• By From staff reports
• Posted November 15, 2009 at 12:01 a.m.

WALNUT - If none of the members of the Simi Valley girls' cross-country team continue their running careers beyond high school, they might want to think about joining the circus instead.

That's because for the second year in a row, the Pioneers perfected the art of tightrope walking when it comes to advancing in the postseason.

Although senior Liberty Miller ran the fastest girls' time of the day at the Southern Section prelims at Mt. San Antonio College - clocking 17 minutes, 21 seconds on the 2.9-mile course - it was anything but easy Saturday for Simi Valley.

The Pioneers, competing without Karla Vernola (injured left leg), secured the fourth and final qualifying berth in their heat with 126 points, making them the lone area team to reach the Nov. 21 Div. I final.

"After the race, everything just fell apart. At first, I thought we didn't make it and I started to cry because I thought it was going to be the last race with my team," Miller said. "They deserve to be there and I didn't want to think what it would be like next week without them there. It was meant to be. They were meant to persevere and be given another chance."

The same couldn't be said for the Crescenta Valley of LaCrescenta girls in Div. I, the Canyon girls in Div. II and the Thousand Oaks boys in Div. II, all of which finished fifth in their qualifying heats to miss advancing by one spot.

In addition to the Simi Valley girls, there were several other close calls for local teams, including the Westlake girls, who finished fourth in their Div. II qualifying heat with 114 points to edge South Torrance (121).

Thousand Oaks, which took third in the final Div. II girls' heat, recorded 118 points to hold off Ventura (123) and Edison of Huntington Beach (124).

Newbury Park and Saugus were both fourth in their respective Div. II boys' heats to complete the 16-team finals field.

Viewpoint of Calabasas got in as the top sixth-place boys' team in Div. V, along with securing the eighth and final girls' qualifying berth in its heat.

Harvard-Westlake of Studio City didn't endure similar nerve-racking moments as Viewpoint, winning both its boys' and girls' heats in Div. IV.

The Wolverines, led by Cami Chapus (18:25) and Amy Weissenbach (18:49) taking first and third, posted the fastest girls' team time in the division (98:01). Harvard-Westlake also produced the top boys' time (83:01) in the division.

The Royal of Simi Valley boys had their top four - Korey Yoakum (15:30), Travis Edwards (15:32), Sean Davidson (15:33) and Paul Jesson (15:35) - finish in the top nine to win the heat with 42 points.

Saugus relied on a 1-2 finish from Kaylin Mahoney (17:55) and Danielle Hernando (18:08) to win its Div. II heat with 33 points, despite resting four varsity runners.

Golden Valley captured its Div. III boys' heat with 32 points, with Seth Totten's second-place finish (15:16) leading five Grizzlies in the top 11.

Melissa Skiba (17:49) and Kaycee Holcomb (18:30) were first and fourth for the Oak Park girls, who won their Div.III heat with 41 points.

Rachel Brajkovich (18:32) and Sarah Pearson (18:51) placed first and third for LaReina of Thousand Oaks in its Div. IV win with 53 points.

Camarillo's Heyden Wooff won his Div. II boys' heat in 15:16, leading the second-place Scorpions (83 points). Canyon and Westlake both took third in their Div. II boys' heats.

Ashley Welker and Bailey Miller both ran 18:18, helping West Ranch take second in its Div. II heat with 99 points.

Liberty Miller signed off her Marmonte League career with double exclamation points on Thursday afternoon.

Simi Valley High’s stalwart senior smashed a meet record with a sizzling time of 17 minutes, 17.97 seconds and the Pioneers girls’ squad won its elusive first league championship by placing five runners in the top 13 at the Marmonte League cross country championships at Agoura High.

Miller’s mark topped the previous record set by her mentor and former teammate Anna Sperry, who clocked a 17:23 in 2006.

The team title was the first for a program that twice before carried undefeated league records into the league finals and six times has finished as the Marmonte League runner-up. Miller was motivated for both achievements, but said the team goal spurred some pre-race tension.

“I really wanted us to win, because it seems like we’ve been chasing the league championship for so long,” Miller said. “We were disappointed that we didn’t win at the county championships (last week), and I think a lot of people thought we were going to lose the league title again. We didn’t want to let that happen.”

Alexis Miller and Nicole Rietveld ran 6-7 for the Pioneers, who finished with 38 points. Second-place Westlake totaled 71.

Photo by Karen Quincy Loberg

Simi Valley High’s Liberty Miller builds her lead during the Marmonte League cross country championships at Agoura High on Thursday. Miller won the race with a record time of 17:17.97.

Just as the Simi Valley girls ran to form, the boys’ favorite also squashed any upset bids. With Travis Edwards winning his first individual league championship, powerhouse Royal placed four runners in the top six and all five in the top 10 to reclaim the league championship.

Edwards sped home in 14:57.19, just five seconds off the meet record.

Royal, ranked No. 1 in the nation by The Harrier magazine, finished with 25 points to easily outpoint second-place Westlake (75 points).

Royal’s string of eight consecutive league titles was snapped a year ago by Thousand Oaks. This time, there was no stopping the Highlanders.

“We wanted to kill it today,” said Edwards. “It’s a great league with a lot of competition, but we wanted to show what kind of team we have.”

In the girls’ race, Miller showed off the form that has left her unbeaten by any runner in the CIF-Southern Section this season. Only three runners have finished in front of her this year and they hail from Texas and the CIF-San Diego Section.

In winning her third successive league championship, Liberty Miller was nearly 50 seconds faster than second-place Kelly Upson. The Royal junior crossed the finish line in 18:04.28. A year ago, Miller won the league title in 18:17.35.

Rounding out the top five were Westlake’s Nicki Ghazarian (18:11.80), Newbury Park’s Rachel Ranucci (18:46.25) and Thousand Oaks’ Caitlin Turner (18:47.02).

By running 6-7, Simi Valley’s Alexis Miller (18:48.45) and Rietveld (18:48.85) all but assured the team title.

“This team has worked so hard to achieve this,” said Simi Valley coach Roger Evans. “We certainly felt we had the talent to get it done. It was just a matter of performing to our expectations, and the girls did that today.”

Taking third in the team competition was Thousand Oaks (73 points), while Royal was fourth with 83 points. All four teams earn automatic berths in CIF-SS competition.

In the boys’ race, Edwards held off a challenge from second-place Kevin Joerger of Thousand Oaks by breaking away in the final mile. Joerger finished in 15:13.10.

“It’s awesome,” Edwards said of his first-place finish. “It was definitely a challenge because (Joerger) was there a lot longer than I expected. It just shows the talent that we have in this league.”

Said Joerger: “I was going to go for it and stay with him as long as I could. (Edwards) is such a strong runner, that he got away in the final mile. It’s definitely a good feeling to finish second, considering how strong this league is. We all push each other.”

Royal showed off its prowess with Sean Davidson placing third (15:21.65), Paul Jesson taking fifth (15:27.18) and Korey Yoakum placing sixth (15:28.80).

Sean Grumney of Newbury Park was fourth in 15:22.23. In the team competition, Royal and Westlake was followed by Thousand Oaks (95) and Simi Valley (101) in the top four.