CROSS COUNTRY: ANOTHER SOLID YEAR FOR DESERT CHRISTIAN : EIGHT-TIME LEAGUE CHAMPS EYE STATE.

Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News

Somehow, someway, the Desert Christian High girls' cross country program makes its way to the Southern Section championships year after year.

The Knights, who will be gunning for their seventh consecutive appearance next month, show no signs of a letdown. Desert Christian is third in the State Division V rankings and on pace to qualify for the state meet for the fourth year in a row. The team will be heavily favored to win its ninth consecutive Desert Mountain League championship next Friday.

``Getting to the CIF finals is always very special and outstanding, but we are trying to keep everybody focused,'' Dean Spoelstra said. ``Making it to the state meet is one of the new watermarks on how well we do.''

Even league titles seemed a distant vision to Spoelstra when he took over the girls' cross country program in 1988 with only three runners in the 390-student coed private school, which does not field a track team. Under Spoelstra, a former baseball player at Biola College, however, the program has steadily grown.

There are 30 girls on this year's team. Desert Christian reached the Southern Section final for the first time in 1993 and has qualified every year since. In 1995, Desert Christian captured the Southern Section IV-A Division title.

``We have gotten more every year and inched it up year by year,'' said Spoelstra, who also serves as Desert Christian's baseball coach, vice-principal and athletic director. ``We're limited in so many ways. We have to recruit and sell, but runners tell their friends and it feeds on itself.''

So has the team's success. Last season, Desert Christian finished second in the Southern Section Division V finals and third in the state championship. This year's team is even faster with the emergence of sophomore Jennifer Wright.

Wright, the defending league champion, has led the Knights to team titles in the Bell-Jeff, Temecula Valley, Littlerock and Santa Clarita invitationals with individual victories. In the prestigious Mt. San Antonio College Invitational last Friday, Wright ran a school-record 19:52 over the benchmark 3-mile course to lead the Knights to a team time of 1:46:32, a whopping 1:25 faster than Desert Christian's best last season.

Wright, along with senior Pam McClaren, juniors Deann Matteson and Bethany Spoelstra, the coach's niece, are mainstays from the 1998 team. Senior Tawny Burwell, sophomore Jessica Lembo and freshman Clay Tarazi have given the Knights' additional depth.

``We're definitely a lot stronger team,'' Wright said. ``When you are on an 80-minute run and have all these girls encouraging you every 30 seconds and shouting `Go Lady Knights,' it unites the team to strive to do well.''

Spoelstra, who runs with the team during workouts, also serves as an inspiration.

``It doesn't matter to him if you are running 19s like Jennifer or struggling to break 30 minutes,'' McClaren said. ``What is most important is giving your improvement and doing the best you can do.'' In fact, Spoelstra, who has tried to emphasize more than just running cross country, said his proudest achievement as coach was in the classroom when Desert Christian captured the State and Southern Section academic titles with a cumulative team grade point average of 3.92.

Last year, the squad visited a convalescent home with several athletes singing and playing the piano for the residents. In weekly team meetings, a senior shares an experience on how cross country has changed their relation with God. There are also occasional team dinners at the runners' homes.

``I don't consider myself a runner and very few of them consider themselves runners, but most of them would say I love cross country,'' Spoelstra said. ``I don't try to take running so seriously where they feel threatened. I am more concerned about development in their character and camaraderie.''

DESERT STORM

A sampling of the Desert Christian girls' achievements over the past decade:

1999 State and Southern Section academic champions

1999 Southern Section Division V runner-up

Third in 1999 State Division V final

1995 Southern Section Division IV-A title

Six consecutive Southern Section final appearances

Eight-time defending Desert Mountain League titles

Three state meet appearances

CAPTION(S):

Photo, box

PHOTO (color) Defending Desert Mountain League champion Jennifer Wright has won four invitationals this season and leads Knights' bid to return to section and state cross country finals.

Box: Desert Storm (see text)

Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News