Easy as 1-2-3 for Ventura

Junior Matt Swaney, sophomore Josh Spiker and senior Jared Willis of Ventura High swept the first three boys’ places in the Channel League cross-country final at College Park in Oxnard on Thursday to lead the Cougars to a runaway victory.

Swaney clocked 15:28, Spiker timed 15:29 and Willis ran 15:29 over the three-mile course to help Ventura defeat second-place Buena, 29-58, and win their first league title since 1988.

Senior Dan Olivera placed 11th and freshman Ian Campbell finished 12th with identical times of 16:08 to round out the scoring for Ventura, ranked No. 8 in Southern Section Division II.

“They really loved it,” Ventura Coach Bill Tokar said of his team. “I really loved it, but I also remember that 1988 team.”

Buena’s girls won their 14th title in 15 years.

Sophomores Cathy Dunne placed second in 18:44, Sarah Paine was fifth in 19:04 and junior Melissa Niednagel finished seventh in 19:08 to help the Bulldogs defeat runner-up Dos Pueblos, 37-50.

Tri-Valley League finals--Senior Fritz Knoll of St. Bonaventure won the boys’ title with a time of 15:44 over the three-mile course at Oak Canyon Park, but Oak Park took the next three places to easily win the team title.

Senior Steve Martin finished second in 15:55, freshman Mark Nevers was third in 16:04 and senior Brian Armstrong placed fourth in 16:05 to help Oak Park to a 24-56 victory over Fillmore.

St. Bonaventure and Oak Park each totaled 43 points in the girls’ meet, but the Seraphs defeated the Eagles on the tiebreaker because their sixth runner finished 21st and Oak Park’s placed 26th.

Foothill League finals--Daniel Klawer, John Getskow and Jacob Boeding swept the first three places to help Saugus to a 21-66 victory over second-place Canyon in the boys’ meet at Griffith Park.

Klawer clocked 15:46 over the three-mile course with Getskow at 15:51 and Boeding at 15:55.

Junior Lauren Fleshman and sophomore Erin White of Canyon finished 1-2 in the girls’ race to pace the Cowboys to a 32-44 victory over second-place Hart.

Fleshman clocked 18:56 and White timed 19:24.

Frontier League finals--The Nordhoff boys won their seventh consecutive title and the girls took their sixth championship in a row in the meet at Lake Casitas in Ojai.

Ventura County champion Dusty Herman of Nordhoff missed the meet to rest his legs for coming races, but the Rangers still posted a 24-63 victory over runnerup Moorpark.

Senior Victor Ochoa placed first in 15:42 over the three-mile course for Nordhoff, the top-ranked Division IV team in the state.

Senior Elaine Canchola won the girls’ race in 18:11 to lead the Rangers to a 23-50 victory over second-place Santa Clara.

Pacific League finals--The Hoover boys and the Crescenta Valley girls won their fourth consecutive titles in the meet at Crescenta Valley Park.

Senior Isabel Casillas clocked 15:51 over the three-mile course to help Hoover sweep the first four places and defeat runner-up Arcadia, 22-58, in the boys’ meet.