SURPRISING SAUGUS IN LEAD; IT'S A THREE-WAY TITLE RACE WITH HART, CANYON.Byline: Kirby Lee Special to the Daily News While much of the focus has been placed on Hart and Canyon in the battle for the Foothill League girls' title, Saugus has quietly crept into the picture. After finishing third in the first league meet, Saugus was a surprise victor in the second league meet last Thursday to forge a three-way tie in the league standings heading into the championships on Nov. 4. The Saugus girls finished fourth last season and failed to qualify for the Southern Section preliminaries, while the boys' team captured the league title for the second year in a row and went on to finish third in the state Division I championships. ``The girls game in thinking it would be possible,'' Saugus coach Pam Thompson said. ``We did not have run to the best of their ability in the first meet. It was disappointing to the kids that didn't (do well), but it showed we were close enough to take a shot.'' Saugus has been bolstered by the addition of freshmen Jessica Gomez and Jocelyn Hein, but the core of the team - seniors Lindsay O'Neill, Suzanne Sage and juniors Christina O'Neill, Jen Liff and Emily Erickson - remains unchanged. The difference? Team harmony, 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. Thompson. ``This team is not fighting to be No. 1 girl and to beat each other,'' Thompson said. ``They realize they need each other.'' That was evident in last Thursday's meet 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 . Saugus, buoyed by the fourth- and sixth-place finishes of Gomez and Hein and Lindsay O'Neill in 10th, crept by Canyon, winner of seven of the last eight league titles, 27-30, and Hart 26-29. Saugus placed all seven ahead of Canyon's fifth scoring runner. The victory was especially satisfying to Lindsay O'Neill, who was only able to run two races last season because of knee injuries. ``We had aspirations aspirations npl → aspiraciones fpl (= ambition); ambición f aspirations npl (= hopes, ambition) → aspirations fpl of being first but we did not realize we could do it until (last Thursday),'' O'Neill said. The show will go on: The Hart girls were the preseason favorites to win the league title. The Indians, however, have not been at full strength in either league meet. Hart's chances took a big blow when junior Whitney Phillips, the Indians' No. 1 runner for the last two seasons, decided to take the rest of the season off because of a back injury. Junior Jamie Orlich has been slowed by illness for most of the season. Freshman Whitney Russell Whitney Russell Harris-Crane was a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Passions. Her birth year is 1982. She was played by Brook Kerr since the series' debut in July 1999 and last aired in September 2007 when Whitney moved to New Orleans. has been the mainstay as the Indians' No. 1 runner, winning the second league meet to avenge a·venge tr.v. a·venged, a·veng·ing, a·veng·es 1. To inflict a punishment or penalty in return for; revenge: avenge a murder. 2. a defeat to Canyon's Jazmin Treadway in the first meet. ``We will miss her a lot,'' freshman Russell said about Phillips. ``We're still really a good team . We'll go with her and we'll go without her.'' No rest for the weary: The Canyon High boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. will run their third race in eight days in the Mt. San Antonio College Mt. San Antonio College (commonly called Mt. SAC; pronounced as the word "sack") is a community college located in the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut, California, next to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona which is just over a hill. Mt. 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. on Saturday. The boys will compete in the team sweepstakes and the girls will run in a varsity heat race. Last Thursday, the Cowboys went 5-0 to win the second Foothill League meet behind the 3-5-7 finish of Luke Llamas, Aaron Hope and Michael Summe to take a step toward its first Foothill League title. Two days later at the 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, Invitational, also at Castaic Lake, Llamas, a sophomore, was third to pace Canyon to a team victory. Treadway rebounded from her defeat in the Foothill League meet to win the individual title with a triumph over Lancaster's Rosanna Kirkendall, a state meet qualifier qual·i·fi·er n. 1. One that qualifies, especially one that has or fulfills all appropriate qualifications, as for a position, office, or task. 2. in the 1,600 meters last season. Saugus streak: The Saugus boys prospects for a third consecutive league team title appears in jeopardy but the Centurions show no signs or relinquishing re·lin·quish tr.v. re·lin·quished, re·lin·quish·ing, re·lin·quish·es 1. To retire from; give up or abandon. 2. To put aside or desist from (something practiced, professed, or intended). 3. the individual title. Senior Jon Mahar's victory on Thursday marked the eighth consecutive individual league victory by a Saugus runner over the last three years. Junior Nick Zoetewey, who was fifth, was the winner of the first league meet. CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO Jessica Gomez and the Saugus girls' team are in a three-way tie for first in the Foothill League. Kirby Lee/Special to the Daily News |
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