CROSS COUNTRY: LA CANADA, FLESHMAN CELEBRATE.

Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News

Lauren Fleshman of Canyon High School ran the race of a lifetime Saturday in the state cross country championships at Woodward Park. The performance by La Canada's Kim Garnic was not her best.

However, Fleshman and Garnic were both ecstatic about the final results.

Fleshman clocked a personal-best 17 minutes, 54 seconds on the 5,000-meter course to finish second in the state Division I final and avenge a defeat to Kimi Welsh of Yucaipa in the Southern Section championships.

Garnic finished eighth in the Division III championship in 18:55, 21 seconds off her mark in placing fourth in the 1996 Division IV final at Woodward Park. The junior's performance, however, was enough to lift La Canada to its first team title.

Buoyed by Garnic and freshman Nicole Bonino, who was 14th in 19:09, La Canada totaled 96 points to turn back runner-up El Modena (108) and South Hills (126), which had beaten the Spartans in the Southern Section finals Nov. 22.

``Sometimes you have races when you feel real good and you go real fast and still feel like you could have gone faster,'' Garnic said. ``Today I went as hard as I could but my time isn't a (personal record) or anything, but I am actually glad I didn't run that great because my running slow actually helped Nicole run faster. We were a chain pulling each other along.''

Sophomore Christina Ellis and junior Amy Foss were 29th and 37th in 19:40 and 20:01, respectively, for La Canada. Becky Zentmyer rounded out the Spartans' scoring, finishing 71st in 20:57.

Saturday's championship was the second state title for the Ellis family. Christina's older sister, Sarah, captured the Division IV individual title as a senior last season to lead the Spartans to a runner-up finish. Sarah, now a freshman at Brigham Young, was on hand Saturday to offer support to her younger sister.

``I think it's a lot better to win as a team because there are happier people around you,'' Christina Ellis said. ``Sarah always helped me in my race. I am glad we won, but I would have liked her to be on the team.''

Fleshman ran on Canyon's 1995 State Division I championship team as a freshman but qualified for the past two years as an individual, placing sixth in last year's Division II final in 18:18.

Saturday's showing, however, marked her most aggressive performance to date. The typically conservative Fleshman was in fourth at the mile mark (5:30) just behind Welsh, Jennifer Burris of Ayla, Trina Cox and Sacramento Kennedy's Yvonne Lieberg.

Yucaipa captured the team title with 41 points, followed by Esperanza and Ayal with 92 and 115, respectively. Quartz Hill, boosted by an 11th-place finish in 18:38 by Danielle Day, was fourth with 136. Birmingham was 11th with 268 points. North Hollywood freshman Natalie Stein posted the highest finish by a City Section runner, placing 13th in 18:53.

Doug Hall of Flintridge Prep improved on his fifth-place finish in 1996 to claim the runner-up spot in 16:28 to pace the Rebels to a second-place team showing behind Maranatha.

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PHOTO Kim Garnic holds aloft the championship plaque after she and her La Canada High School teammates won the state Division III cross country championship. Garnic finished eighth.

Kirby Lee / Special to the Daily News