WALNUT -- Some well-timed visualization led to the Westlake boys' cross country team finally realizing its potential at the Southern Section championship meet.
Although the Warriors won Marmonte League titles the past two years, the achievement didn't translate to bigger success in the postseason.
But on a shortened version of the Mount San Antonio College rain course that Saugus dominated two years ago to capture the Div. II championship, Westlake washed away those disappointing memories to produce a 115-148 victory over the Centurions to secure their first division title.
"We knew what we wanted to accomplish, we just had to execute out there," said junior Mikey Giguere, who led the Warriors with a seventh-place finish in 14 minutes, 18 seconds on the flat 2.93-mile layout.
"It was just a little change in our strategy. We all just had to adjust and visualize this course in order to help us run faster. I feel like we've been building momentum since (winning at) Marmonte League finals and it carried us (Saturday). We knew we had to start there in order to believe this was possible."
Rocky Peterson (14:23) was 12th, Sean O'Bryan and Chris Costa both clocked 14:45 to finish 32nd and 33rd, with Graham Rigby (15:02) placing 63rd for the Warriors, who advanced to the state meet for the first time since 2008.
A.J. Yarnall was fourth (14:12), producing the area's fastest time of the day, but his performance, along with a 16th-place effort from Rodrigo Ornelas (14:32), weren't enough to give Saugus a second title in three seasons after the Centurions prevailed on a 3.2-mile rain course in 2010.
"(The course) definitely adjusted the playing field, but I just focused on running the race and making sure we advanced," Yarnall said. "Having so many sharp corners and turns, it definitely changes the game a lot, but our focus is all about state. We want to do something big next week."
After winning the section and state championships last season in Div. II, Golden Valley placed ninth with 214 points, 10 points behind the seventh and final state qualifier Loyola. Nolan Del Valle placed sixth in 14:16 to secure one of the division's five individual state berths.
Flintridge Prep was seeking its first Div. V title since 2004, but the modified course favored the speed of St.Margaret's in the first mile and the Tartans relied on brothers Brandon and Collin Price finishing second and fifth to defeat the Rebels 46-61 to secure their third consecutive title.
Aaron Sugimoto (15:04) placed sixth and Elias Ellison (15:09) was 10th for Flintridge Prep, but St. Margaret's had four runners in the top 11.
Alan Yoho (15:23) and Jack Van Scoter (15:24) took 15th and 16th for Flintridge Prep, with Andrew Starksen (15:07) taking seventh for seventh-place Desert Christian (187 points) and Buckley Nicholas Martin qualifying individually after taking eighth in 15:08.
Crescenta Valley's Gabe Collison clocked 14:18 to finish ninth and earn the final individual berth in Div. I after the Falcons placed 11th with 252 points.
Crespi's Joe Joe Cortez-Adams also qualified, finishing 11th in Div. IV in 14:56 after the Celts placed 13th with 295 points.
Patrick Thedinga and Sahm Bazargan were fourth and fifth, both in 14:27, for Oak Park, which advanced by placing seventh in Div. III with 200 points. Harvard-Westlake, led by David Manahan's 13th-place effort (15:04), extended its season with a seventh-place finish in Div. IV with 213 points.
Despite clocking 14:23 to finish 11th in Div. II, Camarillo's Joel Gonzalez missed an individual state berth by three seconds.
