State Title Gives Fleshman Confidence in West Regional

Senior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon High will get a second crack at sophomore Sara Bei of Santa Rosa Montgomery today in the West regional cross-country championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Fleshman has won 11 of 12 races this season, including her first Division I titles in the state and Southern Section championships, but Bei beat her in the individual sweepstakes race of the Mt. SAC Invitational on Oct. 24.

The undefeated Bei won her second consecutive state Division III title at Woodward Park in Fresno last Saturday with a time that was 16 seconds faster than Fleshman’s clocking in the Division I race.

However, Fleshman said she won’t be intimidated.

“I want to take a shot at her,” Fleshman said after winning her school’s first individual state title. “[Winning the state title] showed me that if I really put my mind to it, I can stay with [an elite runner uphill]. They were always my weakness before. . . .”

The top eight finishers in the seeded boys’ and girls’ races will qualify for the national championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Dec. 12.

Fleshman placed second in the West regional last year, but it won’t be easy to duplicate that finish today as Bei, and defending champion Mariel Ettinger, a senior from La Grande, Ore., senior Trina Cox of Santa Rosa, junior Sara Gorton of Mt. Pointe (Ariz.) and senior Allyson Marquand of University High in Irvine are all returning national finalists.

In addition, junior Abby Miller of Green Valley High in Henderson, Nev., placed third in the 1996 national final.

Sophomores Anita Siraki of Hoover, Natalie Stein of North Hollywood, Laura Jakosky of Agoura and Jaclyn Pedersen of Royal, and senior Jeanene Gerry of Camarillo are the other entrants from the region in the seeded girls’ race, which starts at 1:15 p.m.

Siraki finished fourth in the state Division I final and Stein was eighth. Jakosky was sixth in the Division II race in the state championships and Pedersen placed 19th in the state Division I final and fourth in the Southern Section Division I championships.

Gerry was seventh in the section Division I final.

Junior Josh Spiker and senior Matt Swaney of Ventura, and seniors Dan Klawer and Jacob Boeding of Saugus will run in the seeded boys’ race at 1:45 today.

Spiker finished fourth in the Division I final of the state championships after winning the Southern Section title at Mt. SAC.

Swaney was ninth in the state meet and third in the section meet.

Saugus, with Klawer finishing seventh and Boeding 11th, placed third in the state Division I championships, two points behind first-place Long Beach Poly and a point behind runner-up Santa Ana.

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The 5,000-meter course used in today’s meet will be nearly identical to Mt. SAC’s vaunted three-mile course except the runners will finish on the track, instead of near the south end of it.

Five thousand meters, the standard distance since the West regional and national championships started in 1979, is 188 yards farther than three miles.

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La Canada’s girls have dropped from 20th to 22nd in Harrier magazine’s national poll, but the Spartans could return to the top 20 after winning their second consecutive state Division III title.

La Canada turned in a mediocre performance, by its standards, in winning the Southern Section Division III championship on Nov. 21, but the Spartans had one of their best races of the season in a 46-96 victory over Redding Foothill in the state championships.

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The Nordhoff girls won their fifth state title of the decade with a 54-55 victory over Corona del Mar in the Division IV final, but the Rangers could be even stronger next year because their top seven runners consisted of three juniors, a sophomore and three freshmen.

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Valerie Flores of San Pedro finished sixth and Stein was eighth in the state championships to earn respect for the City Section.

Stein’s 13th-place finish in the state final last year was the previous best by a girl from the section.