Canyon Girls Stay on Heels of Thousand Oaks in Cross-Country

Canyon High girls’ cross-country Coach Dave DeLong constantly tells his charges the “real” season doesn’t start until the Foothill League finals in early November. Still, Canyon was impressive Saturday in the Seaside Invitational at San Buenaventura State Beach.

Thousand Oaks, the top-ranked team in the Southern Section Division I preseason poll, won the meet with a cumulative team time of 91 minutes 55 seconds, ahead of No. 7 Canyon (93:32). But Kim Mortensen’s scorching course record of 16:35, which was 1:21 faster than the time of Canyon’s No. 1 runner, Julie Harris, provided most of the margin.

There was no more than a seven-second difference between the times for each team’s second through fifth runners. Based on those marks Canyon would have finished six points behind Thousand Oaks, 25-31, in a hypothetical dual meet.

“Just to be in the ballpark with them makes you feel pretty good,” DeLong said. “I’ve tried to convince the girls that if they trained hard and raced like they’re capable of, they could be competitive with anyone.”

Bull run: Running from a frothing defensive lineman doesn’t seem such a challenge to Cal State Northridge quarterback Clayton Millis anymore.

“At least they don’t have horns,” Millis said.

Two summers ago Millis was in Spain and he and his friends decided to run with the bulls in Pamplona.

“I thought, ‘When am I ever going to be in Pamplona again?’ ” Millis said. “I always wanted to do it. It was the biggest rush of my life.”

Bullpen to playpen: Harvard-Westlake High baseball Coach Jim Brink recently announced he was retiring after 15 seasons to take on a new challenge.

Fatherhood.

One day after the American Legion baseball season ended Brink, 45, and his wife adopted a one-month-old baby girl, and he wants to devote his time to her.

“Coaching time is going to be traded in for parenting time,” Brink said.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with other parents’ children. Now it’s time to spend it with a child of my own.”

Famous waiter: Brian (Kato) Kaelin might have been able to charm O.J. Simpson, but another former football player was not so enamored of America’s most famous house guest.

When his playing days ended in the mid-1980s after four years at San Jose State, Burroughs High assistant Keith Knoop became a volunteer assistant at Glendale College. He made money tending bar at a Burbank restaurant.

Kaelin, now a talk-show host, was a waiter at the same restaurant.

“I never really hung out with him after work,” Knoop said. “He was a little quirky. He wasn’t my type of guy.”

Quotebook

“That was the worst game I’ve ever had in any sport. The only thing that could have gone wrong that didn’t was I could have broken my leg.”

--Cal State Northridge kicker Matt Ornelaz, who on Saturday against Menlo had three extra-point attempts blocked, misfired on two others and missed a field-goal attempt.

“We didn’t hit anybody hard enough to get hurt.”

--Santa Paula High Coach Paul Spinner, on the Cardinals’ health after a 33-7 loss to Village Christian on Friday.

Honors

Pepperdine sophomore Nicole Sanderson was named West Coast Conference women’s volleyball player of the week after leading the Waves (6-1) to the championship of the Montana tournament last weekend. Sanderson, an outside hitter, posted a .331 kill percentage in tournament victories over Colorado State, Akron and Montana on her way to most-valuable-player honors.

Stats

Cal State Northridge punt returner Tim Hilton set a school record with 148 yards on nine returns in the Matadors’ 45-2 victory against Menlo on Saturday.

Hilton, who was named American West Conference special teams player of the week, also had a 78-yard return for an apparent touchdown called back because of holding.

Hilton returned three kickoffs and three punts for touchdowns last season at Glendale College.

Rachel Gagliano, a senior midfielder on the Northridge women’s soccer team, has had no trouble finding the goal in the Matadors’ first four matches. She has scored three goals and leads the team with 24 shots.

Things to Do

The Hoover High boys’ cross-country team, ranked first in the Southern Section Division I poll, opens its season Thursday at 3:15 p.m. against South Pasadena in a nonleague meet at Glendale’s Verdugo Park.

Compiled by Irene Garcia. Contributing: Darin Esper, Jeff Fletcher, John Ortega, Bryan Rodgers, Tris Wykes.