Pioneers make school history

PIONEER PRIDE—Simi Valley High cross country runners, front row, from left, Hanna Jeters, Liberty Miller, Milana Maddalone, Alexis Miller, Amanda Miller and Nicole Rietveld practice in preparation for Saturday’s CIF-Southern Section Division I Finals at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers Alexis Miller and her fellow Pioneers couldn’t wait to update the school’s cross country banner.

Who could blame them?

On the same day the Simi Valley High girls’ cross country team won its first Marmonte League championship, the Pioneers taped a handmade “2009” on the banner in the school gym.

It was the only banner in the rafters that didn’t have a year signifying a league title.

“Every single sport has at least one league championship,” said Miller, a senior, “except for us.”

Until now.

Simi Valley, which finished undefeated in league meets, continues its magical season at 9:45 a.m. Saturday at the CIF-Southern Section Division I Finals at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut.

The Royal boys’ squad is scheduled to compete an hour later in the Division I race.

The top seven teams in each division advance to the State Championships in Fresno on Nov. 28.

A league title was long overdue for Simi Valley, which has finished second in the Marmonte six times under 20-year head coach Roger Evans.

Miller has been an unsung hero for Simi Valley this year.

The runner endured nine stress fractures as a freshman and couldn’t run at all.

As a sophomore, Miller estimated she competed in about onethird of all races.

She was on and off last year with more injuries and setbacks.

Nothing has stopped the senior this season, including a bout with the H1N1 virus or starting the season on the junior varsity squad.

“Even if I had 10 broken bones, I’d still be running,” Miller said. “I love our team so much.”

Her determination and desire has carried her to the top of Simi’s lineup—she’s now the No. 2 runner behind Liberty Miller, the fastest girl in Ventura County.

Evans was hesitant to let Alexis Miller run at full speed, knowing that she had never finished a season healthy.

At the urging of the senior’s parents after the season-opening race at Woodbridge, Evans gave Miller the green light to run hard.

“I let her go. She was either going to make it or not,” the coach said. “She’s responded very well.”

Miller’s sister, Amanda, said her older sibling “inspires” her.

“It’s been amazing to see my sister move her way up to the top of varsity, where she deserves to be,” said Amanda Miller, a junior who generally runs fourth for Simi.

“She’s been working years and years and years for this. I look up to her a lot.”

Alexis Miller hopes Simi Valley can qualify for state for the first time since 2006.

“We want to push our limits,” the 17-year-old said. “We’re ready. We’ve bonded. Everyone’s relying on each other.

“Libby (Liberty Miller) is not going to be on the state line alone this year. She’s going to have six other girls next to her.”

Liberty Miller leads this pack of Long Golden Lions, as the Pioneers call themselves, but there’s plenty of depth behind the star.

Nicole Rietveld, Hanna Jeters, Milana Maddalone, Maddison Hawk and Brooke Popp help bolster Simi’s lineup.

The Pioneers must qualify for state without injured sophomore Karla Vernola, a top competitor.

Simi Valley has been preparing all week for Saturday’s race.

The girls feel they have an advantage running the Mt. SAC course, since they ran it last weekend at the CIF preliminaries.

“Physically we’re ready. Mentally we’re ready,” Liberty Miller said. “We just need to push it. We know this course. We know every twist and turn and every hill.

“We know what to expect, and we’re ready.”

Jeters, only a freshman, has been running in the top seven for most of the year.

“I’ve enjoyed everything about this season,” Jeters said. “The girls are my best friends. Everyone’s cheering you and pushing each other. We all want the best for each other.”

Teammates call Rietveld the African Queen, since her family has South African roots. She said the Pioneers are confident and maybe a little nervous.

“We get nervous, but we don’t talk about it as much,” Rietveld said. “We just go out there and do what we need to do.”

Maddalone and Popp had to pass runners from Royal and Thousand Oaks in the final 20 meters to help Simi clinch the Marmonte title on Nov. 5.

“I’ve never been so proud to do something for other people,” Maddalone said.

The Pioneers know what’s at stake at Mt. SAC.

“If we run like champions like we are and have been,” Evans said, “we can do it.”