Royal Wins Marmonte Opener by Second Mile

A strong second mile was the difference for Royal High, which won a Marmonte League boys’ cross-country opener against Newbury Park at Challenger Park in Simi Valley on Thursday.

Newbury Park, the No. 4-ranked team in the region by The Times, and No. 6 Royal ran together for the first mile of the three-mile race. But Royal took control shortly thereafter in a 24-31 victory.

“We wanted to run easy for the first mile and then go real hard in the second and third mile,” Tim Hearst of Royal said. “Our plan was to pretty much run as hard as we could after the mile.”

Hearst, a sophomore who ran 9:53.20 in the 3,200 meters during track season, led the break in the second mile and many of his teammates followed.

As a result, Royal had a 23-32 lead over Newbury Park based on its places at the two-mile mark and the Highlanders maintained most of it to the finish.

Hearst finished first in 16:44 with junior teammate Travis Patterson second in 16:59.

Junior Randy Smith of Newbury Park finished third in 17:03 and senior teammate Brandon Nakagawa was fourth in 17:11. But Royal took three of the next five places, with junior Charlie Serrano fifth in 17:16, freshman Jesse Conway seventh in 17:38 and senior Tim Ramirez ninth in 17:57.

Senior Jaclyn Pedersen led No. 5 Royal to a 23-32 victory over No. 10 Newbury Park in the girls’ meet.

Pedersen, who led from start to finish, clocked 20:18 to bounce back from a disappointing 20th-place finish in the large schools race of the Ojai Invitational at Lake Casitas on Sept. 16.

Senior Jennifer Turk finished second in 20:34 for Newbury Park, but Royal swept the next three places as junior Erin Weesner ran 21:01, freshman Morgan Noe timed 21:06 and freshman Erin Roesinger clocked 21:12.