Young lowers own 3-mile course record to 14:08.82 in tuneup before upcoming title defense at Woodbridge; Panthers smash both boys and girls team marks at Pepper Tree, with Mohandas leading sweep of top four spots in girls race

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The fact that Nico Young didn’t compete Sept. 6 with several of his teammates at the Cool Breeze Invitational only delayed the inevitable for what transpired Thursday at the first Marmonte League meet in his own backyard at Pepper Tree Playfields in Newbury Park, Calif.

Young began an assault on the all-time records on every course he’ll compete on during his senior season, offering an impressive preview of what he and the Panthers are capable of Sept. 21 at the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in Norco, Calif.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Young covered the 3-mile layout in 14 minutes, 8.82 seconds and senior teammate Jace Aschbrenner also eclipsed the previous record by running 14:19.51, as Newbury Park placed four in the top five and all seven athletes among the first 11 finishers in a 19-43 victory over Thousand Oaks.

Young, who won the Woodbridge sweepstakes last season in 14:01.1, clocked 14:26.71 at Pepper Tree at last year’s league championship meet.

That mark was almost bettered as well Thursday by third-place finisher Michael Mireles of Thousand Oaks. The senior set a program record by running 14:26.80 for the Lancers, who also had junior Michael Cooper finish sixth in 15:14.69.

Sophomore Colin Sahlman placed fourth in 15:05.95 and junior Nick Goldstein took fifth in 15:10.84 for Newbury Park, which had sophomore Daniel Appleford finish seventh in 15:22.16.

Their performances helped the Panthers lower their own team record at Pepper Tree by running 74:07, an improvement from the 74:58 they achieved at last year’s league finals.

Newbury Park also smashed its girls team record Thursday by clocking 90:33, doing so by more than three minutes from last year’s Marmonte championship meet.

Senior Archana Mohandas led a Panthers’ sweep of the top four spots in a 16-51 victory over Westlake, running 17:37.43. Junior Fiona Hawkins clocked 17:39.72, sophomore Sam McDonnell ran 17:56.61 and senior Gretchen Slattum finished in 18:22.14.

Westlake senior Rebecca Schultz broke up a potential perfect effort by Newbury Park by securing fifth in 18:39.61, with freshman Ailish Hawkins placing sixth in 18:57.21 for the Panthers, who had all seven athletes among the top 11 finishers.