Bei Won’t Be a Shock This Time

Sara Bei of Santa Rosa Montgomery High shocked many experts last year when she finished 10th in the national high school cross-country championships after placing eighth in the West regional the previous week.

But many expect the 5-foot-3 sophomore to win the girls’ race in the national championships at Oak Trails Course at Shades of Green in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on Saturday.

Bei ended her freshman track season by winning the 1,600 and 3,200 meters in the state championships in June, and she has run even better during cross-country.

Bei, defending national champion Erin Sullivan of Mt. Mansfield High in Jericho, Vt., and 1997 runner-up Mariel Ettinger of La Grande, Ore., were regarded as the top three runners in the nation two weeks ago.

But that was before Sullivan finished sixth in the Northeast regional in the Bronx, N.Y., on Nov. 28. It was also before Ettinger finished 31st in the West regional at Mt. San Antonio College last Saturday.

Bei won the West regional to remain undefeated this season, but she doesn’t view herself as the favorite in a race that will pit the top eight finishers from the West, Northeast, Midwest and South regionals against each other.

“I’m looking for the top three,” she said after winning the West regional title. “It’s really hard to predict who’s going to win since I haven’t raced against any of the girls from the other regions.”

Senior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon Country Canyon could be a sleeper pick because her only losses of the season came to Bei in the West regional and in the individual sweepstakes race of the Mt. SAC Invitational on Oct. 24.

Fleshman and senior Allyson Marquand of Irvine University are making their second consecutive appearance in the national championships.

Marquand, seventh in the West regional, is shooting for a top-20 finish this year after placing 28th in 1997.

“I just want to run a better race,” she said after the West regional. “I didn’t run very well there last year.”

Junior Josh Spiker of Ventura will be the lone runner from the Southern Section in the boys’ race.

Spiker finished third behind junior Joshua Rohatinsky of Provo, Utah, and senior Jed Barta of Bonneville High in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in the West regional. He appears capable of a top-10 finish Saturday after winning the Southern Section Division I title on Nov. 21 and finishing fourth in the state championships a week later.

Senior Jorge Torres of Wheeling, Ill., is favored to win the boys’ title after finishing second last year, fifth in 1996 and 13th in ’95.

Torres is the only boy to qualify for the national championships four times.

The boys’ race will include 33 runners instead of the usual 32 because Edwardo Torres--Jorge’s twin--and senior Neil Hanson of Fairmont, Minn., tied for eighth in the Midwest regional.