Melissa Sutton Continues to Rewrite Cross-Country Records
Newbury Park cross-country Coach Mike Stewart insists that Melissa Sutton has yet to reach peak condition, but he’d have a hard time convincing anyone else of that following her performance at the Kenny Staub Invitational at La Crescenta Park on Saturday .
The Newbury Park senior timed 17:31 on the three-mile course, breaking the previous record of 18:04 set by Palos Verdes’ Kristin O’Hara in 1983. Sutton defeated runner-up Suzette Bashore of Pasadena by 67 seconds.
Sutton has set course records in all six of her races this season.
Led by Sutton’s victory, Newbury Park finished third in the Division I team competition. Fourth-ranked Thousand Oaks finished second with 68, followed by third-ranked Newbury Park (79) and second-ranked Westlake (95).
In the Division I boys race, John Rogers (16:04) seventh-place effort led Thousand Oaks (100) to a third-place finish behind top-ranked Palos Verdes (58) and Upland (90).
In the boys Division II race, Bryan Dameworth of Agoura was handed his first defeat of the season, finishing third in 16:02. Newbury Park sophomore Mike Esparza’s fourth-place finish (16:04) led the Panthers to a 84-86 victory over Agoura.
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