Well-Heeled Canyon Prepared to Stride Into Winner’s Circle : Cross-country: Freshman Lauren Fleshman has helped make veteran girls’ team into a favorite in today’s State championship meet.

Three months after starting the season as the Southern Section’s No. 7-ranked Division I cross-country team, the Canyon High girls’ squad is favored to win its first title in today’s State championships at Woodward Park.

With six of his top seven runners returning from last year’s Foothill League champion team, Canyon Coach Dave DeLong expected this to be the best squad in his seven years at the helm. But it was the rapid rise of freshman Lauren Fleshman that transformed the Cowboys into a state-title contender.

“When Lauren made that big breakthrough early in the season, I was just like, yesssss,” DeLong said, pumping his fist. “Lauren was that missing [piece] that made it possible for us to be a very good team.”

Fleshman was Canyon’s No. 2 runner behind junior Julie Harris for most of the season, but she has been the Cowboys’ top runner in two of the past three races. She was Canyon’s top finisher last Saturday in the Southern Section championships at Mt. San Antonio College where Canyon won its first section title.

Fleshman, who finished eighth in the section finals, Harris (ninth) and senior Kellie Stigile (23rd) give the Cowboys a 1-2-3 punch that few teams in the state can match.

Sophomore Brandi Plasschaert, 34th in the section finals, and seniors Tiffany Furuya (38th) and Danielle Hadfield (45th) give Canyon enviable depth.

Canyon is one of three teams from the region favored to win titles in today’s meet, which starts at 9 a.m.

The Nordhoff boys and the Louisville girls are the others.

Nordhoff, paced by individual winner Will Bernaldo, posted a 38-107 victory over runner-up Orange El Modena in the Southern Section Division III championships and has a reputation for running superbly in big meets.

A victory today would give the Rangers an unprecedented three consecutive state Division III titles. But Coach Ken Reeves, who is looking for his fourth title in five years, isn’t concerned with those statistics.

“All we want is to try and improve on last week,” Reeves said. “If we do that and someone runs better, then that’s the way it goes.”

Shaluinn Fullove of Louisville won her second consecutive Southern Section individual title in last week’s section finals to lead the Royals to the Division IV championship.

Fullove, a senior, should contend for another individual title today while Louisville’s toughest challenge is expected to come from Morro Bay, which ran second to the Royals last week, 29-61.

Senior Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks in Division I and sophomore Elaine Canchola of Nordhoff in Division III are expected to contend for top-two finishes in their respective races.

Mortensen, who has broken seven course records this season, is eager to renew her rivalry with Santa Rosa’s Julia Stamps, the defending national and state champion who has handed Mortensen her only two losses of the season.

“I’m looking forward to racing her again,” Mortensen said. “Hopefully, I can close the gap on her a little more.”

Stamps defeated Mortensen by 22 seconds in the Stanford Invitational in September and by 19 seconds in last month’s Mt. SAC Invitational.

Canchola, runner-up the Foot Locker West regional as a freshman, was upset by Buena Park’s Heather Garritson in last year’s Division III race, but she’s heavily favored today.

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She also will lead a Ranger team that could present the biggest obstacle to defending champion Concord Clayton Valley, the No. 4-ranked team in the nation by Harrier magazine.

“I know Clayton Valley ran very fast at Mt. SAC,” Reeves said. “But our girls aren’t conceding anything. They feel like they’re going to run very well.”

Jumior Andrea Neipp of Highland and Senior Kevin Koeper of St. Francis could contend for top-five finishes in their respective races.

Neipp was runner-up to Mortensen in the Southern Section Division I final, and Koeper placed second behind Bernaldo in the Division III boys’ race.