Villa Park Girls Finally Win at Canyon in Cross-Country

The Villa Park High School girls’ cross-country team has faced rival Canyon and its torturous course many times since 1979, but each time the Spartans ended up going home tired, sore and defeated.

Until Thursday, that is.

Villa Park, the county’s second-ranked team, defeated fifth-ranked Canyon, 19-36, Thursday in a Century League dual meet at Canyon.

The Spartans were led by junior Laura Doering, who took a quick lead at the start and stretched it to a 100-yard advantage by the first mile. Doering handled the steep dirt hills with little difficulty, cruising across the finish line in 20 minutes 23 seconds.

Villa Park sophomores Tracy Ruble and Susannah Thrasher had to fight off Canyon’s Heidi Forsyth and Christen Prince through the first two miles before finally finishing second (21:03) and third (21:20), respectively.

Villa Park’s Karen Longyear, the defending Century League champion, finished fifth in 22:02, breaking up Forsyth (fourth, 21:50) and Prince (sixth, 22:19).

In the boys’ race, the top three spots went to Canyon’s Brett Schultz (17:32), Aaron Nelson (17:38) and Vic Barrigon (17:50) for a 21-38 victory over Villa Park.