Break up the Lancers.

 

Thousand Oaks High dominated nearly every varsity sport this fall season.

 

And it’s not like the Marmonte League is for cupcakes. It’s one of the largest and most respected leagues in Ventura County, as any area coach in any sport can attest.

 

Lancer teams won or shared four Marmonte championships this fall. Every varsity team finished near the top of the standings and qualified for the postseason.

 

“It’s awesome,” said first-year athletic director Mary Ziegler. “It’s been fun. I’ve definitely been busy, but I’m enjoying it.”

 

Here’s a breakdown of how the Lancers fared during the regular season:

 

• Girls’ volleyball went undefeated in Marmonte matches en route to a league title.

 

• Girls’ golf conquered the Marmonte with a perfect record. Five Lancers advanced to the individual regional tournament.

 

 

• Girls’ tennis shared a league championship with rival Westlake.

 

• Boys’ cross country secured top Marmonte honors.

 

• Girls’ cross country fell to fifth at league finals, but strong showings late in the season propelled the Lancers into the playoffs.

 

• Boys’ water polo nabbed third in the Marmonte and made its deepest playoff run in decades.

 

• Football completed a 7-3 regular season, with its only setbacks to the three schools that shared first place.

 

The rest of the Marmonte is on red alert. Make that green alert.

 

Ziegler said the success starts with savvy coaches, and it trickles down to the talented athletes.

 

“All the (fall) coaches have been with Thousand Oaks High School for many years,” she said. “They’ve been with the program for years and they’re very conscientious.”

 

Mike Leibin, varsity football coach, said the local community encourages and promotes athletics.

 

“We get great support by our fans and our parents and student body as a whole,” Leibin said. “The leadership on our campus is conducive to having a lot of success. We have a very supportive administration. We have a great group of hardworking kids that do the right thing.

 

“We do it with Thousand Oaks kids, and that makes it kind of special.”

 

Then there’s the Green Hole.

 

The Green Hole isn’t a menu item at Del Taco. It’s the raucous student-cheering party renowned for bringing the noise during boys’ basketball games.

 

The Green Hole travels better than any other student section, showing up en masse to road sporting events, including swim meets and cross country showdowns.

 

“They were awesome until the St. Bonnie (game),” Leibin admitted. “They jumped off the bandwagon a little.”

 

Thousand Oaks football is feeling good anyway.

 

Leibin rolled the dice on a two-point conversion—a call that panned out—and the Lancers walked away smiling after an overtime victory against Moorpark in the regular-season finale. TOHS plays at Quartz Hill on Friday at 7 p.m. in a CIFIRIS Southern Section Northern Division playoff opener.

 

The girls’ tennis squad lost to Westlake in the first matchup between the foes, but upended the Warriors in a heated second meeting on the road.

 

That critical road win not only enabled Thousand Oaks to secure a share of the title, but it was an emotional high point of the regular season.

 

“Since that time, the team’s picking it up,” head coach Dave Assorson said.

 

Thousand Oaks girls’ tennis finished 13-1 in league and went 17-3 overall following Tuesday’s quarterfinal playoff defeat against Campbell Hall.

 

Thousand Oaks had strength in singles with Savannah Ware, Alison Ho and Melissa Baker, but doubles players Kathryn Stueckle, Sasha Kasper, Kaitlyn Ackerman, Alysse King, Christina Hempill and Katy Scheck responded to the challenge.

 

Assorson has noticed winning across campus.

 

“You’ve got to have some talent, that’s for sure,” he said. “But I think all the coaches at Thousand Oaks are really committed to excellence. They have to be given some credit.”

 

James Park has coached the girls’ volleyball team to four league titles in his five seasons at the helm.

 

“The biggest thing with this group this year was chemistry,” said Park, who was recently inducted into the Cal Lutheran Hall of Fame.

 

The Lancers finished 19-9 overall and 14-0 in league action.

 

During the season, Park found time to talk with his colleagues, including girls’ golf coach Rod Stillwell and Mike Giles of the boys’ water polo squad.

 

“Rod and I chat now and then,” Park said. “I was happy to see him have a successful season. Coach Giles and I chat now and then. The water polo team has done wonders, too. The coaches are excited for each other.”

 

Sophia Chen, Sarena Doyle, Esther Cho, Stacy Mann and Brenna Callero advanced to the CIF-SS Northern Individual Regional for girls’ golf.

 

The cross country teams flew under the radar for most of the season. They’re still running strong.

 

Sam Worley, Michael Spencer, Marco Godinez, Matt Garvin, Zach Morgan, Tyler Hughes and Tommy Lopez guide the boys.

 

 

Melanie Joerger, Caitlin Turner, Genevieve Johnson, Kalin Padberg, Danielle Culhane, Graciela Godinez and Ashton Padberg lead the girls.

 

 

“I was really surprised to see the boys step up,” head coach Shawn Morris said. “On the girls’ side, they’re even younger. The girls didn’t run well at league finals but they’ve turned it around.”

 

 

Both teams will race at the CIF-SS Division 2 finals at Mount San Antonio College on Saturday.

 

 

Can the Lancers maintain the success the rest of the year?

 

“This fall season has gone pretty well for Thousand Oaks,” Assorson said. “Hopefully we can keep it up in the winter.”