CROSS COUNTRY: Camarillo boys' star wins, as does Simi Valley girls' freshman standout Baxter.
OJAI -- Heyden Wooff demonstrated that four races is still a strong enough foundation to win a Ventura County Championship, while Sarah Baxter captured perhaps the first of four career cross country titles at Lake Casitas Park.
But the greatest satisfaction Friday for the Camarillo senior and Simi Valley freshman came from watching several of their teammates crossing the finish line closely behind them.
Despite racing for less than a month after recovering from groin strain, Wooff secured his third career victory on the 3-mile course, clocking 15 minutes, 25.49 seconds.
"This was one of my main goals, not only for the three-peat, but our team is so strong this year and we really wanted to win county and go to CIF and go to state," Wooff said.
"I couldn't have asked for anything better."
The support of fifth-place finisher Adam Lucero (15:49.16), Joel Gonzalez (sixth, 15:50.86), Esteban Vega (15th, 16:13.75) and Cole Couchman (16th, 16:14.61) enabled the Scorpions to win their first county title since 2003 with a 43-point performance, ahead of defending-champion Westlake (84).
Jonathan Miller (15:57.19) and Timmy Snyder (16:02.39) took ninth and 10th for the Warriors, who finished ahead of Thousand Oaks (104), Newbury Park (125) and Royal (150).
After breaking Jordan Hasay's freshman course record Oct. 23 at the Mount San Antonio College Invitational, Baxter didn't take down the Lake Casitas standard of 17:04 set in 2005 by the former Mission Prep standout.
But her victory in 17:42.45 was backed up by Erika Barr (18:43.26), Madelyn Vorgitch (18:50.75), Milana Maddalone (18:59.69), Megan McNally (19:00.77) and Rachel Vinas (19:14.79) all placing in the top 13 and Hanna Jeters (19:52.0) securing the final all-county spot with a 24th-place finish.
It all added up to a 33-point effort for Simi Valley and the most dominant team performance in county history, with the Pioneers shattering Ventura's 2004 course record by 25 seconds to run 93:16.
"The team time wasn't even on my mind. I knew how awesome that Ventura team was with (sisters Jessica and Tara Bryant) and Emily Spiker," Simi Valley coach Roger Evans said. "Mt. SAC was a big measuring stick for us, but the girls said they were really tired Monday and sometimes after a big performance teams can come out flat. To me, this is better than last week. I'm really proud of them."
Simi Valley's success wasn't just limited to the varsity, with the Pioneers taking the top four spots and five of the first 10 in the JV race, led by Chelsea Feller (19:25).
Barr, who finished 22nd in last year's frosh/soph race, in 22:21.31, battled throughout the race with runner-up Kaycee Holcomb of Oak Park (18:25.21), Royal's Sophie Mateu (18:31.14) and Thousand Oaks' Melanie Joerger (18:42.14).
"This time last year, I would've never thought about this," Barr said. "I really wanted to be in that varsity circle, because the team is so tightly connected. We're so close that even after (Mt. SAC), we knew we could bounce back and get things done together."
Although Oak Park couldn't defend its title, finishing fourth with 130 points behind Newbury Park (120) -- led by Shannon Byrne's eighth-place finish (18:57.64) -- and Thousand Oaks (125), Holcomb lowered her personal best by 34 seconds set last year on the Lake Casitas layout.
"I have that competitive mindset, so naturally I'm going to go toward (Sarah). She was very impressive. I enjoyed being in a race with her," Holcomb said. "This was a really good experience for our team. Even if Sarah is off running at a fast pace, we learned we still need to run our own pace."
Simi Valley's Michael Vorgitch benefited from Wooff's pace to improve upon last year's mark by 35 seconds to take second in 15:34.64. Newbury Park's Sean Grumney overcame a fall in the first mile that cut his left knee to finish fourth (15:40.98) and Thousand Oaks' Sam Worley (15:51.80) placed seventh, setting up a showdown Thursday at the Marmonte League final at Agoura High.
"It's a new week and a new race and now all eyes are on me. It's going to come down to who wants it more," Vorgitch said. "I'm content with (second), but it's not what I was going for."
