Fields set for Nike Cross Nationals, Foot Locker West Regionals

Headlined by the Saugus girls' cross country team, ranked No. 1 nationally by Mile Split Network and No. 2 by Harrier Magazine, three local programs and Oak Park junior standout Melissa Skiba will compete Saturday in the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore.

Saugus is the only area girls' program competing in the 22-team championship race at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, when the Centurions will battle two-time national champion Fayetteville-Manlius of New York.

Skiba, the Southern Section Div. III champion and state runner-up, was also invited to attend, as 90 individuals -- boys and girls -- from non-qualifying teams will run for the first time in the meet's five-year history.

In the boys' competition, Loyola of Los Angeles -- the Div. II state champion -- and Southern Section Div. II winner and state runner-up Thousand Oaks will battle again as part of the 22-team field, headlined by national No. 1 North Central High of Washington. The race is scheduled for noon.

At the Foot Locker West Regionals at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, a trio of local standouts will attempt to qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships, scheduled for Dec. 13 in San Diego.

Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta senior Zack Torres, Southern Section and state runner-up in Div. I, joins Golden Valley junior Seth Totten -- fifth in the state in Div. III -- and Camarillo sophomore Heyden Wooff, ninth in the state in Div. II, in the seeded boys' race at 10:50 a.m.

With Saugus and Skiba running in the championship race in Portland, Crescenta Valley competing in the girls' open race and Simi Valley junior Liberty Miller deciding not to run this weekend, none of the area's top nine female finishers from the state meet are competing at the West Regional event.