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Westlake Girls, Agoura Boys Throw Marmonte Change-Up

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Times are changing in the Marmonte League.

That was the impression one got after watching the Westlake High girls and the Agoura boys roll to double-dual meet victories in a league opener at Agoura on Wednesday.

Westlake defeated Agoura, 25-32, and five-time defending league champion Thousand Oaks, 20-39, in the girls’ meet. Agoura beat Thousand Oaks, 23-32.

Agoura defeated two-time defending league champion Thousand Oaks, 24-31, and Westlake, 22-34, in the boys’ meet, and Thousand Oaks beat Westlake, 22-36.

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Westlake, the No. 2-ranked girls’ team in the region behind La Canada, took a big step toward winning its first league title of the decade by defeating No. 5 Thousand Oaks and No. 6 Agoura on a brutally hot day for running, but fourth-year co-coach Joe Snyder wasn’t sure about the historical significance of the win.

“To really understand the context of this [victory] I need to understand the history of the league,” Snyder said.

“And I really don’t know the history.”

Know this:

Agoura, led by Deena Drossin, Kay Nekota and Amy Skieresz, won the first four league titles of this decade after moving from the Frontier League, and Thousand Oaks, paced by Kim Mortensen, Amanda Armstrong and Kelley Hess, has won the last five.

Westlake posted its fourth victory in five meets this season by placing five runners among the first nine finishers.

Junior Laura Jakosky of Agoura, defending Southern Section Division II champion, won her fourth race of the season without a loss with a 19:19 clocking over the three-mile course, and junior Hess was second in 20:07.

But Westlake had five of the next seven finishers.

Sophomore Kristen Anderson was third in 20:14 for the Warriors, with sophomore Jenny Walls fifth in 20:38, senior Katie London sixth in 20:50, sophomore Michala Brook seventh in 21:12 and freshman Danielle Padilla ninth in 21:29.

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The times weren’t particularly fast because of the heat, but Westlake nonetheless won its third meet in eight days.

“Overall, I was really pleased with the way we ran,” Snyder said. “It was a good team effort.”

The same thing could be said about the Agoura boys, who are shooting for their first league title since 1991.

The Chargers, ranked fifth in the region, didn’t have a runner among the top two, but took the next four places.

Mike Berns was third in 16:49 for the Chargers, followed by fellow seniors Tim Perram in fourth in 17:08 and Jeremy Law in fifth in 17:10.

Junior Kevin Sullivan placed sixth in 17:12 for Agoura with senior Jamin Patel 12th in 17:57 to round out the Chargers’ scoring.

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“We’ve wanted to do this for some time,” Coach Bill Duley of Agoura said about defeating No. 3 Thousand Oaks.

“We thought we had a chance at them the last two years, but each time they stepped up and beat us.”

Senior Seth Neumuller, defending league champion, placed first in 16:30 for Thousand Oaks, but the Lancers’ next finisher was senior Ryan Broms in seventh in 17:24.

Thousand Oaks had a 28-29 lead over Agoura midway through the race based on its places at that point, but the Chargers finished strong.

Sullivan moved up four places in the second half of the race and Patel moved up three for the top-ranked Division II team in the state.

“[Patel] was crucial for us,” Duley said. “He’s a kid who doesn’t run in the summer, but improves as the season goes along. He’s a senior now and I think that has helped him come around a little bit faster that I expected.”

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