Hart Runners Focused on Title, Not Spotlight

The Hart High boys’ cross-country team was nowhere to be seen Friday afternoon in Fresno while top-ranked and undefeated Madera, the local favorite, was making a public appearance at Woodward Park before Saturday’s state championships.

A Fresno-based television station interviewed Madera Coach Dennis DeWitt and top runner Jose Santiago and taped the Coyotes during a pre-meet workout. Hart was neither in the picture nor in the park.

“I made the mistake of getting (to Fresno) too late last year and felt rushed to get to where we were going,” Hart Coach Gene Blankenship said. “So we got there about 11:30 or so and jogged the course, practiced sprints off the start and into the (finish) chute.”

Hart started rolling when the cameras stopped.

Despite having lost twice to Madera this season by margins of 35 and 65 points, the Indians handily defeated the nation’s third-ranked team, 58-113, for their first state Division I title.

“The announcer was making all this talk about Madera being the first non-Southern Section team to win the state (Division I) title and that sort of fired the team up,” Blankenship said.

The Indians placed five runners ahead of Madera’s No. 2 runner. Hart’s sixth runner, freshman Gavin Klinger, placed 45th in 16 minutes 28 seconds, finishing ahead of Santiago (48th in 16:30), Madera’s fifth and final scorer.

“It took everyone to race a good race and no one would give up,” senior Billy Dixon said.

Dixon finished eighth in 15:48 to lead Hart.

Chrome dome: Local cross-country coaches and runners might not recognize Blankenship after Friday. Hart will be honored Friday at a school rally at which the Indians will shave Blankenship’s head.

“I had an agreement with the kids that if we finished in the top three they could shave my head,” Blankenship said.

The event is not without precedent. When El Monte Arroyo won the state Division I title in 1987, a rally was held at the school and Knight runners shaved Coach Tim O’Rourke’s head, beard and mustache.

Marmonte madness: Marmonte League cross-country teams and individuals were about as prominent at the state championships Saturday as Florence Griffith Joyner’s one-legged body suits.

Doug Speck, a national authority on high school running with California Track & Running News magazine, called the league the nation’s most competitive.

“There is no doubt in my mind that the Marmonte League is the toughest all around for boys and girls,” Speck said. “I can guarantee you that no league has three top girls like the ones in the Marmonte League.”

Three runners from the league won individual titles and another placed second. Five teams also finished among the top five in their respective divisions.

Agoura’s Deena Drossin, Westlake’s Jeannie Rothman and Newbury Park’s Jeff Wilson captured Division I, II and III titles, respectively.

Drossin, the Ventura County and Marmonte League titlist, timed 17:29 in beating league-rival Veronica Barajas (17:44) of Channel Islands. Barajas, a junior, finished second to Drossin in the Southern Section Division I final.

Rothman notched the fastest girls’ time of the day at 17:28, one second off Drossin’s state-meet record set last year. Rothman won the Southern Section Division II title and finished second to Drossin in the Ventura County and Marmonte League championships.

A fierce Division III race was waged between Wilson, the Southern Section runner-up, and San Luis Obispo’s James Menon, the section champion. The Newbury Park junior surged away from Menon with about 400 yards to go to win in 15:15, the third-fastest time of the day. Wilson was the Ventura County and Marmonte League champion.

The Agoura girls’ team concluded an undefeated season by winning the Division I title after finishing second to Palos Verdes the past three years. The Chargers are ranked second in the nation by The Harrier magazine. Mountain View of Orem, Utah, is ranked first.

Channel Islands, a Marmonte League co-champion with Camarillo, tied for fourth with L. A. Belmont but the Sentinels were awarded fourth place outright by virtue of a faster sixth runner.

Camarillo finished second in the boys’ Division II and rival Agoura was fourth. Westlake’s girls’ team finished third in the Division II final.

Site dispute: The controversy over the site of Saturday’s football semifinal between Canyon and Loyola has been solved, but the Cowboys are none too happy about the Southern Section’s decision to move the game from Canyon High to College of the Canyons, which seats about 8,000.

Canyon Coach Harry Welch, coaching in his first Division I playoff but in his eighth consecutive semifinal game, insists that Canyon’s home field is suitable for the game. Loyola argued that Canyon’s stands were insufficient to hold its large following.

Canyon drew an overflow crowd of about 5,000 for its quarterfinal against Bishop Amat, which brought about 2,000 fans.

“It’s a bunch of bunk,” Welch said. “Canyon High can host a first-class, Division I final game. We provide the little amenities: Our locker rooms are close to the field and we can take care of the working media. And the field at Canyon is far superior to most any in Southern California. I felt the players should come first.”

Mike Glaze and staff writer Brian Murphy contributed to this notebook.