Westlake Gets Selfish Over Title

Maybe Westlake High is tired of sharing.

You can’t really blame them, but the Warriors, who have shared the Marmonte League championship with Thousand Oaks the past two years, are eyeing their own prize.

The Warriors edged Thousand Oaks, 96-90, in a boys’ swimming dual meet Friday at Thousand Oaks.

The meet was tied at 86-86 entering the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, but Westlake’s Dave Stelle fended off a strong final leg by Aron Guyris to give Westlake the relay and the meet.

Thousand Oaks held a virtual monopoly, winning 12 league titles in a row before Westlake won the championship outright in 1995 and 1996.

“Everything goes in cycles,” Westlake Coach Kurt White said. “Thousand Oaks went undefeated for all those years and now Westlake’s doing it.”

Thousand Oaks (5-1, 3-1 in league play) won seven of the 11 events, including two victories each by Guyris and Jarrod Armour, but couldn’t match the depth of Westlake (5-1, 3-0).

The Lancers could make amends May 7, when the teams take part in the league championships.

“We’re going to get ready the next two weeks and we’ll try to knock them down when it counts,” Thousand Oaks Coach Craig Rond said.

The Westlake girls’ team encountered little drama in a 117-63 victory over Thousand Oaks.

Calley Prezzano won the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke as the Warriors (6-0, 3-0) won 10 of the 11 events.

Westlake is young, too: Prezzano (a junior), Arielle Myhre (sophomore), Taryn O’Leary (junior) and Sarah Bultema (freshman) are all back next year.