Sarah Baxter was able to outrun the competition, but she couldn't escape the autograph seekers.

As soon as the Simi Valley High junior captured her third straight title at the Ventura County Cross Country Championships on Friday, a large group of boys was waiting at the Lake Casitas course finish line.

One boy handed Baxter a Sharpie and they all asked her to sign their bibs and other pieces of paper.

Baxter patiently obliged for a few minutes before excusing herself to congratulate the other competitors on the course.

"It is really weird. I mean it's nice, but it gets a little strange," said Baxter, who won the race in a time of 17 minutes, 15 seconds. "I don't feel like anybody should want my autograph. I don't feel like it's that big of a deal."

But Baxter became a huge deal after her record-breaking run last Saturday at the Mount SAC Invitational.

The performance has been labeled the best ever by a high school female cross country athlete, and it led to national acclaim.

Fans were still buzzing about it on Friday, and many anxiously watched the clock to see if Baxter would break the course record in Ojai.

But Baxter's time was 11 seconds shy, and tied for second with Simi Valley's Liberty Miller (2009).

"Today was just about going out and doing the best that I could," Baxter said. "I just went out and ran. I didn't go for the course record or anything."

Oak Park junior Sahm Bazargan captured the boys title in a time of 15:25. He was followed closely by senior teammate Patrick Thedinga in second place (15:27) as the Eagles captured the team title with 87 points.

The boys race was delayed 30 minutes while paramedics tended to a Moorpark runner who had fainted during the girls race. She was treated and taken by ambulance to a local hospital for observation.

Bazargan and Thedinga employed the buddy system to propel them to the front of the pack.

"We couldn't do it without each other. We keep each other in check during the race," Bazargan said. "We recently discovered when we work together it is unstoppable. It's a great group of varsity guys."

The Eagles had a little extra motivation.

Thedinga's former math teacher at Oak Park, Jim Benton, 33, died earlier this week after collapsing during a fall break trip in Tennessee, where he recently moved.

"We all wrote 'For Jim' on the back of our flats in memoriam," Thedinga said. "This race was really for him. It meant a lot to come out here and go 1-2."

Like she had in the past two years, Baxter led from start to finish. By the 1-mile mark she had already opened a 14-second gap on the field.

Moorpark sophomore Monika Gyalay finished second in a time of 18:07.

"I feel like I did well. It was my best time here by 30 seconds," Gyalay said. "I was more prepared than last year when I went out too fast and didn't pace myself well. But this time I was ready to pace myself."

The Simi Valley girls easily defended their team title with 25 points. The Pioneers placed five runners in the top eight with sophomore Sarah Riggs finishing third (18:28).

"I was pleased. Coming off Mt. SAC, there is usually a physical and mental letdown," Simi Valley head coach Roger Evans said. "I didn't want to talk about that. This is a younger team and we have new people in there and I have to treat them a bit differently than a veteran squad."

Adding to the mental fatigue for Baxter was the attention she's received since shattering the course record at Mt. SAC.

"It's been a distraction to some degree," Evans said. "What really opened the floodgates was her appearing on Yahoo. That is national, so TV crews, radio stations, this blog, that blog, this website, that website; they were all calling for interviews. We really have to try to manage it so it doesn't overwhelm her."

The ever-humble Baxter doesn't enjoy being in the spotlight. She prefers talking about how others perform.

After she excused herself from signing autographs, she raced over to slap hands with nearly all the 120 runners who came through the finish line.

"It's a sportsmanship thing. That is something you are supposed to do," Baxter said. "Our coach really encourages it and I just like to be out congratulating everybody because it is a hard race and everybody did really good."

Indeed. Although not everyone can capture a title, many runners achieved personal-best times.

Bazargan may have encapsulated it best in describing his win.

"It's just amazing," he said. "There is nothing more rewarding than succeeding."

• • •

Ventura County Cross Country Championships

Lake Casitas, 3 miles

Girls Varsity Individual

Sarah Baxter, Simi Valley 17:15

Monika Gyalay, Moorpark 18:07

Sarah Riggs, Simi Valley 18:28

Hannah Kirkegaard, Ventura 18:32

Jenny Giguere, Westlake 18:43

Charlotte Utash, Simi Valley 18:51

Samantha Tetef, Simi Valley 18:55

Courtney Korven, Simi Valley 18:55

Caroline Pietrzyk, Malibu 18:59

Daneille Ip, Moorpark 19:05

Brianne Holland, Royal 19:16

Swathi Samule, Newbury Park 19:19

Ariana Brajkovich, La Reina 19:21

Kathleen Dunne, Camarillo 19:22

Olivia Rosellini, Simi Valley 19:25

Brittany Blackwell, Oak Park 19:25

Aliya Shah, Buena 19:27

Beth Wade, Moorpark 19:27

Natlaie Cox, Newbury Park 19:28

Alyssa Frank, La Reina 19:30

 

Girls Varsity Team Results

Simi Valley 25

Newbury Park 109

Moorpark 115

Oak Park 157

Thousand Oaks 179

 

Boys Varsity Individual

Sahm Bazargan, Oak Park 15:25

Patrick Thedinga, Oak Park 15:27

Jonathan Byrne, Newbury Park 15:34

Esteban Vega, Camarillo 15:43

Mikey Giguere, Westlake 15:50

Juan Jimenez, Simi Valley 15:51

Kyle Medina, Ventura 15:52

Joel Gonzalez, Camarillo 15:54

Michael Picchini, Moorpark 15:56

Fredrick Pond, Newbury Park 15:56

Chris Costa, Westlake 15:58

Jimmy FitzGerald, Rio Mesa 15:58

Nikolaus Utash, Simi Valley 16:00

Rocky Peterson, Westlake 16:00

Graham Rigby, Westlake 16:00

Vince Asturi, Royal 16:04

Garrett Lepine, Simi Valley 16:04

Grant Boden, Thousand Oaks 16:07

Garet Kaul, Moorpark 16:11

Martin Montes, Buena 16:11

 

Boys Varsity Team Results

Oak Park 87

Simi Valley 92

Westlake 103

Newbury Park 122

Moorpark 129