VALLEY SPORTS : Royal Beats Thousand Oaks, 11-9, for Water Polo Title : FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Royal water polo Coach Steve Snyder got just what he wanted Wednesday afternoon: A dip in the Thousand Oaks pool.

Minutes earlier, the dunking might have been interpreted as an attempt to drown his sorrows. Instead, after a hard-fought 11-9 win over rival Thousand Oaks, the Highlander coach was taking yet another victory swim after winning a sixth consecutive Marmonte League water polo title.

“This ranks right up there with the first league title in 1981,” Snyder said, dripping after his players tossed him into the shallow end after the game. “We were underdogs and weren’t expected to win that game either, but we did.”

Royal and Thousand Oaks entered the game tied in league play at 6-1. The Lancers had handed the Highlanders their first Marmonte defeat since 1983 two weeks ago, and had the added advantage of playing in front of the home crowd in the final league match of the season. A win by the Lancers would have ended the Highlander streak.

But Thousand Oaks couldn’t quite break the Royal reign.

The Highlanders jumped to a quick 3-0 lead, and led 4-2 at the end of the first period. But the Lancers reeled off four straight goals in two minutes to pull even at 6-6 at halftime.

The teams traded goals throughout the third period, but two missed penalty shots by Thousand Oaks cost the Lancers the lead as the teams entered the final quarter tied at 9-9.

Snyder exhorted the Highlanders to keep the title streak alive, starting a chant of “Six years, six minutes,” as the game headed into the fourth quarter.

Royal scored first to take a one-goal lead, and added another late in the period as senior goalie Todd Jacobson held the Lancers scoreless for the remainder of the game.

“That was probably the best game I played all year,” Jacobson said. “And it sure came at the right time.”

BOYS CROSS-COUNTRY

Alemany 43, Loyola 44, Crespi 84, St. John Bosco 110, St. Francis 117, Notre Dame 147, Bosco Tech 189--Mike Glaze of Notre Dame was an easy winner in the Del Rey League meet at Griffith Park Wednesday.

The Notre Dame junior, who placed fourth in last year’s meet, surged away from Jose Haro of Alemany at the top of “sand hill” and extended his lead to the finish, running a 15:09 over the three-mile course.

Haro placed second in 15:30, just ahead of Loyola teammates Luigi Gratton (15:31) and freshman Renee Rigal (15:32). Steve Johnson (15:33) of St. John Bosco finished fifth.

“The race went pretty much how I hoped it would,” Glaze said afterwards. “I made my big move on sand hill last year and I wanted to do the same thing this year.”

Alemany, Loyola and St. John Bosco qualified for the Southern Section preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College. St. John Bosco advanced ahead of Crespi on the basis of a superior dual-meet record.

Cathedral 29, Chaminade 74, Harvard 95, Bell-Jeff 100, Salesian 111, Pater Noster 132, La Salle 147--John Trafecanty of Cathedral won his second straight Santa Fe League title at Griffith Park Wednesday.

Trafecanty, the defending Southern Section 1-A champion, ran a 14:42 over the three-mile course. Teammate George Reyes (15:22) finished second and Harvard’s Leo Marks (15:56) placed third.

Ken Ricci was Chaminade’s top runner, finishing fourth in 15:59.

Cathedral, the No.3-ranked team in the 1-A, Chaminade and Bell-Jeff qualified for the Southern Section preliminaries. Bell-Jeff advanced ahead of Harvard on the basis of a superior dual-meet record.

GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY

Alemany 36, Bell-Jeff 44, Notre Dame 70, Louisville 85, Chaminade 116--Patti Cutler of Bell-Jeff won the individual title but Siobhan O’Reilly’s second place effort led Alemany to the team title over No. 1-ranked Bell-Jeff in the San Fernando Valley League meet at Griffith Park.

Cutler ran 18:23 over the three-mile course, defeating O’Reilly (19:16) by 53 seconds.

Wendy Wibbels of Chaminade (19:28), Kelly Dwyer of Alemany (20:08) and Vicki Hosek of Notre Dame (20:11) finished third, fourth and fifth.

Alemany, the No. 7-ranked team in the Southern Section 1-A division, Bell-Jeff and Notre Dame qualified for Southern Section preliminaries.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

Louisville def. Chaminade, 10-15, 15-13, 15-8, 14-16, 15-10--Tina Kohler had 20 kills to help Louisville end San Fernando Valley League play 10-0. Teammate Nancy Hawkins had 10 kills. Chaminade finished league play 8-2.

Marshall def. Van Nuys, 15-4, 15-5--Van Nuys remained winless with the East Valley League loss. The Wolves fell to 0-8 in league and 0-12 overall. Shannon Marley led Van Nuys with five kills.

Alemany def. Notre Dame, 9-15, 15-13, 15-9, 15-11--Jennifer Kroll had 15 kills and five blocks to lead Alemany to the San Fernando Valley League victory. Teammate Ann Sasadeusz had five kills and two blocks and Stacey Nicklaw added 15 service points and three aces. Alemany improved to 3-7 in league, 9-9 overall. Notre Dame fell to 4-6 and 8-7.

Village Christian def. Marshall Fundamental, 15-7, 15-8, 15-10--Heather Hepburn had 10 kills to lead Village Christian in an Alpha League game. Village Christian, the league champion, is ranked fifth in the Southern Section 1-A poll and finished the regular season at 13-1 in league and 18-3 overall.