Siraki Has Rooting Section Lined Up for West Regional

Anita Siraki of Hoover High will have plenty of support when she runs today in the seeded girls’ race of the West regional cross-country championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Coach Greg Switzer, Siraki’s parents and several of her teammates, family members and friends will cheer for her, as will former Hoover standouts Eliazar Herrera, Margarito Casillas and David Lopez.

Herrera, Casillas and Lopez advanced to the national championships in 1989, 1991 and 1996, respectively.

Siraki tries to do the same by placing among the top eight finishers.

Siraki, a junior, placed 15th in the West regional last year, but has improved greatly this season.

She has won nine of 10 races, including the Division I final in the Southern Section championships at Mt. SAC on Nov. 20 and in the state championships at Woodward Park in Fresno last Saturday.

Switzer is tapering Siraki’s workouts in preparation for the West regional and, hopefully, the national championships.

“She has been looking spectacular,” Switzer said. “She is just floating over the ground.”

Sara Bei of Santa Rosa Montgomery, the defending champion; Alejandra Barrientos of Felton San Lorenzo Valley; Felicia Guliford of Gallup, N.M., and Laura Zeigle of South Jordan, Utah, are regarded as the top four contenders in today’s race.

But Siraki, Abby Miller of Henderson, Nev., Sarah Gorton of Phoenix and Victoria Chang of Punahou, Hawaii, are regarded as potential top-five finishers.

Agoura’s Laura Jakosky and Nordhoff’s Rae Stumbough appear capable of top-20 finishes.

Jakosky, the Ventura County champion, finished second in the section Division II final and was sixth in the state meet.

Stumbough won the state Division IV title after finishing third in the section meet.

In the boys race, no one from the region is expected to place among the top 20 finishers.

Tom Kubler of Viewpoint, Mark Nevers of Oak Park, Roberto Contreras of Nordhoff, Jason Lanning of Buena and Seth Neumuller of Thousand Oaks are the area’s top entrants.

Kubler won the state Division V title and Nevers was third in the Division IV final, with Contreras eighth.

Lanning placed 15th in the state Division I final with Neumuller 33rd.

Josh Rohatinsky of Provo, Utah, the defending champion, and Ian Dobson of Klamath Falls, Ore., are expected to battle for the boys’ title.

The meet, which consists of 25 races, starts at 7:30 a.m. The seeded girls’ race starts at 1:15 p.m., followed by the seeded boys’ at 1:45.