West Hills runs to CIF cross country title

Wolf Pack boys and girls teams advance to state finals; Monarch boys team qualifies as well

By Phillip Brents

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 22, 2003 --  The West Hills High School boys cross country team did not put much stock into rankings this season but the Wolf Pack runners knew exactly how good they were.

West Hills showed the rest of the San Diego Section’s Division II schools just how good at Saturday’s championship meet at Balboa Park’s Morley Field by winning the team title.

"We’ve been working for this since some of us were freshman. We’ve lost a lot of good runners over those years. We wanted to work hard for this," said senior Matt Noble, who finished as the Wolf Pack’s second scorer in last Saturday’s CIF meet, 11th overall out of 145 finishers in the race.

The 2003 Grossmont North League champions finished 30 points ahead of top-ranked University City and 73 points ahead of 2003 Grossmont South League champion Monte Vista, ranked second in the division.

All three teams advance to Saturday’s state championship meet in Fresno.

The West Hills girls team joins both the West Hills and Monte Vista boys teams at this weekend’s state finals after placing third, also in the Division II field. The Wolf Pack had entered the CIF finals ranked fifth among girls teams in the division to also surprise the field.

West Hills’ boys squad, which placed six runners among the top 10 finishers at this year’s Grossmont North League finals, held Nov. 15 at Harry Griffen Park, were led on the 3.1-mile Morley Field course by Billy Scott (fifth, 16:46) and Robert Hernandez (seventh, 16:50), both of whom turned in All-CIF top 10 finishes. Rounding out the team’s top five scorers were Noble (11th, 17:07), Jeremy Root (15th, 17:24) and Brian Dunne (22nd, 17:34), with James Huntington (56th, 18:26) and Mike Focht (59th, 18:29) running support.

"We stepped it up at the finals. It was a team victory," Dunne said.

The Wolf Pack, which recorded a 48-second spread among the its top five scorers, also lived up to its word by rewarding one parent with a very special birthday present. "It was my mother’s birthday today. I told her that we were going to surprise everyone and win it," said Focht, a senior.

Monte Vista, which missed qualifying for last year’s state finals by two points, was led this year by All-CIF runner Zach Norcross (ninth overall, 16:59) and helped paced by teammates Robbie McGrorty (16th, 17:24), Michael Ramirez (23rd, 17:34), Michael Wallace (28th, 17:41), Matt Renaud (38th, 17:59), David Frehafer (44th, 18:06) and Roddy Taylor (92nd, 19:21).

The West Hills girls team, which finished behind division champion San Pasqual and runner-up Scripps Ranch, was paced on the 2.75-mile course by All-CIF runner Elaine Gillespie (fourth, 16:52). Following Gillespie’s lead were teammates Kristen Peters (13th, 17:42), Lynette Simonds (22nd, 18:00), Johanna Fisherova (23rd, 18:01), Melissa Peabody (43rd, 18:47), Samantha Espinolda (66th, 19:33) and Danielle Knowles (76th, 19:54). The race featured 135 finishers.

Besides the three Grossmont Conference teams earning trips to the state finals, Helix’s Babey Wagnew may have fired the biggest salvo of the day by winning the boys Division I championship in 15:34 — the fastest time in all five divisions. He advances as an individual qualifier.

Other Grossmont Conference individual state qualifiers included, from the Division II girls race, Valhalla’s Alicia Nugent (fifth, 17:00), El Capitan’s Cassie Atkinson (seventh, 17:16) and Grossmont’s Randee Meek (ninth, 17:17) and, from the girls Division III race, Santana’s Erin Price (fourth, 17:18) and Afton Siebern (ninth, 17:50), all of whom earned All-CIF honors.

Valhalla’s Anthony Bareno (10th, 17:02) qualified from the boys Division II race while Helix’s Evon Willingham (eighth, 17:22) qualified from the girls Division I race, both earning All-CIF honors.

Mountain Empire’s Paula Schanes (second, 17:36) and Jon Durflinger (seventh17:57) both earned individual state qualifying berths and All-CIF honors in the girls and boys Division IV races, respectively.