ROYAL LOOKS REGAL AGAIN DEEP, STRONG HIGHLANDERS RANKED NO. 1.

Byline: Lauren Gustus Staff Writer

The Royal High of Simi Valley boys' cross country team insists there is no secret to its preseason No. 1 state ranking.

``When they toe the line, they know they've worked harder, or at least as hard, as the guy next to them,'' coach Ryan Luce said.

Marmonte League champions since Luce arrived five years ago, the Highlanders rely as much on a growing tradition of working hard as they do on incoming talent.

Even injuries to two of its top runners (Jason Pederson and Kevin Sullivan) have not given Royal pause. The team is so deep, and so well-trained, that Luce welcomes the opportunity to get younger runners in the lineup early in the season.

``I'm looking at it more as a positive than a negative,'' Luce said. ``Although they're tough to replace, we have a good group of really enthusiastic younger runners who can learn from the varsity experience.''

The team's clear leader is senior Dylan Jaedtke, who anchored the Highlanders' second-place finish at the state meet last season. Jaedtke had a cold late in the 2003 season and is eager to improve in the year-ending run of big-time meets.

He's also better prepared to handle all the attention he received as a junior.

``He wasn't used to seeing his name in the papers and on Dyestat.com, (so) he just got a little nervous,'' Luce said. ``Now he's focused on doing the best he can rather than meeting the expectations of someone else.''

--Running away: After nearly 20 years, Birmingham coach Scott King knew what he was doing when he said goodbye to his team the week before school started.

King sent the team to Mammoth to train with an assistant coach.

``I check in every day,'' King said. ``They can bond and set their own goals without the old man around. It's important that it's something that they want, not something that I want.''

Emmaline Hartel, a junior, is Birmingham's top returner. She finished in the top 10 in the girls' Div. I state meet in 2003 and is ahead of where she was at this time last season, according to King. She'll be flanked by Jennifer Hernandez and Jocelyn Oviedo.

--Matusak mellowed? Mark Matusak of Loyola suffered a stress fracture during the spring track season, and coach Lalo Diaz is taking it easy this fall with his top runner, who is the defending Div. II state champion.

``We're not putting too much pressure on him in the September races,'' Diaz said. ``It all kind of works itself out.''

Despite the fracture, which occurred seven weeks before Mission League finals, Matusak still won the 1,600 meters at the state meet.

``He never took a day off,'' Diaz said. ``In the morning he was in the pool. When he'd go home, he'd do strength exercises. We kind of worked around the injury.''

Now, Matusak is healthy and looking to help Loyola to another state championship. The Div. I champion in 2002, Loyola finished 12th in Div. II last season.

Matusak will be backed up by No. 2 runner Matt Miller, whom Diaz believes is primed for a significant season.

``Even he would admit that he had a real down year last year,'' Diaz said. ``But he's turned in an unbelievable summer. We're looking forward to seeing the real Matt Miller this year.''

--Air up there: Kathleen Vance and Lynne Fletcher, two of the top runners for the Thousand Oaks girls' team, were in Provo, Utah, over the summer for the BYU Running Camp and are primed for the fall season.

Fletcher and Vance, along with Heather Benton, will anchor a deep Lancers team that has a preseason No. 4 state ranking in Div. I. Thousand Oaks has 20 returners who have run under 6 minutes in the 1,600, according to coach Robert Radnoti.

Lauren Gustus, [phone]

lauren.gustus(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

Dylan Jaedtke (from left), Matt Gulden and Kevin Sullivan helped Royal High finished second in the state last year.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

CROSS COUNTRY