Four Years Later, Fleshman Attains Goal

FRESNO —  It wasn’t the most demonstrative victory celebration in the state cross-country championships.

Nor was it the most vocal.

But when senior Lauren Fleshman of Canyon High threw up her right arm and then her left at the finish of the Division I girls’ race Saturday at Woodward Park, it signified the attainment of her No. 1 goal at the start of the season.

“I wanted [to win a state title] more than anything,” Fleshman said. “To me, cross-country is the best of all the high school sports and to win a state title in it seemed unfathomable.”

Fleshman, who helped Canyon win the state Division I team title as a freshman by finishing 13th, became the first Cowboy runner to win an individual state championship in posting her 11th victory in 12 races this season.

Canyon as a team failed to qualify for the state meet this year.

La Canada, with sophomore Nicole Bonino finishing fifth, capped an undefeated season by winning its second consecutive Division III title, 78-93, over Redding Foothill.

Nordhoff, with freshman Robin Quinn placing ninth, upset Corona del Mar, 54-55, in the Division IV race to win its fifth title of the 1990s.

Fleshman let senior Trina Cox of Santa Rosa push the pace for the first 2 1/2 miles before surging past her rival on a short uphill portion of the course that was muddy in places from an overnight rain.

Fleshman’s time of 17:38 gave her a 10-second victory margin over Cox and cut 13 seconds off her previous best at Woodward Park.

Sophomore Anita Siraki of Hoover finished fourth in 18:17. She was 30th after the first mile and 11th at two miles.

Sophomore Natalie Stein of North Hollywood placed eighth in 18:29.

Thousand Oaks, with senior Amanda Armstrong 22nd and sophomore Kelley Hess 23rd in 19:01, finished sixth in team standings with 183 points.

La Canada placed five runners among the top 23 finishers in the Division III race.

Bonino, the Southern Section champion, clocked 18:40 with senior teammate Kim Garnic 10th in 19:03.

Nordhoff placed five runners among the top 27 finishers in the Division IV race, with Quinn finishing ninth in 19:13 and junior Rae Stumbough placing 15th in 19:24.

Sophomore Laura Jakosky of Agoura placed sixth in the Division II race in 18:50 after winning the Southern Section title at Mt. SAC the previous week.