Little Nordhoff Has Big Boys Chasing Now : Cross-country: After several years of playing up underdog role, Reeves has a team that is out in front of traditional regional powerhouses.

Nordhoff High cross-country Coach Ken Reeves will need a new motivational ploy for his team when the Ventura County cross-country championships are held late next month.

In previous years, Reeves played up the fact that Nordhoff, a school of a little more than 1,000 students, was a David competing against county Goliaths such as Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Buena and Channel Islands.

“We’re just a small school from Division III trying to compete on their level,” is the way Reeves described it.

That kind of thinking won’t fly this year, however, because Nordhoff is favored to win its first county title.

The Rangers won their second consecutive state Division III title last year, were perhaps the second-best team in the state behind Division I champion Thousand Oaks and are ranked 15th in Harrier magazine’s national preseason poll.

Seventh-ranked Carmichael Jesuit, the two-time defending state Division II champion, is the only California team ahead of Nordhoff.

Nonetheless, Reeves remains cautious.

“We’ll be real solid if we can stay healthy,” he said. “But I still think we’ll come out of the gun slower than a lot of teams. We might not have that national ranking for too long.”

Perhaps not, but the Rangers should be among the nation’s top 25 teams--they were 17th last year--when the final rankings are released in December.

No team in the state has timed its peak better than Nordhoff in recent years, and with four of its top six runners back from last year and the addition of a former junior varsity performer who has improved immensely, the Rangers could become the first school to win three consecutive Division III titles in the State meet.

Javier Ramirez, runner-up in last year’s State championships, is a freshman at Cal State Northridge, but seniors Will Bernaldo, Omar Vega and Mason Moore, and sophomore Victor Ochoa should give the Rangers a tightly bunched top four.

Bernaldo placed sixth in the State final as a junior and ran 9 minutes 27.97 seconds in the 3,200 meters in track. Vega was 13th in the State meet and has run 9:44.0 in the 3,200.

Ochoa was hampered by injuries during his freshman cross-country season--he finished 82nd in the State meet--but clocked 9:41.06 in the 3,200 in track. Moore, 37th in the State final, has run 10:02 for 3,200 meters.

“This is the fastest group of track runners I’ve ever had here,” said Reeves, who is entering his 11th season.

“I’ve never had a group with these kind of track credentials.”

Nordhoff suffered a mild setback when Jesse Davis, the team’s No. 5 runner last year, decided not to come out for his senior season because he was too busy with other endeavors. But sophomore Dusty Herman could be an adequate replacement.

Herman was an 11:10 two-miler in track but trained hard over the summer and timed 16:34 over UC Santa Barbara’s three-mile cross-country course two weeks ago.

Senior Edgar Torres, the Rangers’ No. 7 runner last year, and freshman Adam Dutter should give Nordhoff added depth.

“Our goal is to be faster in November than we were in [October or September],” Reeves said. “If we do that and we get beat in the State meet, then that’s the way it goes.”

Don’t bet on that happening.

Other teams to watch:

* Hoover--The defending Pacific League champion Tornadoes failed to qualify for last year’s Southern Section Division I final, but with their top five runners returning, they’re the top-ranked team in the section’s preseason poll.

Paced by junior David Lopez and senior Felipe Montoro, Hoover could have the best 1-2 punch in the region.

Lopez placed eighth in last year’s section championships and ran 9:38.0 in the 3,200 during track. Montoro finished 15th in the section cross-country final and has run 4:24.3 in the 1,600.

Seniors Wilson Aquino and Stephen Sotomayor and sophomore Isabel Casillas should round out the top five for a program that is looking for its first berth in the State championships.

* Hart--The Indians placed fifth in last year’s State Division I championships, but lost four of their top seven runners--including No. 1 Brett Strahan--to graduation. In addition, No. 4 Jeff Stewart moved with his family to Minnesota.

That leaves seniors John Duarte, 21st in the State final, and Sandro Soler (60th) as the only returnees for the 12-time defending Foothill League champions.

Junior Scott Peterson and senior Tyler Lafferty are expected to be Hart’s No. 3 and 4 runners. Junior Devon McMahon and sophomores Danny Espinal, Garrett Peyton and Trevon Wilson should battle for the No. 5 spot.

“We’re in a little down cycle,” Coach Larry David said. “All of the [guys from the 1992 state championship team] are gone, but we’ve got a shot certainly at making the [Southern Section] finals.”

* Palmdale--Antonio Arce, the 1994 state Division II champion, is a freshman at Notre Dame, but four of the Falcons’ top seven runners are back from last year’s Southern Section Division II champions.

Mario Arce, Antonio’s brother, placed 13th in the section Division II final last year and fellow senior Andrew Fondacaro was 25th.

Junior Jacob Guyer, who’s run 9:52.3 in the 3,200, should battle Fondacaro for the No. 2 spot with Louis Ortega in fourth. Juniors David Alvarez and Louis Monge will vie for the all-important No. 5 position.

* Newbury Park--The Panthers finished fifth in last year’s Marmonte League championships, but with Thousand Oaks, Camarillo and Agoura having been hit hard by graduation, they have a chance to win their first league title since 1983.

Junior Ross Wood and senior Matt Swarts should battle for the No. 1 spot with juniors Mitch Beck, Trevor Szafraniec and Jeff Malch filling out the No. 3-5 positions.

Individuals to watch:

* Kevin Koeper (St. Francis)--The Golden Knight senior placed third in last year’s Southern Section Division III cross-country championships, ninth in the State meet and has a best of 9:28.95 in the 3,200. He’s the second-fastest returning runner in the region--behind Hoover’s Lopez--based on his 15:33 best over Mt. San Antonio College’s rugged three-mile course.

* Todd Disney (Thousand Oaks)--The No. 4 runner on last year’s Lancer squad that won its third consecutive Southern Section Division I title, he placed 13th in the section championships and 23rd in the State meet.

* Josh Carolan (Thousand Oaks)--He and fellow senior Disney are expected to battle for the Marmonte League title. Carolan placed 16th in last year’s section final and 20th in the State meet as Thousand Oaks won its second consecutive championship.

* Andy VanOrden (St. Francis)--Ninth in last year’s Southern Section Division III championships as a junior, VanOrden and Koeper should give the Golden Knights one of the top tandems in the region.

* Efrain Garcia (Fillmore)--The Flash junior finished only 24th in last year’s Southern Section Division IV cross-country championships, but he ran 9:54.86 in the 3,200 in track and placed fifth in the Division IV final.