One final hurdle

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers RUN WITH ME- Members of the Moorpark boys' track team take off on a run Tuesday afternoon. After finishing in second place in the Marmonte League last season, the boys' and girls' track and field teams at Moorpark High are looking to finally get over the last hurdle in 2007.

The boys' team fell to second place behind Royal High in 2006, after winning league titles the previous two seasons. With a strong core of field jumpers, the Musketeers are hoping that they can return to glory.

"We have a very young team, but we have some good veteran leadership on this team to help the younger players," MHS boys' head coach Thomas King said.

Assistant coach Sean Burns said the strength of this team should be the triple jumpers and long jumpers.

"For us to win league, our sprint team is going to have to come through for us," Burns said. "Our triple jumpers and long jumpers should win most of their events, so if we can steal some of the other events, we should be okay."

The triple-jump team is led by seniors Nick Karam and Adam Tavasolian. Senior Alan Olmstead should be a force in the high jump.

"Nick is probably the best in the county at the triple jump and is just a great all-around athlete," Burns said. "Adam is not quite as good as Nick, but he is still pretty damn good. I would go as far as saying he is the third best in the county."

The Musketeer boys' team has started out 2-0 in league play thanks to the performances of Karam and Tavasolian, but other members of the team have stepped up as well.

Santino De Jesus is one of the team's best sprinters, according to King, and the hurdling team of Maxwell Dyce, Tazwell Finley, Jeff Freeman and Thomas Kozlowski have helped as well.

The girls' team finished in second place last year after losing to Thousand Oaks on the final day of the regular season.

Girls' head coach Tara Thomas said many of the seniors have been thinking about that meet for a year now and are hoping for revenge this season with a league championship.

"Beating Thousand Oaks would be pretty exciting for the team just because the seniors have never done that while they have been here," Thomas said.

"At the same time, the team knows that it's not just Thousand Oaks that they have to worry about. We don't take any other teams lightly, and Newbury Park and Simi Valley should be tough to beat as well."

Once again the Lady Musketeers will square off against Thousand Oaks in the last meet of the year, but Moorpark has to take care of its business for that meet to mean anything. The Lady Musketeers have started out the season 2-0 in league play, including wins against Royal and Agoura last week.

The girls' team is led by senior Whitney Anderson, who runs the 100 and 200 meters as well as the 4x100 relay. Tali Sproat, who had a great cross country season, should help in the 800 and 1600. Other girls such as freshman Lauren Rocach, junior Rachel Olinyk, and seniors Katie Sosley, Christa Estrada and Ari Adachi have contributed to the Musketeers' early-season success.

"I can't say enough about this team," Thomas said. "I am very fortunate to have this team. They make me want to return to coaching at the end of the year and not run away."