Hoover’s Siraki Looks Like a Broken Record

When Anita Siraki of Hoover High smiles broadly and thrusts her arms skyward at the end of a race, it means she has done something special.

She did that at the end of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut last October when she cut her previous best from 18:18 to 17:23 over the 2.95-mile course.

She did it when she won the Southern Section Division I title in November with a 16:58 effort that missed the Mt. SAC course record by three seconds.

She did it when she finished fourth in the national championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in December.

And the senior did it Saturday when she set a course record to win the Division I girls’ race of the Kenny Staub Invitational at Crescenta Valley Park on a cool, overcast morning.

Siraki’s victory was not surprising because she is a national title contender this year. But her 17:18 clocking over the three-mile distance cut 12 seconds off the course record set by Amy Skieresz of Agoura in 1992, was 1:04 faster than she ran to win last year’s race and gave her a 36-second margin of victory over Natalie Stein of North Hollywood.

Stein, a senior, broke an 18-year old course record in winning the Division I race of the Bell-Jeff Invitational at Griffith Park on Sept. 30, but Siraki powered away from her in the final mile Saturday.

“I wasn’t running for the course record,” said Siraki, defending state Division I champion. “I was running to win, but it just came naturally. It was the perfect day and the perfect conditions and I had the right competition.”

Siraki’s time, which would have made her the No. 3 runner on the Hoover boys’ team, was doubly impressive because she and Stein led the field through the first mile in a pedestrian 6:07.

Siraki and Stein stayed together until Siraki stepped on the accelerator around the 2 1/4-mile point.

Siraki’s surge didn’t immediately drop Stein, but a 10-yard lead soon turned into a 20-yard lead that became a 30-yard lead.

“She just kept speeding up,” said Stein, who suffered her first defeat in five races.

Stein finished about 175 yards behind Siraki, but her 17:54 clocking was 1:05 faster than she ran to finish second last year and moved her to fifth on the all-time course performer list.

“After a 6:07 first mile, I thought a course record was going to be tough,” Coach Greg Switzer of Hoover said.

Palos Verdes Peninsula, No. 15-ranked team in the nation by Harrier magazine, defeated runner-up Canyon, 42-51, in the team competition.

Peninsula, led by fourth-place Nicole Lee, had five runners among the top 13 finishers.

Junior Jazmin Treadway placed sixth in 19:04 with freshman Lauren Walker seventh in 19:08 and sophomore Brenda Stevens eighth in 19:11 for the Cowboys.

Freshman Alysia Johnson finished 14th in 20:02 for Canyon and freshman Leanne Riggin rounded out the Cowboys’ scoring with a 16th-place time of 20:11.

Canyon, paced by winner Nick Zoetewey, won the Division I boys’ title with a 38-113 victory over Loyola.

Zoetewey, a senior transfer from Saugus, and teammates Luke Llamas and Jameson Mora led the field through the first mile in 5:13.

The trio led through 2 1/2 miles before being joined by senior Efrain Olivares of Hoover.

Olivares moved into first on the last uphill portion of the course, but Zoetewey surged into the lead when the pair began the downhill run to the finish with 150 yards left.

Zoetewey clocked 15:46 to record the fastest time of the meet.

Olivares placed second in 15:50, with juniors Llamas and Mora at 15:52 and 15:55, respectively.

Sophomore Ryan Morgan was sixth in 16:06 and freshman Jace Getskow was 24th in 16:55 as Canyon’s time of 80:34 broke the meet record of 80:45 set by a Margarito Casillas-led Hoover squad in 1991.

Senior Robert Kubler of Crespi won the Division II boys’ race in 16:04 and Burbank defeated Moorpark, 69-89, for the team title.

Freshman Lauren Dvoracek of Village Christian won the Division II girls’ race in 20:18 and senior Sarah Scarfe of Campbell Hall took the Division III race in 20:02.