RAIDERS REPEAT AT STATE; NEW-LOOK TEAM GETS OLD RESULT.

Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News

The Moorpark College men's cross country team looked different than the Raiders' 1996 state championship team in Saturday's state finals at Woodward Park in Fresno in several ways.

The result, however, was the same for the Raiders, donning navy blue uniforms instead of their traditional all-black outfits. Moorpark captured its second consecutive title despite only two returners from last year's squad and a first-year coach.

Jesus Villavicencio placed 10th in 20 minutes, 52 seconds over the four-mile course to lift Moorpark to a 90-119 victory over Western State Conference rival Glendale. Trade Tech, buoyed by individual champion Julio Guevarra, who clocked 20:10, was third with 156 points. San Diego Mesa was fourth with 167.

Villavicencio and Danny Oliva, who placed 20th in 21:08, were the only two runners from the 1996 team, which won Moorpark's first state title in any sport.

``I think last year I was more nervous because I thought we had a good chance of winning it yet nobody had any experience as a contending team,'' Villavicencio said. ``This year the weather was perfect and it wasn't freezing like last year and we had some surprising performances.''

Most notably from Alejandro Tinajero, a transfer from Mission who came to Moorpark this fall after his school's cross country program was eliminated because of budget cuts.

Tinajero, who had been the Raiders' No. 6 runner for most of the season, moved into the No. 2 spot Saturday to finish 13th in 21:00. Uzziel Gray and Rey Coronado finished 25th at 21:11 and 32nd at 21:27 to round out Moorpark's scoring.

Chrystall DeNaeyer, a seven-time Nebraska state track champion, who is returning to competition for the first time in four years, was 52nd in the women's 5,000-meter race in 20:12 for 18th-place Moorpark.

Moorpark men's triumph Saturday was especially sentimental for the first-year Raiders coach Doni Green and assistant Eleazar Hernandez. Green, served as an assistant for seven years to former coach Manny Trevino, who retired after 26 years. Hernandez, the 1996 state individual champion for Moorpark last season, gave a pep talk to the team before Saturday's competition.

``Both championships are special but in different ways,'' Oliva said. ``Last year, we wanted to win because Manny retired. This year was for the team. Everybody gets along and works together.''

That has been evident in Moorpark's last two races. The men's fifth-place qualifier finished just 35 seconds after the first at the state meet, which came on the heels of a 38-second performance at the Southern California championships at Irvine Regional Park Nov. 6. Moorpark ran to an 89-106-108 victory there to defeat San Diego Mesa and Glendale.

Glendale had posted four narrow victories over Moorpark, including twice by two points in WSC competition, en route to the conference title before the Raiders turned the tables.

``I think after that we were motivated to stay more focused and try even harder,'' Villavicencio said. ``Our goal was to finish in the top three in Southern California and have a good performance in state.''

Their coach did his best to insure his team was looking good.

Green issued navy blue uniforms the morning of the race instead of Moorpark's traditional all-black outfits. At the Southern California finals, the team had deviated from its customary uniforms for the first time with white singlets and black shorts.

``Everybody was looking at us at the starting line when we took off our sweats, wondering `What are they going to wear this time?' '' Oliva said. ``They were laughing and thought we were playing around. This year we learned not to put any pressure on ourselves and have fun.''

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- 2) Jesus Villavicencio placed 10th for the Moorpark men; Chrystall DeNaeyer was 52nd in the 5,000.

Evan Yee/Daily News