Nordhoff, La Canada Leaders of Section Pack

The Nordhoff High boys’ cross-country team and the La Canada girls’ squad enter the Southern Section championships today at Mt. San Antonio College as defending state champions and favorites in their respective races.

But they have vastly different backgrounds when it comes to the section championships.

Nordhoff, defending state Division IV champion, will be shooting for its seventh--or sixth according to Coach Ken Reeves--section title of the decade when it runs in the first race of the meet at 7:30 a.m.

La Canada, which will run in the final race at 10:30, has never won a section title.

The top four teams in each race and the top five individuals not on a qualifying team, but among the top 20 finishers, will qualify for the state championships Nov. 20 at Woodward Park in Fresno.

La Canada finished third behind El Modena and South Hills in the Division III final last year before winning the state title a week later.

“It’s important that we win,” co-Coach Dennis McNulty of La Canada said. “No La Canada team has ever won a section title so it’s something that the girls definitely want to do.”

La Canada, led by senior--and defending champion--Kim Garnic and sophomore Nicole Bonino, might be the biggest favorite in the meet.

The Spartans are ranked 20th in Harrier magazine’s national poll and they won the Division III race of the Stanford Invitational by 89 points on Oct. 3. They had a 32-point margin of victory in the Division III race of the Mt. SAC Invitational on Oct. 23 and won their qualifying heat in the section preliminaries by 29 points a week ago.

“It could be a matter of just running the table and getting out of there with a victory,” McNulty said.

“Or the girls could get it right on the right day and make people remember them for a long time.”

The Nordhoff boys are not as heavily favored as the La Canada girls, but the Rangers traditionally produce their best races in the section and state championships.

Estancia, the No. 2-ranked Division IV team in the state, and No. 3-ranked Notre Dame could have a higher finishing individual than top-ranked Nordhoff, but the Rangers will counter with a tightly bunched pack in which the gap between their first and fifth runner could be a paltry 20 seconds.

“We try not to race individuals and teams,” Reeves said. “We try to race ourselves and take it to the next level. But I’m sure that it’s extremely important to the runners on this team to win.”

A victory would give Nordhoff its fifth consecutive section title--and seventh of the decade--according to the Southern Section record books. But Reeves doesn’t count the 1996 championship that Nordhoff was awarded after it was discovered that first-place Sultana should have run at the Division II level.

“We didn’t win that meet,” Reeves said. “They beat us.”

Senior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon is the other favorite from the region.

Fleshman, runner-up in the Division I final last year, has won nine of 10 races this season. Her only loss was to sophomore Sara Bei of Santa Rosa Montgomery in the individual sweepstakes race of the Mt. SAC Invitational. Bei is regarded by many experts as a national-champion contender.

Junior Josh Spiker of Ventura and sophomore Laura Jakosky of Agoura are expected to contend for top-three finishes in their respective races, as are the Saugus boys and the Nordhoff girls.

Spiker had the fastest Division I qualifying time in the preliminaries with his 15:24 clocking over the three-mile course, but he’ll be an underdog to senior Alfonso Leon of Santa Ana.

Jakosky finished eighth in the Division II final last year and has improved greatly this season.

Saugus is the No. 3-ranked Division I boys’ team in the section after winning the Division II title last year.

Corona del Mar is favored to snap Nordhoff’s section title streak at four in the girls’ Division IV race, but the Sea Queens were favored last year and finished second.