Nordhoff’s Boys Came Back in the State Meet for Seconds

Had Coach Ken Reeves gotten his way, the Nordhoff High boys’ team would not have finished second to Los Gatos in the Division III race of the state cross-country championships at Woodward Park in Fresno on Saturday.

That’s because the Rangers would not have accepted an at-large berth in the state meet after finishing fifth in the Southern Section championships at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut on Nov. 18.

The Nordhoff boys qualified for the state championships for nine consecutive years by finishing fourth or better in the section finals. But that streak would have ended earlier this month if not for a first-year system that gave nonqualifying teams that met or exceeded a predetermined team time--the cumulative time of a team’s top five runners--in the section championships a chance to run in the state meet.

“I’m kind of a cut and dry kind of guy,” Reeves said. “I want to know before a race that if you finish among the top five finishers, you go to the state meet. If you don’t, you don’t.”

Despite his reservations, Reeves let members of Nordhoff’s boys’ team decide if they wanted to accept the at-large berth to the state championships.

“I told them that I didn’t think we had run well enough in the [section championships] to deserve to go to state,” Reeves said. “But that it was up to them to decide. . . . When they voted unanimously to go, I said, ‘Santa Claus has given us a gift. Now we have to put out the milk and cookies.’ ”

That meant the Rangers had to make the most of their second chance.They did so with a superb effort in which the gap between No. 1 runner--senior Roberto Contreras--and their No. 5 runner--junior Danny Bolanos--was a scant 21 seconds.

Nordhoff’s performance was doubly impressive because the Rangers were the only one of 33 Southern Section boys’ teams in the five-division meet to post a faster team time in the state championships than in the section finals.

While the average team time for the other 32 teams was 1:27 slower in the state meet, Nordhoff ran 33 seconds faster to place third or better for an unprecedented 10th consecutive year.

The Rangers have six firsts, three seconds and a third during that streak.

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Senior Tom Kubler of Viewpoint usually doesn’t make outlandish statements, so you know he was disappointed when he said he felt physically ill after finding out he finished second to sophomore Tim Nelson of Redding Liberty Christian in a Division V final. Only an inch or two separated them at the finish.

“I felt sick,” Kubler said. “I felt sick. I lost my appetite for about two days.”

Although Nelson beat 1999 champion Kubler into the finish chute, which started about 10 yards after the finish line, a race official moved Kubler ahead of Nelson as they were walking through the chute.

Neither runner knew who won immediately after the race, but Nelson was declared the winner about 20 minutes later after race officials reviewed a videotape taken by a finish-line camera.

Although Kubler lost his title, his 15:31 clocking cut 20 seconds off his previous best on the 5,000-meter course and gave him a first, two seconds and an eighth in the state meet during his career.

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Senior Mark Nevers of Oak Park cut 27 seconds off his best at Woodward Park when he ran 15:28 to place second in the Division IV final of the state championships.

Nevers, second in the 1998 state meet and third last year, was tabbed to finish fourth on Saturday behind senior Ryan Hall of Big Bear, senior Andres Gomez of McFarland and junior Billy Nelson of Taft near Bakersfield. But he broke away from Nelson in the second mile and out-dueled Gomez in a furious final mile.

“That was just an epic battle,” Coach Kevin Smith of Oak Park said. “They just kept going after each other the whole last mile. . . . It became a duel between them and it made them better.”

Nevers’ time tied for sixth fastest in the meet at any level and led Oak Park to a runner-up finish behind McFarland, which rolled to an unprecedented eighth title with a 69-125 victory.

“We just feel really good about the way we ran,” Smith said. “Because things worked out the way we planned and that doesn’t always happen.”

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Senior Daniel Clements of Taft wasn’t regarded as one of the top 10 runners in the region before the state meet, but his 15:48 clocking placed him 16th in the Division I final and was the fifth fastest among competitors from the region at any level.

“I was extremely happy,” Clements said. “I had a couple of small goals going into the meet and that was to break 16 [minutes] and to finish in the top 30. . . . But I was surprised after the mile that I could hang with some of the runners ahead of me.”

Clements, who won the City Section title Nov. 18, was about 15th after one mile and was one of eight runners battling for eighth place at two miles.

“The key for me was the second mile,” he said. “There was a point at about a mile and half when the front pack started to break away from the second pack. I just told myself that I had to stick with the front pack for as long as I could.”

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Clements helped the City Section to one of its best overall performances in the Division I boys’ race of the state meet. Seven runners from the section placed among the top 50 finishers for the first time since 1992.

The City’s best performance came in 1990 when eight runners from the section placed among the top 50, including Rene Arellano of Belmont in fourth, Steve Gonzales of Carson in fifth, Roman Rendon of Banning in seventh, Ben Mesfen of Venice in 11th and Brian Godsey of Taft in 12th.

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The Canyon girls did not win a state title, but the team that finished fourth in Division II could be considered better than the Cowboy squad that won the Division I title five years ago.

That’s because this year’s team, led by sophomore Brenda Stevens and junior Jazmin Treadway, posted a faster team time in the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational, the Southern Section championships at Mt. SAC and the state meet than did the 1995 squad.

The 1995 team ran 96:22, 96:24 and 97:04 in those meets.

This year’s squad clocked 94:42, 96:09 and 96:24 in those meets.

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The Top 10

Final rankings of cross-country teams

from the region

BOYS

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Canyon (Foothill) 2 2 Royal (Marmonte) 3 8 Nordhoff (Frontier) 4 4 Oak Park (Tri-Valley) 5 3 Burbank (Foothill) 6 6 Newbury Park (Marmonte) 7 5 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 8 7 Camarillo (Pacific View) 9 9 Santa Clara (Frontier) 10 10 Crescenta Valley (Pacific)

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GIRLS

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Quartz Hill (Golden) 2 2 Canyon (Foothill) 3 4 Nordhoff (Frontier) 4 3 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 5 5 Royal (Marmonte) 6 6 La Canada (Rio Hondo) 7 7 Ventura (Channel) 8 8 Agoura (Marmonte) 9 9 Westlake (Marmonte) 10 10 Highland (Golden)

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