Thousand Oaks Looking for Good Times

The Thousand Oaks High boys’ cross-country team is the top-ranked team in the state and the No. 4-ranked squad in the nation, but do not expect Coach Jack Farrell to make any grand predictions about how the Lancers will perform in today’s Mt. San Antonio College Invitational.

Thousand Oaks appears capable of posting a team time--the cumulative time of its top five runners--that will put it among the Southern Section’s fastest ever over Mt. SAC’s three-mile course, but Farrell has no intention of broaching the subject with his charges.

“I haven’t mentioned it to them and I don’t plan to,” Farrell said. “I anticipate that we’ll run well. If the weather holds, the conditions should be there for some good times.”

The Lancers were regarded as an up-and-coming team entering last year’s Mt. SAC meet, but after posting a stunning upset over Hart--the 1991 mythical national champion--and several other top-notch teams, Thousand Oaks re-established itself as one of the top programs in the state.

The undefeated Lancers’ reputation has been enhanced this season as they have posted runaway victories in the Seaside, Mt. Carmel, Royal, Stanford and Fountain Valley invitationals.

“We are approaching (Mt. SAC) differently than we did last year,” Farrell said. “Last year, we were young and relatively inexperienced coming into this meet.”

Thousand Oaks will be pitted against a high-quality field that includes six of the top-eight ranked teams in the state Division I poll and three of the top-four ranked Division II squads.

Matt Farley of Sacramento Jesuit and Brett Strahan of Hart, who finished first and second at Stanford, are expected to duke it out for the individual title, with Antonio Arce of Palmdale, John Greene of Agoura, Eleazar Hernandez of Camarillo and Brandon Del Campo of Thousand Oaks contending for a top-five finish.

The girls’ team sweepstakes race was expected to be a clash between Agoura and Peninsula, the No. 1- and 2-ranked teams in the state Division I, but the Chargers will be without Amy Skieresz, who is still recovering from a bout with flu.

Agoura senior Kay Nekota, who finished fifth in last year’s state Division I championships, is expected to be among the leaders in the race, but without Skieresz, the Chargers appear to lack the firepower to contend with Peninsula for the team title.

Kate Landau of Tri-Valley High in Grahamsville, N.Y., will be the individual favorite.

In other races, Canyon is entered in the boys’ individual sweepstakes and Gabriela Rodriguez of Oxnard will run in the girls’ individual sweepstakes. Canyon is ranked ninth in the state Division I poll and Rodriguez finished third in the 3,200 meters in the state track championships in June.

Today’s meet will start at 7:30 a.m. The boys’ team sweepstakes will be held at 9:30.