Round One of Matchup Is Simi Valley’s in Upset

The Simi Valley High girls’ cross-country team won’t have long to savor its upset over Thousand Oaks in the Division I race of the Bell-Jeff Invitational at Griffith Park on Saturday.

The Pioneers, led by seventh-place Amanda Anderson, totaled 91 points to the 106 of second-place Thousand Oaks, and the teams will race each other and host Westlake in a Marmonte League meet Monday.

“I’m happy with the victory,” Simi Valley Coach Roger Evans said. “But to put it in perspective, it means nothing. I would much rather we beat them in the [Southern Section] or [Marmonte League] finals. But this was a good win for us.”

Senior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon won the race with a time of 16:50 over the 2.9-mile course.

Simi Valley beat Thousand Oaks because its No. 5 runner finished 26 places ahead of Thousand Oaks’ No. 5 runner.

Anderson, a senior, placed seventh in 18:08 with junior Summer Tracey 15th in 18:50, senior Karen LeBlanc 16th in 18:51 and senior Ashley Luna 18th in 18:53 for Simi Valley.

Freshman Danielle Fernandes rounded out the Pioneers’ scoring in 35th with a time of 19:46.

Thousand Oaks got a 4-5-6 finish from sophomore Kelley Hess, who ran 17:38, senior Amanda Armstrong, 17:49, and senior Melissa McBain, 17:58, but the Lancers’ other scoring runners placed 30th and 61st.

Thousand Oaks was also the runner-up in the Division I boys’ race as junior Seth Neumuller placed second in 14:38.

Junior Aaron Durham of Long Beach Poly finished first in 14:33 to help the defending state Division I champion Jackrabbits take four of the top five places and total 36 points.

Thousand Oaks was second with 53.