All-American Status

When senior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon High finished second in the girls’ race and junior Josh Spiker of Ventura placed 14th in the boys’ event in the national cross-country championships on the Oak Trail Course at Shades of Green in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., last Saturday, it marked the 16th time in the 20-year history of the meet that at least one runner from the region earned first-, second- or third-team All-American honors by finishing among the top 15 runners.

The following is a list of runners from the region who have finished among the top 15 in the national championships, which began in 1979:

Boys

Year, Place, Name, School

1979, 4th, Andy DiConti, La Canada

1981, 3rd, Eric Reynolds, Camarillo

1981, 13th, Jeff Holyfield, Crescenta Valley

1982, 1st, Eric Reynolds, Camarillo

1988, 4th, Bryan Dameworth, Agoura

1989, 1st, Bryan Dameworth, Agoura

1989, 11th, Eliazar Herrera, Hoover

1990, 3rd, Dave Hartman, Canyon

1991, 2nd, Jeff Wilson, Newbury Park

1991, 5th, Margarito Casillas, Hoover

1994, 5th, Eleazar Hernandez, Camarillo

1994, 7th, Antonio Arce, Palmdale

1996, 13th, David Lopez, Hoover

1998, 14th, Josh Spiker, Ventura

Girls

Year, Place, Name, School

1979, 6th, Vickie Cook, Alemany

1980, 3rd, Vickie Cook, Alemany

1981, 6th, Vickie Cook, Alemany

1981, 7th, Tania Fischer, Chaminade

1985, 6th, Melissa Sutton, Newbury Park

1987, 11th, Deena Drossin, Agoura

1989, 13th, Deena Drossin, Agoura

1990, 2nd, Jeannie Rothman, Westlake

1990, 5th, Veronica Barajas, Channel Islands

1990, 6th, Deena Drossin, Agoura

1991, 7th, Maribella Aparicio, Fillmore

1992, 3rd, Amy Skieresz, Agoura

1994, 14th, Amy Skieresz, Agoura

1995, 1st, Kim Mortensen, Thousand Oaks

1997, 14th, Lauren Fleshman, Canyon

1998, 2nd, Lauren Fleshman, Canyon

Note--The top five finishers are first-team All-American. The sixth- through 10th-place runners are on the second team, with the 11th- through 15th-place finishers selected to the third.