Williamson Runs to Easy Marmonte Victory

Thousand Oaks High Coach Jack Farrell says that one of Mike Williamson’s greatest strengths as a runner is his intelligence. If Williamson makes a mistake, he rarely makes it again.

A case in point was the Marmonte League cross-country finals at Moorpark College on Friday.

One week after losing to Bryan Dameworth of Agoura in a slow, tactical race at the Ventura County championships, Williamson broke away from the pack after the first 880 yards and won in 15 minutes, 23 seconds over the 3-mile course.

Camarillo, paced by Shawn Goetzinger (15:43), Abe Valdez (15:57) and Joel Gonzalez (16:19), took the next 3 places to win its second consecutive league title, scoring 24 points. Thousand Oaks (44), Westlake (91) and Newbury Park (95) rounded out the top 4.

Channel Islands upset Camarillo and Newbury Park to win its first league title in the girls’ race.

The Raiders placed three runners among the top 10--Judy Hollers (5th), Yung Chong (6th) and Bonique Rodriguez (10th)--and had 50 points. Camarillo, paced by Katie Meyer’s individual victory (19:37), scored 53 and Newbury Park had 63.