reimer, Julianna Childs and Arianna Finger.

Among the area's boys teams, Fillmore has the highest ranking, topping CIF-SS Division 4 at No. 1. Seniors Isaac Gomez (15:27.02), Hugo Valdovinos (15:27.66) and Adrian Mejia (15:28.76) took 19th through 21st place at the recent Seaside Invitational. The Flashes lived up to their nickname, with three more runners — seniors Alexander Frias, Anthony Rivas and Jose Almaguer — finishing less than 20 seconds after the top three.

Westlake is ranked ninth in Division 2. Junior Mikey Giguere — Jenny's brother — took eighth at the recent 1.9-mile Fastback Invitational at Mount San Antonio College in 10:09.07, and led the Warriors to an eighth-place finish.

"We have a lot of equity in our league," westlake coach Joe Snyder said. "Anything can happen depending upon how people are doing over the course of the week health-wise and that sort of thing. I see the Marmonte League as being a real tough league and it's going to be interesting to see how everything shakes out once we get toward league finals."

Rounding out Westlake's runners are senior Rocky Peterson, juniors Chris Costa and Sean O'Bryan and sophomore Graham Rigby.

Dos Pueblos is the section's and the state's top team in Division 2, leading the Channel League.

Oak Park is ranked fourth in Division 3, both in the Southern Section and in the state, and is led by senior Patrick Thedinga, who was 11th in the Fastback meet. Also leading the Eagles are seniors Eric Jones, Ben Goldstein and Chris Carlson.

Thacher, a Division 5 perennial, is ranked fifth in the section and eighth in the state this week. The Toads are led by Simon Novich, Spencer McCune and Peter Callan.

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Boys cross country

TOP TEAMS

Westlake, Fillmore, Camarillo, Oak Park, Thacher.

TOP RUNNERS

Mikey Giguere, Rocky Peterson, Chris Costa, Westlake; Kyle Medina, Ventura; Isaac Gomez, Hugo Valdovinos, Adrian Mejia, Alex Frias, Fillmore; Joel Gonzalez, Esteban Vega, Zach Gomez, Camarillo; Patrick Thedinga, Eric Jones, Ben Goldstein, Chris Carlson, Oak Park; Simon Novich, Spencer McCune, Peter Callan, Thacher.

Girls cross country

TOP TEAMS

Simi Valley, Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Westlake, La Reina, Thacher.

TOP RUNNERS

Sarah Baxter, Desirae Jones, Sarah Riggs, Rachel Vinas, Olivia Rosellini, Simi Valley; Brianne Holland, Royal; Paris Beauregard, Melissa Chadwick, Brasilia Perez, Ventura; Jenny Giguere, Andi Lorch, Clarice Douille, Westlake; Genevieve Johnson, Parker Navarro, Thousand Oaks; Sammie Cox, Lauren Porter, Elizabeth Ging, Newbury Park; Ariana Brajkovich, Alyssa Frank, Megan O'Toole, La Reina; Melanie Reimer, Julianna Childs, Arianna Finger, Thacher.