Camarillo Dominates Finals Despite Absence of 2 Runners

The Camarillo High boys’ cross-country team was without the services of senior Shawn Goetzinger and junior Scott Stringer in the Marmonte League finals Friday at Moorpark College, but the Scorpions hardly missed them in rolling to the team title.

Two junior varsity members ran in place of Goetzinger (usually the No. 3 runner) and Stringer (No. 7), who were both ailing, but Camarillo still managed to place five runners among the top eight finishers to score 18 points and easily win its third consecutive title.

Westlake, with 64 points, and Thousand Oaks, with 67, finished second and third. The top three teams qualify for the Southern Section 4-A Division preliminaries Nov. 10 at Mt. San Antonio College.

The meet originally was scheduled for Nov. 11 but was moved up a day.

“It turned out to be fine,” Coach Mike Smith said of his manpower situation. “My first five guys pulled together and had a good race.”

Senior Abe Valdez timed 15 minutes, 57 seconds over the three-mile course, which was rerouted because a Moorpark soccer match was being played on the final stretch.

Seniors Derek Kite (16:09) and Chad Malesich (16:19) and junior Shannon Brusca (16:22) placed second through fourth for Camarillo. Junior Josh Gerry finished eighth for the Scorpions in 16:41.

In the girls’ final, Channel Islands escaped with a 42-55 win over Westlake to claim its second league crown in a row. Camarillo, with 85 points, finished third.

“They’ve been kind of creeping up on us all year,” Channel Islands Coach Debbie Blum said. “We knew it was going to be close with Westlake. There was no doubt.”

The Raiders were paced by junior Yung Chong (20:18) and sophomore Valerie Aceves (20:18), who placed fifth and sixth.

Westlake junior Jeanine Rothman timed 18:32 in winning the individual title by 80 meters over Beth Mercier (19:01) of Newbury Park.

Defending champion Katie Meyer of Camarillo was third in 19:15.