Teams Find Tough Road to State Meet

Saugus High returns six of its top seven runners from a squad that won the 1997 Southern Section Division II cross-country title and placed seventh in the state championships.

Ventura will have one of the best 1-2 punches in the Southern Section.

Yet both will find it harder this year to advance to the state championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

That’s because both schools have been bumped up to Division I after competing in Division II in 1997.

Saugus and Ventura were among several schools that were moved to Division I after their California Basic Educational Data numbers for grades 10-12 rose above the Division II maximum of 1,533 students.

“[The Southern Section Division I final] will be a really great race,” Ventura Coach Bill Tokar said. “That’s the nice thing about it. It might be the best race in the nation as far as quality goes.”

Not everyone would agree with Tokar, but many figure that the cumulative time of a team’s top five runners must be under 80 minutes over Mt. San Antonio College’s three-mile course in order to place among the top four and advance to the state meet.

To put that in perspective, consider that fourth-place Temecula Valley had a team time of 82:25 in the section’s Division I final last year.

Saugus had a team time of 80:12 and won the Division II title. Jacob Boeding and Dan Klawer are back for their senior seasons with the Centurions.

Boeding placed seventh in the section championships and ran a career best of 4:22.9 to win the 1,600 meters in the Foothill League track and field finals in May.

Klawer finished ninth in the section cross-country final and timed a personal best of 9:54.2 to win the 3,200 in the league track finals.

“I like the challenge,” Saugus Coach Pam Thompson said of running in Division I. “I think the guys were kind of struggling with the expectations of being the defending Division II champions, but things are going better now. Up until a few weeks ago, we were having an incredibly subpar summer as a group, but the guys are starting to get collectively excited about the season.”

Seniors Steve Wade and Brian McBride, junior Jon Mahar and sophomore Nick Zoetewey are the other returning runners for Saugus.

Sophomores Scott Axline and Jon Spalding and seniors Cody Burkert and Sujan Vasavada are also contending for spots on the seven-man varsity team.

Matt Swaney finished 10th and Josh Spiker was 13th in the Southern Section Division II cross-country championships for Ventura last year and they’re coming off quality track seasons.

Swaney clocked career bests of 4:26.75 in the 1,600 and 9:37.81 in the 3,200. Spiker ran 4:28.53 in the 1,600 and a school-record 9:18.23 in the 3,200.

Still, Tokar knows that his team’s success will ultimately depend on how well the Cougars’ third, fourth and fifth runners perform.

If that group, which should come from seniors Chris Figureida and Ben Porter, junior Dan Kahlsdorf and sophomores Ian Campbell and Noel Silva, can stay within 50-60 seconds of Ventura’s top two runners, the Cougars should have a chance to advance to the state championships. But if they don’t, Ventura could be one of several quality teams to have their season end in the Southern Section Division I final.

“As a coach, you can say, ‘Hey, this was the best race in the country,’ ” Tokar said. “But that’s not a lot of consolation if you finish fifth. It’s just the nature of the beast.”

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Other teams to watch:

Birmingham--Five of the top seven runners, led by junior Mateo Gonzalez, return for a Patriot team that placed third in the City Section championships last year.

Seniors Ray Warren, Scott Cala and Ryan Foss and sophomore Alfredo Murillo are the other returners.

Junior Jose Rosales has been keeping pace with Gonzalez in workouts.

Camarillo--The Scorpions return their top seven runners, including senior Daniel Kuhmann and junior Danny Finley, from a team that placed sixth in the Ventura County and fourth in the Marmonte League championships.

Kuhmann finished fifth in the league cross-country finals last year and ran a career best 9:52.52 to win the 3,200 in the league track finals.

Finley placed ninth in the league cross-country finals last year.

Nordhoff--Victor Ochoa, Matthew Torres and Dusty Herman, the 2-3-4 finishers in the state Division IV championships last year, have graduated. Yet the Rangers appear capable of winning their second consecutive Southern Section and state titles.

Junior Aidan Short placed 12th in the Southern Section championships last year with senior Chris Proudman 17th and sophomore Roberto Contreras 18th.

Senior Mike Lemon, who transferred from Monrovia to Nordhoff midway through the 1997-98 school year, will be a big addition as he ran a career best of 1:55.45 in the 800 to place second in the Ventura County track championships in May.

Notre Dame--Senior Kevin Lelles will lead a team that finished third in the Southern Section Division IV championships and sixth in the state meet last year.

Lelles placed fourth in the section championships and seventh in the state meet in cross-country and lowered his bests to 4:19.42 in the 1,600 and 9:31.7 in the 3,200 in track.

Thousand Oaks--Juniors Seth Neumuller and Jon Vella and senior Brian Moncrief were three of the Lancers’ top four runners on a team that placed ninth in the Southern Section Division I final last year.

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AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Sophomore Mark Nevers of Oak Park placed ninth in the Ventura County championships last year and ran a career best 9:42.43 in the 3,200 meters in track. Senior Joel Salas of Channel Islands placed third in the Marmonte League finals and 12th in the Ventura County championships as a junior. Senior Daniel Cobian of Palmdale could be the top runner in the Golden League this year after finishing second in the league finals to then-Highland senior Justin Patananan. Junior Jason Lanning of Buena placed fourth in the Channel League cross-country championships last year and ran a career best of 9:56.83 in the 3,200 to place third in the league track finals. Senior Keith Yanov of Rio Mesa placed 15th in the 1997 Ventura County cross-country championships.

* THE PROMISING: Junior Brian Anderson of Burroughs didn’t run at the varsity level in the Foothill League cross-country championships last year, but ran 4:26.9 in the 1,600 to place second in the league track finals in May. Senior Pablo Gallegos of Hueneme placed 37th in the Ventura County cross-country championships last year, but ran 4:26.59 in the 1,600 to win the Channel League title during track. Senior Pedro Solorzano of San Fernando placed 26th in the City Section cross-country championships last year, but ran 4:26.2 in the 1,600 in track. Sophomore Jose Garduno of Grant improved greatly at the end of track season by running a career best of 9:56.09 to place second in the freshman-sophomore City championship race. Junior Ruben Ruiz of Chatsworth won the City freshman-sophomore title last year.

* FAST FACT: The Nordhoff boys’ program ranks second on the all-time state title list with five. Only McFarland, with six, has won more titles since the state championships began in 1987.