Thousand Oaks boys' runners heard loud and clear

For being the top local boys' cross country team, Thousand Oaks hasn't garnered nearly the same amount of attention as the No. 1 girls' team in the area, Saugus.

But the Lancers appeared content to compete under the radar the first few weeks of the season, not running their full varsity lineup at the Oak Park Invitational before cruising to an Marmonte League victory Sept. 25 over Agoura and Westlake.

However, in the past 72 hours, Thousand Oaks has turned up the intensity on the competition and the results have been quite impressive.

Following a 17-41 league win Thursday over Royal of Simi Valley, the Lancers -- ranked No. 8 in the state in Div. II -- recorded their most significant victory Saturday at the Pepperdine Invitational, winning the boys' sweepstakes with 41 points.

Arcadia, ranked No. 4 in the state in Div. I, was runner-up with 53 points, and Barstow -- the state's top-ranked team in Div. III -- took third with 78.

"I think they were shocked," Thousand Oaks coach Shawn Morris said. "Heck, I'm shocked."

Kevin Joerger finished third for the Lancers, covering the 3-mile course in 15:33.40, and Sean Gildea (15:38.74) placed fourth. Gildea's effort was even more impressive, considering he and fellow senior Hans Weidman took SATs earlier Saturday and arrived at Pepperdine 30 minutes before the start of the race.

"We didn't even know if we were going to be able to run the whole team together," Joerger said. "I'm really amazed."

Asher Lober (seventh, 15:46.74), Andrew Snyder (ninth, 16:00.18) and Donald Morrow (19th, 16:23.59) rounded out the scoring quintet for Thousand Oaks, which clocked 79:22. Arcadia, which won the seeded race Sept. 27 at the Stanford Invitational, recorded a team time of 79:52 and Barstow -- Div. II winner last Saturday at the Bell-Jeff Invitational -- clocked 80:52.