West Valley boys ends Yreka NAL win streak, while Yreka girls extend theirs Donald Leedy, Meri Krier take home league titles at Margaret Polf Regional Park Margaret Polf Regional Park, Shasta Lake, California Thursday November 5, 2015 By T.J. Holmes/Record Searchlight & Bill Choy/Siskiyou Daily photos by Greg Barnette/Record Searchlight SHASTA LAKE — Central Valley High senior Anna Lewis is used to finishing Northern Athletic League races all by herself. She had a little more company Thursday and couldn’t catch Yreka’s Meri Krier for the top spot in the NAL championships held at Margaret Polf Regional Park in Shasta Lake. Yreka coach Pam Borg said Krier ran one of her strongest races of the season and ran with determination from the start as she lead the majority of the way, “She wanted the win”: Borg said. Lewis had not lost to Krier all season and had won all three league meets this season, all but one very comfortably. But between a better effort by Krier combined with a nagging shoulder injury and Lewis was left to chase Krier across the 2.8-mile course, finishing in 16 minutes, 31 seconds — five seconds behind Krier, but still her best effort on the home town course. “As a rule I don’t like to be behind someone, but that’s the way it was today,” Lewis said. “The last couple of races I haven’t had the competition and I had beaten them (Krier, Ward) before this season. I haven’t had competition from the other (league) schools(other than Yreka) so I took it easy and would save my legs for invites a couple of days later.” Top ranked Yreka captured the girls NAL title for the fourth straight year with 20 points as Mallory Ward (16:35), Lena Fogle (16:56) and Lacey Jackson (17:07) finished third through fifth, respectively with Arianna Brooks eigth to complete the Miner's scoring. It has been a special year for the varsity girls, who have won nine meets, including the NAL Championships. “They have really bonded this year,” Borg said about the varsity girls squad. “One of their goals coming into the season was to win the NAL.” West Valley was a distant second with 62 points with Corning third (72) and CV taking fourth (80). Anderson had an incomplete team. Jasmyne Aragon was the top runner for the Eagles, finishing seventh in 17:42. Teammates Bailey Jones (18:02) and Toni Kostelec (18:12) was ninth and 10th, respectively, to earn all-league honors. Lassen’s Amirisa Miranda was sixth to earn all-league. Anderson’s top runner was Natalie Garcia-Gomez in 16th (20:16). West Valley won the boys NAL championship for the first time since 2006, snapping Yreka’s streak of league titles at five in a row. Donald Leedy led the way for the Eagles, who had the top three finishers for the third time in four league meets this fall. “A lot of it is us pushing each other,” Leedy said. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, some are good on hills, some on flats. We encourage each other if someone starts falling behind (and) if someone gets tired we switch leads a little bit to use as a wind block if we have to.” West Valley’s Chris Meeder was second in 14:01 and Zach Baldwin was third in 14:05. Both took a wrong turn on the course and had to make up ground. Meeder’s mistake likely cost him a chance at the win as he dropped from first to sixth before working his way back to finish second behind Leedy. “The course changed a little bit and it caught a couple of our guys by surprise,” said Leedy, who won three of four NAL meets this season. The mistake certainly didn't cost them a chance at the league title, which they won with a scant 19 points. A young Yreka squad, with only one senior in the scoring five, was second in the team standings with 48 points, followed by Corning (61) and CV (111). The Miners were led by sophomore Isaac Fernandez in fourth (14:10) and senior Nico Lupacchino in 10th (14:58), both earning all-NAL honors. The rest of the all-league honors went to Lassen’s Jared Lile in fifth (14:11), West Valley’s Gabe Cheek sixth (14:21), Corning’s Eduardo Blancas seventh (14:27) and Austin Mishoe in eighth (14:31), and West Valley’s Eric Morefield was ninth (14:48). All teams are back in action at the Northern Section championships Thursday with the top two in the division heading to the state championships the following week. Thursday’s win over Yreka makes West Valley the favorite to win its first division title since 2007. The overall section title will be contested West Valley and two EAL powerhouse squads from Shasta and Chico. The Eagles feel confidant that they can top schools with the section race on their home course. “We know our course, where we can get them and when to pull back a little bit,” Leedy said. Editing provided by Tom Cushman