Thousand Oaks Boys Complete a Successful Run at State Title : Cross-country: Fischer paces Lancers to second consecutive Division I championship.

Jeff Fischer of Thousand Oaks High makes it sound so simple.

If you want to run well in the State cross-country championships, you must put a high priority on the race and forget about what you have accomplished--or failed to accomplish--in previous meets.

That thinking helped the Lancer senior finish third in the Division I race of the State championships at Woodward Park on Saturday and lead Thousand Oaks to its second consecutive team title.

Paced by the 3-6-9 finish of Fischer, Keith O’Doherty and Kevin Marsden, the Lancers posted a runaway 38-106 victory over Chula Vista. San Jose Bellarmine finished third with 110 points, followed by Peninsula (122), Hart (124) and Camarillo (139).

Peninsula upset Thousand Oaks, 82-91, in the girls’ race to prevent the Lancers from becoming the first program to win both Division I titles in the same year.

In other races, Antonio Arce of Palmdale and Amy Skieresz of Agoura won the boys’ and girls’ Division II races while Nordhoff won its second consecutive Division III boys’ title.

Fischer had missed the first two meets of the season because of a hip injury, but after finishing fourth in last week’s Southern Section championships, he figured he was ready for a big race.

“I’m for sure 100% back,” he said earlier in the week. “I want to go out with the leaders Saturday and see what happens.”

Sticking to his word, Fischer was among the lead pack that came through the mile in 4 minutes 49 seconds. By two miles (9:52), the pack had dwindled to Eleazar Hernandez of Camarillo, Adalberto Sanchez of Capistrano Valley, Fischer, Jeff McLarty of Ayala and Jason Balkman of San Jose Lynbrook.

Hernandez and Sanchez were pre-race favorites based on their 1-2 finish in the Southern Section championships, but it was the unheralded Balkman who broke open the race with 800 meters remaining and timed 15:15 over the 5,000-meter course.

Hernandez finished second in 15:20, followed by Fischer (15:29), McLarty (15:29) and Sanchez (15:35).

Seniors O’Doherty and Marsden timed 15:41 and 15:45, respectively, with juniors Josh Carolan (20th in 16:05) and Todd Disney (23rd in 16:09) rounding out Thousand Oaks’ scoring runners.

The cumulative time of the Lancers’ top five runners, 79:09, was well off their course record of 77:59 set last year. Temperatures in the low 40s and a muddy course from Friday’s rains hindered times.

The Lancer girls, who defeated Peninsula, 54-79, in the section championships, came up short in the rematch.

Juniors Kim Mortensen and Tara Marsden--Kevin’s sister--placed fourth (18:29) and 13th (19:10) for Thousand Oaks, but Peninsula’s superior depth gave Panther Coach Joe Kelley his fourth state title.

Kelley guided Palos Verdes to State Division I titles from 1987-89 before the school combined with Rolling Hills and Miraleste in 1990.

Nordhoff entered the Division III boys’ race as a decided underdog for the second year in a row, but the Rangers totaled 69 points to turn back El Modena (101) and favored Livermore (117).

Livermore’s Micheil Jones (15:25) and Steve Immel (15:33) placed first and third, but seniors Javier Ramirez (second in 15:32) and Will Bernaldo (sixth in 15:50), and junior Omar Vega (13th in 16:05) paced Nordhoff to its third state championship in the past four years. The Rangers won the Division IV title in 1991.

“We don’t do anything magical,” Coach Ken Reeves said when asked about the Rangers’ success. “We’ve just got kids who are willing to work hard and believe in a system that is designed to have them run their best at this meet.”

Arce and Skieresz each won individual Division II titles.

Arce, the runner-up in the 3,200 meters in the state track and field championships in June, shared the lead with Peter Gilmore of Palisades, John Greene of Agoura and Michael Stember of Carmichael Jesuit for the first mile (4:49) before making a break midway through the race.

“I was a little surprised that they didn’t go with me at (the mile-and-a-half point),” said Arce, who finished in 15:25.

“I took a glance at them and they looked pretty strong, but I guess they must not have been feeling that well.”

Skieresz, who won the Division I title last year, also pulled away from her pursuers in the final mile, but her time of 18:12 was 23 seconds slower than a year ago and only the fifth-fastest of the meet.

Santa Rosa sophomore Julia Stamps set a course record of 17:06 in winning the Division I title. Courtney Pugmire of Esperanza placed second behind Stamp in 18:08, while Nordhoff’s Elaine Canchola had the fastest time among local performers, running 18:07 to place second behind fellow freshman Heather Garritson (18:01) of Buena Park in the Division III race.