Scobie, Bird Recovering After Surgery

Normally this time of year, Steve Spraker would be eagerly anticipating the upcoming Southern Section cross-country championships at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Saugus High cross-country coach, however, is concentrating on more important matters these days--the health of Heather Scobie and Shana Bird, two members of the girls cross-country team who were critically injured in a car accident last Saturday.

Scobie, 17, who placed second in the Southern Section 3-A championships in 1985 and 1986, and Bird, 16, were riding in a car driven by Melissa Zidle, 17, of Valencia.

The trio’s car was traveling southbound on Sierra Highway shortly after 1 p.m. when a northbound car began to hydroplane on the rain-slickened highway, then crossed the center line and collided with the girls’ vehicle.

One of the passengers in the second car, Keith Cooper, 15, of Newhall, died in the crash.

Scobie, who underwent surgery at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills on Saturday to repair lacerated intestines, is scheduled for further surgery Monday to fuse together a fractured piece of her spine with the undamaged vertebrae beneath it.

Bird underwent surgery Tuesday to repair intestinal damage. Bird’s collarbone and left arm were broken and three vertebrae were fractured in the accident.

After being listed in critical condition for the first three days, both girls were listed Thursday evening in serious, but fair condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.

The accident occurred two days after Scobie had won her third consecutive Golden League title at Palmdale, leading Saugus to a second-place finish and a berth in Saturday’s Southern Section preliminaries at Mt. SAC.

Without Scobie and Bird, it seems unlikely that the Centurions will qualify for next week’s final, but Spraker said the team still will compete in the preliminaries.

“This has been a terrible shock to everybody, but we’ve tried to keep their lives as normal as possible,” he said.

Spraker and Bob Scobie, Heather’s father, have been amazed by the reaction from the Saugus team and members of the running community.

“I knew the team would be supportive, they’re very close-knit,” Bob Scobie said. “But the support from the other schools has amazed me.”