Simi Valley, Westlake take Marmonte cross country titles

Group effort leads girls; Westlake wins boys

Boys Team scores

1. Westlake 47

2. Thousand Oaks 77

3. Moorpark 80

4. Simi Valley 102

5. Royal 117

6. Newbury Park 119

7. Agoura 170

8. Calabasas 175.

Boys top finishers

1. Mikey Giguere (Westlake) 15:18

2. Sam Worley (Thousand Oaks) 15:49

3. Ryan Klachko (Royal) 15:50

4. Frankie Moncada (Simi Valley) 15:55

5. Devin Borjas (Calabasas) 15:58

6. Teerth Patel (Moorpark) 16:01

7. Jonathan Byrne (Newbury Park) 16:05

8. Tamas Gyalay (Moorpark) 16:06

9. Rocky Peterson (Westlake) 16:07

10. Nick Sommers (Westlake) 16:07.

Girls Team Scores

1. Simi Valley 26

2. Thousand Oaks 64

3. Royal 102

4. Westlake 109

5. Newbury Park 133

6. Moorpark 141

7. Agoura 180

8. Calabasas 226.

Girls top finishers

1. Sarah Baxter (Simi Valley) 17:03

2. Erika Barr (Simi Valley) 17:44

3. Brianne Holland (Royal) 17:47

4. Karla Vernola (Simi Valley) 17:50

5. Jenny Giguere (Westlake) 17:54; 6. Monika Gyalay (Moorpark) 17:55

7. Melanie Joerger (Thousand Oaks) 18:06

8. Desirae Jones (Simi Valley) 18:11

9. Nicki Ghazarian (Westlake) 18:15

10. Sophie Mateu (Royal) 18:16.

Sarah Baxter's dominance in cross country is so great she sometimes overshadows the greatness of her teammates.

But the way things are going these days, it figures Baxter and her Simi Valley High teammates will both receive more than their due.

Baxter won the Marmonte League girls championship at Agoura High on Thursday with a time of 17 minutes, 3 seconds for the 3-mile course, while Simi Valley won the team championship with an impressive 26 points.

Meanwhile, Westlake's Mikey Giguere won the boys race in 15:28 and led the Warriors to the team title by 30 points.

Simi Valley's girls easily won the team championship over runner-up Thousand Oaks, which had 64 points. Royal was third (102), followed by Westlake (109), Newbury Park (133), Moorpark (141), Agoura (180) and Calabasas (226).

The Pioneers' scorers finished a remarkable 1-2-4-8-11, just one point more than they had at last week's Ventura County Championships at Lake Casitas, and once again they were just as dominant behind Baxter, a sophomore.

"I, obviously, am very, very pleased with the performance," coach Roger Evans said. "We worked on being packed in and fast behind Sarah Baxter. That's a simple secret, but it's not as simple to do as it is to say."

Senior Erika Barr finished second with a time of 17:44. She overtook Royal freshman Brianne Holland in the last 200 meters. Holland settled for third in 17:47.

Baxter said it's frustrating that so often she receives the lion's share of the attention, instead of her team, which is solid from first to last.

"I really wish it would center on the team as a whole and not just me as much," Baxter said, "because the team is doing so well this year and I just feel like we could really make it in postseason and all of that."

Barr said Baxter has nothing to worry about. There is absolutely no jealousy among any of the Pioneers.

"Not at all, not at all," Barr said. "I am so proud of her and honestly, she pushes us to go harder and it's not like overshadowing us at all. We don't even think like that at all. We just love having her run with us and she's just pushed us so hard."

Simi's Karla Vernola, another senior, finished fourth in 17:50, followed by Westlake's Jenny Giguere (17:54) and Moorpark's Monika Gyalay (17:55). Other Simi Valley scorers were freshman Desirae Jones (eighth, 18:11) and junior Rachel Vinas (11th, 18:18).

Holland thought her race went very well, despite being passed by Barr.

"Actually, things went amazing because I PR'd by almost 30 seconds," Holland said. "It was really helpful because Erica was able to push me and I'm really proud of her especially since it's her senior year."

Westlake, with 47 points, took control of what was billed as a wide-open boys race, bettering Thousand Oaks (77 points) and Moorpark (80). Next were Simi Valley (102), Royal (117), Newbury Park (119), Agoura (170) and Calabasas (175).

Mikey Giguere overtook Thousand Oaks' Sam Worley (15:49) in the last mile to win the race by 21 seconds. Ryan Klachko of Royal was third (15:50), followed by Simi Valley's Frankie Moncada (15:55) and Calabasas' Devin Borjas (15:58).

Other Westlake scorers were Rocky Peterson (ninth, 16:07), Nick Sommers (10th, 16:08), Sean O'Bryan (11th, 16:11) and Chris Costa (16th, 16:15).

"It means a lot to us," Giguere, a sophomore, said of winning the team title. "Our goal is to keep going and going until the state meet, so I just want to thank the coaches for training us and fans for supporting us."

Westlake coach Joe Snyder said the victory has historical significance.

"It's the first time, really since 1979, that we've had a league title," Snyder said, "so we're really pleased, and it's a young team. Last year we had a great team, but this year with this team it was just unbelievable because they're so young, we were just thrilled each week that they've raced."