CROSS COUNTRY: CRESCENTA VALLEY CLAIMS TROPHIES AT OWN INVITATIONAL.

Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News

LA CRESCENTA - Every time Crescenta Valley High of La Crescenta's cross country runners compete on their home course, they know a little something extra is expected of them.

Those expectations are heightened when the Falcons host their annual Kenny Staub/John Barnes Invitational, which celebrated its 38th year Saturday at Crescenta Valley Park.

Both C.V. teams responded to the challenge, relying on their familiarity with the three-mile course to win the Division I girls' varsity race and boys' team sweepstakes, both for the first time in meet history.

The Falcons, whose previous best finish in the girls' competition was second in 1976, overcame the absence of three of their top seven runners because of club soccer commitments and SAT testing to defeat Claremont, 43-65.

Barstow defeated C.V. - which competed without top runner Nathan Sellers (SAT) - in the Division I boys' race, 28-60. However, based on the times of their top seven varsity runners, top five JVs and five fastest sophomores, the Falcons won the boys' sweepstakes with a combined time of 5 hours, 20.17 seconds.

``I'm glad (Barstow) came back, because there's no shame in losing to them. They're a great team and it was a great race,'' said C.V. coach Mark Evans, who was forced to reschedule the meet from Oct. 1 because of the Burbank and Topanga fires. ``I'm real pleased with how the girls did. We hadn't run in (almost) two weeks, but their grouping was great.''

Shelby Pock (19:20.57) and Rachel Lange (19:21.38) took third and fourth, respectively, for the Falcons, who had all five of their scoring runners in the top 15. El Camino Real of Woodland Hills' Sara Roth won the Division I girls' title in 19:05.28.

``The race wasn't as crowded and that made a big difference,'' said Roth, who edged Claremont's Lindsey Keough (19:05.87) for her first invitational victory. ``The course gets really thin up top, but since there weren't as many people, I could relax a little more.''

Glendale junior Heidi Diaz, who was coached by Barnes - a former NCAA 800-meter champion and 1952 U.S. Olympian - during her freshman track season, won the Div. II title (20:41.65). Moorpark's Tali Sproat continued her strong junior season with a victory - her first in an invitational - in the Div. III race (19:44.84).

C.V. sophomore Eric Kleinsasser (16:17.26) took second to Barstow's Sam Melton (16:06.14) in the Div. I boys' race, which also featured Falcons freshman Zach Torres taking fifth in 16:32.3.

Despite running in the Div. II race, Calabasas junior Kyle Leibovitch posted the fourth-fastest boys' time, cruising to a 36-second victory in 16:26.89.

Crespi of Encino won the Div. III boys' title with 29 points and sister school Louisville of Woodland Hills captured the Div. III girls' crown, defeating Moorpark, 34-50.

Paraclete of Lancaster, a Div. IV state power, competed in the boys' and girls' Div. I varsity races, taking fourth in both. Kaitlin Huerta was the Spirits' top finisher, taking fifth in the girls' race (19:21.69).

Erik Boal, [phone]

erik.boal(at)dailynews.com