CROSS COUNTRY NOTEBOOK OAK PARK CROSS COUNTRY TEAM LOOKS LIKE RUNAWAY FAVORITE.Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News Oak Park High does not plan to gear up for many cross country competitions before the Southern Section and state boys' Division IV championships in November. Saturday's Stanford Invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. will be among the exceptions. The Eagles, the Southern Section's top-ranked team, will compete in a field that includes four of the top six teams from the 1999 state finals. A head-to-head matchup with McFarland will not materialize. The Central Section power, expected to be among Oak Park's top opposition for the state title, is competing in the Bell-Jeff Invitational instead. The Stanford Invitational will mark the first meet the Eagles have run at full strength. After being held out for the first two meets, Oak Park seniors Mark Nevers and Ben Saxey and junior Chase Ferrell opened the season with a sweep in the Oak Park-Agoura invitational. The Eagles were without junior Taylor Hermes, out with an illness. Hermes will make his season debut at Stanford. Oak Park will be joined at Stanford by Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Quartz Hill, who will field boys' and girls' teams in Division I. Nevers was the Division IV race at Stanford last year to lead the Eagles to a runner-up finish Noun 1. runner-up finish - a finish in second place (as in a race) second-place finish finish - designated event that concludes a contest (especially a race); "excitement grew as the finish neared"; "my horse was several lengths behind at the finish"; "the . Oak Park went on to finish second in the Southern Section championships and the fourth in the state meet. This year's team may be stronger. ``Last year, we were four or five deep,'' Nevers said. ``If someone got hurt, we were in trouble. This year, we had a lot more depth.'' Sophomore Jason Lindgren and senior Matt Rice are back from last year's team. Lindgren emerged as a surprise fifth man for the Eagles after an injury to Hermes. Rice ran consistently in the top seven. Coach Kevin Smith is most excited about is a strong freshman class led by Todd Bettisworth, Kyle Martindale and Sean McCann Sean McCann may be:
--Girl power: The Oak Park girls have a strong freshman presence with Lauren Morales, Hailey Schwartz and Kelly Yahr to complement senior Kim Bryan and junior Kerstin Edwards. Morales, fourth in the small-schools race of the Ojai Invitational, gives Oak Park a new dimension as a front runner front runner n → favorito/a front runner n (fig) → favori(te) front runner n (fig) → . --Keeping up with Jones: Thousand Oaks will hold a gathering at 6:45 tonight at the school's playhouse to watch alumna Marion Jones Marion Jones, also known as Marion Jones-Thompson (born October 12, 1975 in Los Angeles, California), is an American former athlete in track and field. She was the winner of five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, which she later relinquished after compete in the Olympic 200-meter final. The festivities fes·tiv·i·ty n. pl. fes·tiv·i·ties 1. A joyous feast, holiday, or celebration; a festival. 2. The pleasure, joy, and gaiety of a festival or celebration. 3. will include memories from former coaches and teammates, music, T-shirts and food. Admission is free. --Grand Canyon: The Canyon boys are first in the Southern Section Division II rankings and the Cowboys girls are second. Both teams will compete in the first Foothill League meet today at Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² . With the addition of Saugus transfer Nick Zoetewey, the 1999 Foothill League champion, the Canyon boys moved up from third after placing second in the team sweepstakes competition of the Woodbridge Invitational behind state Division I favorite Long Beach Poly. Canyon's girls, winners of seven of the last eight Foothill League titles, have three freshmen among its top seven with Leann Riggin, winner of the freshman race in the season-opening Seaside Invitational, and Alycia Johnson and Lauren Walker. Another freshman, Lauren Abrams, has the potential to run varsity. Johnson, who ran the equivalent of a 5:06 mile as a seventh grader, is working her way back to shape after running sparingly spar·ing adj. 1. Given to or marked by prudence and restraint in the use of material resources. 2. Deficient or limited in quantity, fullness, or extent. 3. Forbearing; lenient. over the summer because of an ankle injury. Canyon finished second in the team competition at the Seaside Invitational and fourth in the Woodbridge Invitational but could significantly lower its team time by as much as two minutes by November according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. coach Dave DeLong. ``It will take a catastrophe not to win league,'' said DeLong, who guided Canyon to the 1995 state Division I girls' title. ``We have a combination of talent and work ethic work ethic n. A set of values based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence. work ethic Noun a belief in the moral value of work . This is a team that is going to keep getting better and better. It is one of those teams that comes around every 10 years.'' --No place to run: With the development of a parking structure threatening the future of the College of the Canyon cross country course, and difficulties securing insurance for use of the Castaic Lake, Central Park in Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, could be a perfect alternative for Saugus, Valencia, Canyon and Hart highs. Groundbreaking was held earlier this month on a cross country course spearheaded by the Santa Clarita Warriors, donations and labor from volunteers. DeLong was hoping to use the facility for today's league meet but said he was unable to gain permission from the City of Santa Clarita because of conflict with youth football and soccer and logistic lo·gis·tic also lo·gis·ti·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to symbolic logic. 2. Of or relating to logistics. [Medieval Latin logisticus, of calculation concerns over parking and restrooms. ``It is a great place and its ready to go, but I still think we're a year away from holding a meet there,'' DeLong said. --Golden rule: Three-time defending Golden League boys' champion Lancaster and Quartz Hill, winner of two of the last three girls' crowns, established themselves as league-title favorites this fall with strong showings in the first league meet. Lancaster, boosted by the 1-3 finish of John Lanigan and Ryan Rogers and Grant Hager in seventh, went 5-0 against the combined race scored as individual dual meets. Quartz Hill took six of the top eight places in the girls' race. Jenny Yadon and Lacey lac·ey adj. Variant of lacy. Troth went 1-2 with defending champion defending champion n (SPORT) → defensor/a m/f del título defending champion n (Sport) → champion(ne) en titre Cassie Ramirez of Highland in third. Quartz Hill's Tarah Novelli and Katie Schettig were fourth and fifth with teammates Amanda O'Neal and Amanda Morgan in seventh and eighth. RUNNING SCHEDULE Saturday's meetsStanford Invitational, Stanford Golf CourseBell-Jeff Invitational, Griffith ParkRaider Invitational, College Park, Oxnard CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: (ran in AV edition only) Freshman Leanne Riggin of Canyon High shows good form in the Seaside Invitational. Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News Box: (ran in AV edition only) Running Schedule (see text) |
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