WALNUT -- Simi Valley junior Sarah Baxter and the Saugus girls' cross country team demonstrated Saturday they are indeed runners for all courses and climates.

With the Southern Section championship meet being contested on a modified rain course Saturday at Mount San Antonio College, opponents perceived the strengths possessed by Baxter and the Centurions running the traditional hilly course might have been neutralized when they had to compete on a flat 2.93-mile layout.

Despite the change, the outcome remained the same, as opponents still weren't able to make up any ground, with Baxter securing a third consecutive individual section championship -- her second in Div. I -- by clocking 15 minutes, 53 seconds to help the Pioneers place second to Great Oak by a 44-69 margin.

"We were ready for (the rain course). Since it was raining in Simi (on Friday), we prepared mentally for it," said Baxter, who won in 2010 on a 3.2-mile rain course. "We know that we need to get faster. We're going to focus this week on getting our pack to move up and being closer to Great Oak. But we're still a young team and for a lot of them, this was their first time (in a final), so I'm proud of them."

After suffering a nine-point setback to Simi Valley in last year's Div. II final, Saugus received clutch efforts from seniors Olivia Altieri, Heidi Hoslet, Katie Huntington and Nina Sassano to support strong performances from sophomore Samantha Ortega and junior Abigail Frankian, helping the Centurions secure a sixth section championship in seven seasons with a 96-142 victory over Tesoro.

"All the training we went through prepared us for anything in this race," said Ortega, who took second in 16:26, trailing Newport Harbor's Paige Tennison (16:13).

"It was vigorous training. You could sleep another 24 hours because it was so exhausting. But we knew we had to be tough. We had to use all of our mental toughness on this course in order to win."

Of all the section crowns, including a pair in Div. I in 2006-07, Saugus coach Rene Paragas said Saturday's meant the most because of how the Centurions returned only Frankian, Hoslet and Huntington from last year's state championship lineup and still managed to overcome several obstacles in time to produce another title run.

Hoslet and Huntington overcame significant injuries that sidelined them for extended periods of time, Altieri - despite being a vegeterian - decided to start eating chicken in an effort to combat fatigue and Ortega competed at the freshman/sophomore level last year.

"There was a point where we only had Abigail (with any previous varsity experience) and although it was going to bode well for the future, you can't win a CIF title with only one returnee," Paragas said. "I never thought this would be our top five, but they were determined to make it work. You could tell early on that Abigail had that look of determination and I knew if Abigail was on, then it was meant to be."

Frankian (16:53) was 16th, Hoslet (17:17) took 26th and Huntington (17:24) placed 33rd, with Altieri (17:27) and Sassano (17:47) -- both slowed by flu earlier this week -- finishing 37th and 51st, followed by Darby LaPlant (17:54) in 59th.

Golden Valley's Bianca Tinoco (16:42) and Moorpark's Monika Gyalay (16:43) were eighth and 10th in Div. II, both securing their first trips to the state meet, with Westlake's Jenny Giguere (16:49) taking 13th and missing a berth by six seconds. Golden Valley (248) was 12th, Canyon (271) took 13th, Moorpark (325) placed 15th and Thousand Oaks (396) finished 16th.

Valencia's Olivia Pear also just missed advancing in Div. I, taking 11th in 16:40, four seconds behind the final individual state qualifier. Crescenta Valley's Erika Johnson (17:09) was 29th for the 12th-place Falcons (297).

Desirae Jones (16:47) was 12th, Olivia Rosellini (16:52) took 17th and Charlotte Utash (16:54) finished 18th for Simi Valley, but their efforts weren't enough to offset Great Oak placing all five scorers in the top 16 after Samantha Tetef (17:17) and Sarah Riggs (17:18) were 35th and 36th.

"Once our Nos. 5 and 6 runners got separated, I knew it was going to be tough to match up with them," Simi Valley coach Roger Evans said.

"We feel like we're a power team and our strengths are running in the most adverse weather and on the toughest courses. But this could be a blessing to get us focused for next week. If you're going to win one championship, you want it to be at state."

Rachael Power took second in the Div. V final in 17:12 and Sofia Venema was eighth (17:46) for Desert Christian, which placed third with 127 points behind Thacher (93) and Xavier Prep (122). Flintridge Prep also qualified fifth in Div. V with 144 points and Sacred Heart of Jesus' Ashley Flores won the title in 17:09.

"(Ashley and I) were encouraging each other during the race and it was really helpful for me to stick with her," Power said. "I'm just happy to have the place I had. Praying during the race really helped me stay strong. I didn't finish second by myself."

Despite the graduation of Cami Chapus and Amy Weissenbach -- the top two finishers at last year's section final -- Harvard-Westlake produced its fourth consecutive top-three finish in Div. IV with 133 points, trailing JSerra (95) and Mayfield (106). Notre Dame (151) was fourth, La Reina (155) was fifth and Paraclete (159) took sixth.

Malibu's Caroline Pietrzyk was third in 17:16 to earn an individual state berth, along with champion Danielle Shanahan (16:41) of Bishop Montgomery.

Notre Dame's Kazia Mermel (17:27) was seventh, Harvard-Westlake's Trishta Dordi (17:31) placed ninth and Oaks Christian's Emma Fleming (17:33) finished 10th. Lizzy Thomas (17:41) took 12th for the Wolverines, followed by Paraclete's Madi Grenier (17:55) in 15th, La Reina's Ariana Brajkovich (17:56) and Alyssa Frank (17:57) in 16th and 17th, and Notre Dame's Stephanie LaFace (18:00) in 19th place.

"To have all seven girls under 19 was incredible. The girls did all the right things in terms of their training, so it's nice to see them reap the rewards," Wolverines coach Tim Sharpe said. "And I'm excited because I still believe we can do more at state."

Oak Park (212) and La Canada (217) finished sixth and seventh in Div. III, with the Spartans - led by Anna Frederich (17:17) in 10th - edging Granite Hills by one point for the final qualifying berth.

Freshman Brittney Blackwell (17:25) was 14th for Oak Park.