CROSS COUNTRY: RUNNERS `POWER UP'.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

For all the references made by the Canyon High cross country team to the Cartoon Network's ``Dragonball Z'' over the past two years, Cowboys seniors Ryan Morgan and Troy Werner finally were able to get some use out of the show's catch phrase Wednesday afternoon.

As the two ran neck-and-neck toward the finish line in the second Foothill League meet in Griffith Park, Werner invoked the words of Goku and the Z Warriors to lead Morgan into a sprint for first place over the final 100 yards.

``He looked at me and said, `Power up,' '' Morgan said, relaying the exchange with all due seriousness. ``And I was like, `No, not yet.' Then we got a little closer and I was like, `Ready, let's go.' It was just crazy. That was a dead-out sprint.''

Morgan ended up beating Werner by 18 one-hundredths of a second, covering the 3-mile course in 15 minutes, 54 seconds. Had Werner not burst out laughing, though, he could have won just as easily. The two finished ahead of Burbank's Kyle Ivie by five seconds as Canyon cruised to the team title in both the boys' and girls' races.

``We run two hours a day together,'' Werner said when asked about how the connection to the Japanese anime show started. ``There's not always a lot to talk about.''

But the two figure to do a lot more running together this season. Werner beat Morgan for the first time Saturday at the Clovis Invitational in Fresno, finally catching up to the teammate he has chased throughout his time at Canyon. Werner took fourth overall in 15:32, with Morgan following four seconds behind.

``We're real happy,'' Canyon coach Dave DeLong said. ``They'll be a twosome from here on out. It's not like this is a surprise because nothing Troy does surprises me anymore.''

Canyon also received a strong performance from senior Mark Bingham, who took fifth overall and third on the team despite battling a cold. Bingham said he put pressure on himself to improve his results heading into the second half of the season. Wednesday was his best race yet.

``I really felt like I should be doing better than what I have,'' said Bingham, who had the seventh-best varsity time at Clovis. ``I don't really care what number I am, just as long as my times get better. That'll mean I'm helping the team.''

Meanwhile, the Canyon girls placed all seven runners in the top 10. Freshmen Brenda Cohen and Courtney Granger continued their remarkable debut seasons by taking first and second, respectively. But the real story was Canyon's other two freshmen running on the varsity.

With junior Alysia Johnson held out of the race due to an ankle injury she suffered Saturday, DeLong was able to give freshmen Kalyn English and Jessi Locke a chance to run varsity. English finished seventh in 20:03, and Locke came in 10th in 20:35.

Both will be given a chance to compete for Canyon's seventh (and final) girls' varsity spot, DeLong said. English took fifth overall Saturday as she competed with the rest of Canyon's junior varsity in the Santa Clarita Invitational. Canyon's junior varsity won both the boys' and girls' varsity races in the local meet.

--The jokester: Valencia coach Dan Wetzel always has been able to get a joke out of junior Brian Davis. Once, Wetzel even had to pull to the side and stop running because he was laughing so hard at the stories Davis was telling as the team bounded down a street. But Wetzel and his team have also gotten an unexpected lift out of Davis this season.

The junior has dropped nearly three minutes from his times a year ago and is challenging Kenny Westbrook for the Vikings' No. 1 boys spot. Wetzel sent Davis out fast in Wednesday's race to see what he was made of, and Davis finished in 17th place, one spot behind Westbrook.

``He's come so far this year,'' Wetzel said. ``I didn't think of him this way at all at the start of the year. We were all asking, `Brian, where the heck did you come from?' I'll tell you, he doesn't have a serious bone in his body.''

Davis even was able to joke about his failure to understand Wetzel's instructions before the race. Instead of trying to stay with the front pack, Davis broke quickly to the front and ran in first place for 30 seconds before he was overtaken.

``I thought he meant be in front,'' Davis said. ``So I was. It was 30 seconds of glory.''

--Braunstein returns: Saugus junior Matt Braunstein intended to miss only a few days when he broke his right wrist in a mountain-biking accident just before school started. Instead, Braunstein ended up sidelined for seven weeks when he found how uncomfortable running with a cast could be.

But Braunstein returned to racing Saturday at Clovis, and he was the top boys' finisher for the Centurions on Wednesday. Braunstein mainly is training for track and field now, but he's glad his times from this year aren't that far off from a year ago.

``It feels great to be back,'' Braunstein said. ``It was a little discouraging to miss seven weeks, but the positive is that I haven't gotten any worse from last year.''

On the girls' side, freshman Chelsea Johnstone finished ninth in a time of 20:20 to lead Saugus. It was Johnstone's first varsity race and only her third race of the season so far. She was unable to compete in several invitationals due to conflicts with club soccer.

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Photo:

Canyon High cross country runner Ryan Morgan gets inspiration from the cartoon, ``Dragonball Z.''

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer