POLY CAN'T STOP LAKEWOOD, MILLIKAN IN MOORE LEAGUE PREVIEW NO. 2

        The Lakewood High boys cross country teams have been wearing fire-engine red T-shirts a traffic stop sign and the words "Stop Lakewood" on the back. The shirts are a spinoff to legendary distance runner Steve Prefontaine who once raced in a rival's shirt that read "Stop Pre."
        Another set of Lakewood shirts are in the works the Moore League finals on Nov. 6 with the words: "A New Streak has Begun."
        That streak would be the end of Poly's seven-year reign atop the Moore League. Lakewood took a monumental step with a 20-35 victory over Poly in the second Moore League preview meet on Thursday at El Dorado Park. It was Poly's first league dual meet loss since 1996. Adding to the rare setback feeling, Millikan also defeated Poly, 27-29.
         Lakewood, led by a 1-2 finish by sophomore Daniel Clifford and junior Alex Ramirez who covered the relatively flat 3-mile course over predominately asphalt trails in 15 minutes, 12 seconds and 15:13, took four of the top six places in the combined race with all league schools.
         Seniors Henry Meza and Anthony Aragon were fifth and sixth in 15:42 and 15:53. Sophomore Joshua Stockton rounded out the Lakewood scoring in 11th in 16:09.
Granted, Poly was without its top runner, senior Ulices Pina, who did not compete because of a respiratory illness, trained through the meet and ran with training flats.
         "It would have been nice to see Poly at full strength but we had a feeling that we could win if (Pina) was in the race today," Lakewood coach Geoff Skarr said. "It's all going to come down to who is ahead of who (at league finals). It will be all for naught if we can't do it again on Nov. 6."
         Lakewood's victory, though, did avenge the sting of the first league meet on Oct. 2 on Poly's hilly home course at Discovery Well Park in Signal Hill where Poly squeaked out a 25-30 victory despite a 1-4 finish by Clifford and Meza.
"None of us really like hills a lot," Clifford said. "Today, there were no hills, no gravel, no falling. It was a little intimidating against Poly last year but not this year because we've been picking it up."
         Lakewood will need another solid performance to secure its first league championship since 1991. Lakewood is first in the league standings at 11-1, while Poly and Millikan are tied for second at 9-2.. The league title will be determined by a combination of the two preview meets and the finals that are worth 50 percent.
         "We've been training hard all week so we just wanted to keep going and run our race the best as we feel we can do," said senior Pedro Ramos, Poly's top finisher in fourth in 15:36. "Our goal is to make it to the state meet. This is just a training day, not a real race. We know that we don't have to win league to make it state."

         In the girls competition, two-time defending champion Wilson held off Poly, 26-29, with the 1-2 finish of seniors Casie Mota (18:07) and Jasmine Collins (18:11). Freshmen Maria Damian of Lakewood (18:27) and Karina Van Leuven (18:31) were third and fourth.

Moore League Preview Meet No. 2
3 miles at El Dorado Park

Boys

1. Daniel Clifford (Lakewood) 15:12; 2. Alex Ramirez (Lakewood) 15:13; 3. Vincent Rojas (Millikan) 15:21; 4. Pedro Ramos (Poly) 15:36; 5. Henry Meza (Lakewood) 15:42; 6. Anthony Aragon (Lakewood) 15:53; 7. Brandon Johnson (CabrillO) 16:02; 8. Ethan Durham (Poly) 16:05; 9. Robert Rodriguez (Millikan) 16:06; 10. Joseph Lopez (Poly) 16:08.
Team: 1. Lakewood 6-0; 2. Millikan 5-1; 3. Poly 4-2; 4. Wilson 3-3.
Girls
1. Casie Mota (Wilson) 18:07; 2. Jasmine Collins (Wilson) 18:11; 3. Maria Damian (Lakewood) 18:27; 4. Karina Van Leuven (Poly) 18:31; 5. Bina Gold (Wilson) 18:44; 6. Tava Tedesco (Poly) 18:49; 7. Michelle Hernandez (Lakewood) 18:57; 8. Gabrielle Bournes (Poly) 19:02; 9. Taylor Uttey (Poly) 19:06; 10. Samantha Allen (Poly) 19:07.
Team: 1. Wilson 6-0; 2. Poly 5-1; 3. Lakewood 4-2; 4. Millikan 3-3; 5. Cabrillo 2-4.