Agoura Girls’ Team Dominates Staub Cross-Country Meet

Calculators were not necessary to determine the outcome of the Division I girls’ race in the Kenny Staub Invitational cross-country meet Saturday morning. The result was visible to the naked eye.

Agoura placed five runners among the first eight finishers, easily beating Palos Verdes, 19-38, at Crescenta Valley Park. The loss is Palos Verdes’ second this fall after three consecutive undefeated seasons. Agoura also was responsible for the first defeat, beating the Sea Kings three weeks ago in the Woodbridge Invitational.

Quartz Hill (96), Simi Valley (117) and Redlands (125) rounded out the top five.

“They really surprised me today,” Agoura Coach Bill Duley said of his Chargers. “They knew what they had to do today and they executed it beautifully.”

Sparked by the 1-2-3 finish of Deena Drossin, Tiffany York and Kristy Camp, Agoura combined for a meet-record team time of 94 minutes 33 seconds, knocking 16 seconds off the mark set in 1981 by Santa Ana Foothill.

The finish resembled an Agoura-Palos Verdes dual meet more than an invitational race. Six Agoura runners placed in the top 10, with the remaining four spots filled by Palos Verdes runners. Simi Valley’s Lori Church (11th) was the highest-placing runner from another school.

Drossin’s bid for her third course record of the season took a turn for the worse with a half-mile left in the three-mile race.

The defending state Division I champion won in 17:42, but a wrong turn added almost 50 yards to Drossin’s race. Had she stayed on course, she might have broken the course mark of 17:31.

In the boys’ Division I race, Ben Mesfen of Venice remained undefeated, winning in 15:27. Agoura’s Ryan Wilson was second in 15:43. Hoover claimed the team title over Palos Verdes, 58-71, behind the third-place effort of Margarito Casillas (15:52).

Jeff Wilson (15:50) of Newbury Park and Westlake’s Jeannie Rothman (17:55) won the Division II boys’ and girls’ individual titles. Thousand Oaks scored 111 points to take the boys’ Division II team title and Claremont edged Westlake, 71-74, for the girls’ championship.

Illnesses and ineligibility hampered defending City Section champion Taft, which finished a distant fifth in the Division I race. The Toreadors were running without Jim Gough, a transfer from Toronto, who is on the 10-week ineligible list because of transcript problems.