By Phillip Brents
Posted Oct. 5, 2003

The West Hills High School cross country team has been on the brink of advancing to the state’s "Big Show" -- the state championship meet -- the past few years. The Wolf Pack might just get there this season.

Actually, one West Hills runner -- Elaine Gillespie -- did get to run in the elite Fresno meet last year as an individual qualifier after finishing fifth in the San Diego Section Division I finals.

At left: Elaine Gillespie maneuvers the course at this year's South Bay Invitational.

The top three teams advance to the state meet. The Wolf Pack finished fifth in both the boys and girls races.

The West Hills girls team appears ready to break down the barrier this season after finishing behind division winner Torrey Pines, runner-up Fallbrook and third-place Rancho Bernardo -- the three state qualifying squads -- and fourth-place Poway at last year’s CIF finals.

Joining Gillespie, an All-CIF honoree in 2002 as a junior, on the course this season are four all-league runners: seniors Janae Dale, Lynette Simonds and sophomores Kristen Peters and Caramie Huntington.

This year's varsity squad also includes senior returner Danielle Knowles and impact newcomers Johana Fisherova, a sophomore, and Samantha Espindola, a freshman.

Approaching the midpoint of the season, the Wolf Pack appears on course with a No. 4 section ranking -- third among Division I schools.

Highlights thus far for the girls varsity team include a second-place finish at the 30th South Bay Invitational Sept. 26 at Rohr Park in Chula Vista. At the same event, West Hills captured the team championship trophy in the girls junior varsity division behind Melissa Peabody's first-place finish among individuals.

Gillespie, who posted the top time at last year’s Grossmont North League finals and went on to finish 29th at the state finals, opened this season with a second-place finish among senior girls at the West Hills Invitational on Sept. 5 by timing 9:29 on the 1.5-mile course. She followed that with an 11^th place finish at the Rancho Bernardo Bronco Roundup on Sept. 13 with a 12:29 time for two miles and finished sixth with a 16:44 time for 2.7 miles in the girls Division 2 senior race at the Mt. Carmel/Movin Shoes Invitational Sept. 20 at Balboa Park’s Morley Field.

The fleet-footed Gillespie has showed no signs of slowing down after placing third among individuals in the girls varsity division at the 30^th South Bay Invitational Sept. 26 at Rohr Park in Chula Vista with a time of 16:04 for 2.5 miles.

Fisherova, who placed fifth among 84 sophomore girls at the West Hills Invitational, (timing 10:11 for 1.5 miles), recorded a meteoric ninth-place finish (16:27) at the South Bay Invitational, second on the squad ahead of teammates Peters (16^th, 16:51), Simonds (22^nd, 17:04) and Dale (29^th, 17:32).

Knowles (19th, 10:45) and Simonds (20th, 10:57) both made the top 20 place-finishers list (out of 62 finishers) in the girls senior race at the West Hills Invitational. Simonds (18:39) was 21st and Knowles (18:49) was 25th in the girls senior race at the Mt. Carmel Invitational.

At the West Hills Invitational, Peters (10:31) finished 11th in the sophomore girls field while Peabody (10:57) was 18^th and Espindola (10:45) was 11th among the 82 finishers in the freshman girls race.

At the Mt. Carmel Invitational, Peters (18:07) was fifth, Fisherova (18:13) was sixth and Huntington (18:55) was 16^th in the Division 2 sophomore race while Espindola (18:55) was seventh in the Division 2 freshman race.

The West Hills boys team finished fifth at last year's Division I section finals -- trailing state qualifiers Torrey Pines, Vista and Rancho Buena Vista and fourth-place San Diego.

The 2003 Wolf Pack squad is bolstered by all-league returners Matt Noble and Billy Scott, both seniors, and promising sophomore Jeremy Root, who placed third at last year's Grossmont North League championship meet.

At right: Matt Noble closes in on the finish line at the South Bay Invitational.

Impact newcomers include senior Mike Focht, juniors Mike Dolan and James Huntington and sophomore Tim Hider. Huntington was last year¹s JV league champion.

Noble, Scott and Root have all engineered standout performances in the first half of the season.

Noble, who placed 30^th out of 152 runners at last year’s CIF finals, finished fifth in 16:52 on the 3.1-mile course at the South Bay Invitational while Scott was seventh in 16:57 in the same race.

Root, who placed 27^th at last year’s CIF finals, finished eighth in a field of 78 finishers in the sophomore boys race at the West Hills Invitational, timing 12:48 for 2.2 miles. Noble (12th, 11:41) and Scott (14th, 11:43) both earned top 15 finishes in the boys senior race at the same event.

At the Bronco Roundup, Noble (10:26) placed 14th and Scott (10:32) was 20^th in the boys Division I race. The next week at the Mt. Carmel Invitational, Noble (16:20 finished fourth while Scott (16:55) was eighth in the Division 2 senior boys race and Root (17:48) placed 17th among sophomore boys.

JV pride
Following Peabody’ lead in the girls JV division at the South Bay Invitational were Espindola (fourth, 18:19), Sam Ramsey (10th, 18:57), Michelle Zavelli (15th, 19:10), Kalyn Schwartz (21st, 19:40), Ashley Ludlow (26th, 19:52) and Stephanie Gallego (30th, 19:55). All contributed to the Wolf Pack’s first-place team finish.

B Dunne finished seventh in the boys JV race at the South Bay Invitational, timing 19:20.