CROSS COUNTRY NOTEBOOK: HOUSINGER LEARNS.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

WALNUT - In case the point needed any additional clarification: motocross riding and cross country running DO NOT MIX.

Just ask the 10th-ranked Highland High of Palmdale boys' team, which ran without sophomore Josh Housinger at the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Saturday after Housinger broke his left collarbone and injured his right wrist in a wreck Oct. 20 on his dirt bike.

``I was knocked out,'' said Housinger, who was attempting to land what he said was a 70-foot jump. ``When I woke up, I was in the ambulance. But my bike was fine.''

Highland coach John Johnston, however, was far less amused about losing his team's No. 1 runner with one month left in the season. ``What do you do, you know?'' Johnston said.

Housinger has been working out in a pool while awaiting clearance to resume running. The Bulldogs hope he will be available for the Golden League championships Nov. 5, though Housinger said at Mt. SAC that he still has no feeling in his wrist.

Highland had been on a roll before Housinger's injury, placing second as a team at the Clovis Invitational and winning the Santa Clarita Invitational. Without him, the Bulldogs finished 18th of 19 teams in the Division I/II team sweepstakes race at Mt. SAC.

Housinger also had a ready response when Johnston asked him when he was going to be riding his motocross bike in season again. ``Never,'' Housinger replied.

--A Thousand questions: The Thousand Oaks girls opened the season ranked No. 1 in the section and a preseason favorite to win their first state title in history. But injuries and illness have beset the Lancers, with the frustration starting to mount.

``It's been kind of discouraging,'' senior captain Alyson Fletcher said. ``We thought we'd be up there in the top five of all teams.''

Thousand Oaks placed 12th of 14 teams in the Division I/II team sweepstakes at Mt. SAC, with a team time nearly six minutes behind that of winner Murrieta Valley. At last year's state championships, Murrieta Valley beat Thousand Oaks by just seven seconds for first place.

The Lancers ran Saturday without juniors Heather Benton, Kathleen Vance and Ashley Thieman. Vance, in particular, has been bothered by breathing problems all season and ran at Clovis wearing a surgical mask. Only three Thousand Oaks runners have been injury free this year.

But Fletcher, who took 40th in 19 minutes, 35 seconds at Mt. SAC, said the team still could turn around things by the end of November.

``We definitely need all of our other teammates to get healthy,'' Fletcher said, ``and we need to all keep thinking positive.''

--A new Cowboy: After he won the freshman/sophomore race this season at the Kenny Staub Invitational, Canyon sophomore Chris Dickinson said he was running every race to prove he belonged on varsity.

Dickinson finally got his chance to run with the varsity Saturday and made the most of it. He placed 40th overall and second among Canyon runners in the team sweepstakes in 16:00.

``It meant a lot to me,'' Dickinson said. ``It's always been my dream to run with this team on a course like this.''

--Cloudy day: Desert Christian of Lancaster senior Sky Johnston left disappointed Saturday with his 31st-place finish in the Div. I/II individual sweepstakes races. Johnston, who runs for one of the section's smallest schools, had been granted permission to run in the elite field.

``It was fun to be in this race,'' said Johnston, whose time of 16:02 was 10 seconds slower than his winning time at last year's Southern Section Div. V championships. ``But it wasn't fun to do so bad.''

--Enrollment update: The No. 2 Harvard-Westlake of Studio City girls likely will remain in Division III for this season. The latest CBED enrollment figures, to be finalized this week, have the school with 819 students, 20 students above the cutoff to run in Division IV.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com