The most overlooked prep team in the valley is the Cabrillo High girls cross country team.

Ranked No. 9 in CIF Div. III, the Conquistador girls &#8221will keep moving up,B promised No. 1 runner Tarah Balden at Monday/s North Santa Barbara County Athletic Roundtable luncheon in Orcutt.

Balden led the Conquistadores to first place at the Big Ditch Invitational Oct. 1 and to second place among 32 teams in the medium schools division of the prestigious Clovis Invitational last Saturday.

Their 139 points trailed the leader, Foothill of Santa Ana, by only five points.

For her accomplishment, Balden was named female Athlete of the Week by the Roundtable.

Balden finished 20th, while teammate Beth Pasko was 23rd, and Alexa Heter 25th. Both Pasko and Heter, as well as coach Katie Wallace, were present Monday for pizza.

&#8221I couldn/t have done it without you guys,B said Balden in accepting her award.

&#8221We run together. In the past years we/ve thought about it as an individual sport. Now we run as a pack.B

Wallace points to the preseason Runners Workshop in Malibu as a turning point.

&#8221We came back and the girls were just motivated. The team motto is >How Bad Do You Want It?B as sung by Tim McGraw.

&#8221It/s a completely different team this year even though it/s the same people,B Wallace said. &#8221They run because they want to, not because they have to.

&#8221The top four all improved by close to a minute.B

No. 4 is sophomore Laura Monteleone, and No. 5, whom Wallace says never trails Monteleone by more than 20 seconds, is junior Alana PItts.

Another new element is Wallace.

&#8221Mrs. Wallace understands us,B declared Pasko.

Wallace was thrown into the breach midseason last year when the previous coach was suspended.

Wallace knew little about cross country, but learned fast.

&#8221Mostly I learned from watching them (her runners) and talking to other coaches. Peter (Anderson, the CHS boys coach) was a huge help to me. I have more respect from the team this year.B

The Cabrillo boys, ranked first in the state, were an inspiration of sorts.

&#8221We didn/t want to live in their shadow,B declared Heter.

The Conqs appear in position to oust Lompoc from the league championship. The Los Padres League midseason meet takes place tomorrow at Waller Park.

Lompoc High

Athletic Director Dick Barrett told the Round Table diners his defending champion girls team was beset by illness and injuries, including one suffered by Ariana Fabing whom he introduced, but that Stephanie Fabing, whom he also introduced, finished seventh at the Atascadero Invitational on Saturday.

Stephen Martin has been injured but ranks as the Braves/ top male runner, so he too was present.

Ariana Fabing said she would be recovered from her stress fracture by the County meet on Oct. 28

Barrett also presented footballers Joey Green, a two-way lineman, and tailback Joe Scott, who graded out highest on film of Friday/s 41-0 thumping of Morro Bay.

&#8221It was his best game of the year,B announced Barrett.

Scott is Lompoc/s leading ground gainer.

What exactly did he grade better on this week than in the past? &#8221Blocking and carrying out my fakes,B Scott smiled. He also threw a touchdown pass on a halfback option.

The Braves travel to Santa Ynez Friday.

Cabrillo High

Football assistant Mike Regan told the diners that Atascadero/s 43-35 victory over the Conquistadores was a &#8221barnburner.B &#8221Twenty-nine points were scored in the final two minutes,B he said before introducing linebackers Colby McKissack who accounted for six tackles and a sack, and Darnell Womack who made eight tackles, three of them for loss, blocked a field goal and recovered a fumble.

Cabrillo led by a touchdown after recovering an onside kick and drove to score with 40 seconds left.

Unfortunately, a Greyhound Hail Mary connected to put the Hounds up 36-35. A meaningless TD was tacked on in the final seconds when the Conqs were throwing up desperation passes.

Most significant, said McKissack, was that the Conq defense shut down the vaunted Atascadero running game in the second half forcing them to the air.

The Conqs host Santa Maria Friday at Huyck Stadium.

College football

Lydell Sargeant played but had no receptions Saturday as Penn State upset Ohio State 17-10 and moved into the Top Ten…. Vic Thompson played for Air Force but had no catches in the Falcons/ 27-24 loss to Navy…. Robert Adams was not forgotten this week at Charleston Southern. He carried eight times for 39 yards but CSU fell to VMI 34-12 in the Big South opener…. Quarterback Andrew Jones started his second game in a row at Upper Iowa and mostly handed the ball to T.C. Hicks who gained 208 yards in a 21-3 victory over Waldorf. Jones passed 11 times completing four…. Adam Brown made two solo tackles and one assisted as Redlands downed LaVerne 32-14. It was his first game after recovering two fumbles against Chapman Sept. 24. He returned one 14 yards for a TD.

College water polo

Through Oct. 2, Cuesta College/s Davia Montoya was the second leading scorer in the Western State Conference.

Christine Rowlett was fifth and also ranked second in assists and third in steals.

Bandits

The Lompoc Honda Bandits/ 5-0 defeat Sunday at the hands of Hip Arias and the Goleta Diablos was the hardhitting Lompoc club/s first whitewash in at least three seasons.

Raiders

Former Lompocan Torin Simpson is a Production Assistant on the Oakland Raiders &#8221Behind the ShieldB show on Channel 11 on Saturdays at 4:30. Simpson has produced segments on Eric Allen and Jake Grove and is working on pieces on Art Shell and Robert Gallery.

Sports writer John McReynolds can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 106, or jmcreynolds@lompocrecord.com

October 11, 2005