CROSS COUNTRY NOTEBOOK: GLENDALE RUNNER FEELING GOOD AFTER STAUB/BARNES VICTORY.

Byline: Sean Martin Special to the Daily News

Heidi Diaz had a lot to be thankful for at the 38th Kenny Staub/John Barnes Invitational.

The Glendale High cross country standout, who has been battling exercise-induced asthma, ran the 3-mile Crescenta Valley Park course free of breathing difficulties Saturday to win the Div. II girls' varsity race in 20 minutes, 41.65 seconds.

``I've just been trying to finish my races,'' said Diaz, a junior, whose time was the 15th-fastest varsity time of the day. ``I didn't even expect to get a trophy, so this feels really good.''

Diaz expressed great pride that her victory came at a meet recognizing Barnes, who served as her distance coach during the 2004 track season. Barnes, a former NCAA 800-meter champion and 1952 U.S. Olympian, died last year after a long battle with cancer.

``It means a lot,'' Diaz said. ``He was a really good coach, and for all he's done, I think he deserves to have a race named after him.''

Diaz competed at Wednesday's Pacific League meet at Glendale's home course, Verdugo Park. She hopes her performance Saturday gives her the confidence to run without breathing issues the rest of the season.

''I'm just taking it race by race,'' she said.

--On the road: The Thousand Oaks cross country team's annual trip to an out-of-state meet was eventful, and rewarding, for the Daily News' top-ranked team.

Fires forced some Thousand Oaks runners to evacuate their homes before leaving for the Sunfair Invitational in Yakima, Wash. The Lancers' flight landed 12 minutes after takeoff to dump fuel and reroute around the blazes. The team endured a two-hour bus ride after arriving in Seattle.

After all of that, the Lancer girls won the Oct. 1 meet, beating Gig Harbor (Wash.), the No. 1 team in the Nike Team Nationals Northwest Division rankings.

The meet was divided into seven races - one for each position on a team's lineup. A team's score was the sum of its top finisher's place in each race.

Thousand Oaks' Alix-Ann Kitka won the girls' No. 7 race. Miranda Houston finished third in the No. 6 race, and Ally Sinclair was second in the No. 5 race.

``If anything, (the meet) highlighted our depth,'' Radnoti said.

--More Marmonte success: As several of the Marmonte League's top runners were receiving a preview of the state-meet course at Saturday's Clovis Invitational at Woodward Park, two of the league's most improved runners were cruising to victories at Crescenta Valley Park.

Moorpark junior Tali Sproat won the girls' Div. III varsity race, her first victory at an invitational.

Calabasas junior Kyle Leibovitch was impressive winning the Div. II race in 16:26.89.

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

(1) Daily News: TOP 10 - BOYS

(2) Daily News: TOP 10 - GIRLS