Thousand Oaks Finds Stride

The Thousand Oaks High girls’ cross-country team is peaking at the right time.

That was the consensus of team members and Coach Robert Radnoti on Saturday after the Lancers defeated runner-up Quartz Hill, 45-49, in a Division I qualifying heat in the Southern Section preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

The performance came nine days after Thousand Oaks beat second-place Royal, 43-65, in the Marmonte League finals.

“Without a doubt, the last two meets have been our best of the season,” Radnoti said. “This is the perfect way [to peak] with girls.”

Senior Kelley Hess paced Thousand Oaks with a third-place time of 18:47 over the 2.95-mile course, but the Lancers’ Nos. 2-5 runners also ran well.

Freshman Sarah Cradeur placed seventh in 19:12, with junior Ashley Patteson ninth in 19:17, senior Kathy Soto 12th in 19:21 and junior Julie Hancock 14th in 19:30.

Quartz Hill, the No. 3-ranked team in the state, was led by freshman Amanda O’Neal, who finished second in 18:45.

“It was only a prelim,” Radnoti said. “But I think I can use it to show the girls that this is what we’re capable of doing [in the finals next week]. That we’re capable of running with the top teams.”

Seniors Anita Siraki of Hoover and Laura Jakosky of Agoura posted the first- and fourth-fastest girls’ times of the meet.

Siraki, who set a course record of 16:38 in the Mt. SAC Invitational on Oct. 21, remained undefeated with an easy 17:05 clocking in her Division I heat.

Jakosky won her Division II heat in 17:47, only five seconds off her best at Mt. SAC.

Canyon, the No. 2-ranked Division II girls’ team in the state, totaled 53 points in the same heat as Jakosky to defeat second-place Laguna Hills by 44 points. Junior Jazmin Treadway placed fifth in 18:54 and sophomore Brenda Stevens was sixth in 19:06 for the Cowboys.

La Canada posted a 50-67 victory over San Luis Obispo in its Division III heat as senior Nicole Bonino placed fifth in 19:16.

Canyon and Oak Park posted the fastest times in their divisions while winning their heats in the boys’ meet.

Canyon, top-ranked Division II team in the state, defeated Burbank, 42-91, in its heat as junior Jameson Mora clocked 15:33 to pace the Cowboys to a 3-4-5 finish.

Oak Park defeated Morro Bay, 32-86, in the first Division IV heat as senior Mark Nevers placed first in 15:18.

Nevers’ time was a career best on the Mt. SAC course, but it was 43 seconds slower than the stunning 14:35 effort that senior Ryan Hall of Big Bear ran in the other Division IV heat.

Hall’s time was three seconds off the course record of 14:32 set by Jeff Nelson of Burbank in 1978.