After Jumping Track, La Canada at Trail Head

Can a group of distance runners who struggled during track season rebound to win a third consecutive state Division III cross-country title?

That is the question being asked about the La Canada High girls’ squad as the season begins.

La Canada defeated Redding Foothill, 46-96, for its second consecutive state Division III title at Woodward Park in Fresno last year, but only one runner from that squad had a noteworthy track season.

Amy Foss, who is at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, clocked a career best of 11:17.29 to place fourth in the 3,200 meters in the Southern Section Division III final, but everyone else struggled, if they ran at all.

Kim Garnic, who is at Cornell, took the season off.

Senior Christina Ellis had her season cut short by a knee injury and junior Nicole Bonino quit in the middle of the season.

“I think it’s because I basically [stink] as a track coach,” said Dennis McNulty, a co-coach with Tony Haynes in cross-country. “I just haven’t been able to get the girls to run as well in track as they do in cross-country. We went into last track season thinking we had a pretty good four-mile relay team and we did nothing.”

Bonino, defending Southern Section Division III champion, said she was worn out midway through track season after running cross-country and playing soccer.

“It was just better for me to take the rest of the [track] season off,” Bonino said. “I should do better [next season] because I’m not going to play soccer.”

Bonino, fifth in the state cross-country championships last year, is one of five returning runners from the state championship team last year.

The others are Ellis, 20th in the state meet; sophomore Carina Garnic, 23rd; junior Emily Weightman, 64th and junior Becky Zentmyer, 71st.

Junior Rachel Frandsen, who ran for La Canada’s varsity in the section preliminaries last year, and sophomore Emily Farr, who is running cross-country for the first time after winning the 400 meters in the Rio Hondo League finals in track, are two others who could compete for top-five spots.

McNulty, who has coached with Haynes for the last five seasons, is very high on Farr, a soccer player he describes as “extremely tough and competitive.”

With that kind of talent, La Canada earned the top ranking in the state Division III poll and 17th in the nation by Harrier magazine. But Ellis knows those rankings will mean nothing if the Spartans don’t improve upon their performances from track.

“It’s fun to hear what we’re ranked,” Ellis said. “But it’s not what we live for. We know we have to go out and do our jobs in the meets.”

Teams to watch:

* Nordhoff--Sophomore Robin Quinn and senior Rae Stumbough are the leaders of a Ranger squad that edged Corona del Mar, 54-55, for the state Division IV title last year.

Quinn placed ninth in the state championships and Stumbough was 15th as Nordhoff won its fifth title of the decade--and third in the last four years.

Senior Susan Torres, 25th in the state championships, senior Carol Schryver, 27th, and sophomore Brian Frank, 81st, are the other returnees.

* Thousand Oaks--Junior Kelley Hess will lead a team that won the Ventura County and Marmonte League championships, finished third in the Southern Section Division I final and was sixth in the state meet last year.

Hess placed ninth in the section championships, 23rd in the state meet and won the junior race of the Seaside Park Invitational at the Ventura County Fairgrounds last Friday.

Sophomores Ashley Patteson, Julie Hancock, Kira Watkins, Courtney Vasquez and Heidi Armstrong and a strong group of freshmen should give the Lancers a shot at their sixth consecutive league title.

* Royal--The Highlanders finished 10th in the Southern Section Division I final last year and junior Jaclyn Pedersen and sophomore Erin Weesner should again give them the best 1-2 punch in the region.

Pedersen placed fourth in the section championships last year and 19th in the state final, and Weesner was 14th in the section meet.

Juniors Christina Heil, Erica Nenkervis, Karielle Saario and Stacy Youngblood add depth to a team that should challenge Thousand Oaks for the Marmonte League title.

* Hart--Canyon is four-time defending Foothill League champion, but Cowboy Coach Dave DeLong says Hart is the team to beat.

Junior Whitney Phillips was third and junior Jamie Orlich placed seventh in the league final for the Indians last year, and freshmen Whitney Russell and Phaedra Miller are talented newcomers.

Russell ran 2:18 in the 800 and 5:18 in the 1,600 in eighth grade, and Miller clocked 5:25 in the 1,600.

* Quartz Hill--Juniors Shell Blevins, Katie Schettig and Jennifer Yadon, and freshmen Tara Novelli and Amanda Morgan could help the Rebels return to the Southern Section championships.

Blevins placed 22nd in the section Division I final last year, but Quartz Hill failed to qualify after finishing fourth in the state championships in 1997.

Novelli placed third and Morgan was sixth in the freshman race of the Seaside Park Invitational last week.

* Louisville--Senior Rosemary Muller and Jennifer Rigney, junior Natalie Elias and sophomore Erica Hanson all return from the team that placed third in the state Division IV final last year.

Sophomores Virginia Muller and Shannon Rigney will run on the varsity with their sisters.

“The girls look strong,” Coach Marie Murphy said. “But you never can tell how things are going to go until you start racing.”

* Canyon--Lauren Fleshman, runner-up in the national championships last year, is at Stanford, but four runners return from the Cowboy squad that placed ninth in the Southern Section Division I final.

Sophomores Jazmin Treadway and Barrie Truex, and seniors Erin White and Kristin Cooper are back for a team that defeated runner-up Hart, 27-43, in the Foothill League final.

Senior Kristine Baguiao and junior Theresa Fitzpatrick should compete for the No. 5 position.

* Ventura--Junior Melissa Howery and senior Katie Bunker are two of five returning runners for a team that won the Channel League title and placed 14th in the Southern Section Division I championships.

Seniors Aileen Sankur, Jamie Bozek and Paige Osborn also return.

Junior Ariele Keats and seniors Tarah Brown and Suzy Morales should improve the Cougars’ depth.

* Westlake--The Warriors placed fifth in the Marmonte League final last year, but should be higher this season.

Sophomore Michala Brook ran a career best of 5:12.60 in the 1,600 for Westlake in track after finishing 17th in the Southern Section Division III cross-country final for Newbury Park.

Sophomores Kristen Anderson and Gina Battaglia and senior Katie London are some of the top returners for a Westlake team that finished 11th in the Southern Section Division II final.

Girls’ Cross Country at a Glance

* THE PROVEN: Junior Anita Siraki of Hoover is regarded as one of the top returning runners in the West. She placed third in the Southern Section Division I championships, fourth in the state meet and 15th in the Foot Locker West Regional in cross-country last year. In track, she set school records in the 800 meters (2:15.61), in the 1,600 (4:55.75) and in the 3,200 (10:30.81). She also finished fifth in the 3,200 in the state championships. . . . Junior Natalie Stein of North Hollywood placed second in the City Section cross-country championships and eighth in the Division I race of the state championships last year. . . . Junior Laura Jakosky of Agoura won the Southern Section Division II title and placed sixth in the state meet last year. She ran 11:07.97 in the 3,200 in track. . . . Junior Jennifer Turk of Newbury Park placed eighth in the Ventura County and Southern Section Division III championships last year.

* THE PROMISING: A cold limited Rosanna Kirkendall of Lancaster to a 66th-place finish in the Southern Section Division I championships last year, but the Eagle senior had a superb track season, topped by a school record of 5:04.62 in the 1,600 to place fourth in the Southern Section Masters Meet. . . . Sophomore Erika McCarthy of Burbank wasn’t among the top 10 finishers in the Foothill League cross-country final last year, but she ran 11:32.38 in the 3,200 in track. . . . Melissa Astete of Birmingham is two-time defending City Section champion in the pole vault, but she’s also a talented runner as evidenced by her third-place finish in the junior race of the Seaside Park Invitational at the Ventura County Fairgrounds last Friday.

* FAST FACT: Girls from the region have won 12 team and 14 individual titles since the state championships began in 1987.

Boys’ Cross Country at a Glance

* THE PROVEN: Junior Tom Kubler of Viewpoint was the runner-up in the state Division V championships last year and is coming off a superb track season. He clocked a school-record 9:17.78 in the 3,200 meters to finish sixth in the Southern Section Masters Meet. . . . Junior Mark Nevers of Oak Park finished second in the Ventura County and state Division IV championships last year and has run 9:40.42 in the 3,200. . . . Senior Jeff Arnold of St. Francis finished a disappointing 45th in the Southern Section Division IV final last year after winning the Mission League title, but he ran 9:31.21 to win the 3,200 in the Pasadena Games in March. . . . Senior Richard Chetwynd of Simi Valley finished 11th in the Ventura County championships last year and has run 9:50.00 in the 3,200.

* THE PROMISING: Junior Thomas Harley of Burbank failed to place among the top 10 finishers in the Foothill League final last year, but he ran 9:43.2 in the 3,200 in track. . . . Senior Ruben Ruiz of Birmingham won the Northwest Valley Conference title last year after transferring from Chatsworth, but Coach Scott King kept him out of the City Section final after questions arose about his eligibility. He opened the season with a third-place finish in the senior race of the Seaside Park Invitational at the Ventura County Fairgrounds last Friday. . . . Senior German Ortiz of Monroe suffered a season-ending injury after the Valley Pac-8 Conference final last year, but ran a career best of 9:53.62 to finish sixth in the 3,200 in the City track championships in May. . . . Junior Chris Wells-Andres of El Camino Real placed third in the City frosh-soph championships last year and ran a career best of 1:57.03 in the 800 to finish second in the City track final in May.

* FAST FACT: Boys from the region have won 14 team and nine individual titles since the state championships began in 1987.