La Canada Encourages Its Sibling Rivalries

All in the Family.

Family Affair.

Family Tradition.

Any one of those titles of former television sitcoms or popular songs could pertain to the La Canada High cross-country program this season.

The Spartans have two sets of brothers and sisters, two brothers and two sisters, all running on the varsity.

Senior Brian and sophomore Becky Zentmyer, and senior Amy and sophomore Chris Foss comprise La Canada’s brother and sister combinations.

Junior John and freshman Ryan Facer are the brother duo, with senior Kim and freshman Carina Garnic making up the sister act.

Taking the family connection a little farther, junior Christina Ellis is the sister of Sarah Ellis, who won the 1996 state Division IV title as a La Canada senior.

“I think it helps to have [brothers and sisters] on the team,” co-Coach Dennis McNulty of La Canada said. “Because the younger ones know what’s expected of them and the parents know what’s expected of the younger ones. There are no surprises.”

It also helps when there are distance-running standouts among the siblings.

Kim Garnic, for instance, is defending Southern Section Division III champion and placed eighth in the state championships to help the Spartans to the team title.

Amy Foss was La Canada’s No. 4 runner in the state championships, followed by Becky Zentmyer.

“We’re lucky,” McNulty said. “We’ve got a lot of good kids in this program.”

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It’s ironic that La Canada has such a good girls’ program, because neither McNulty nor co-Coach Tony Haynes was terribly excited about coaching girls.

McNulty said he and Haynes interviewed for the boys’ coaching position in 1995, but school administrators had difficulty choosing between the two.

Upon hearing this, McNulty suggested he and Haynes meet to see if they could work together.

That meeting resulted in co-coaches who have guided La Canada to a runner-up finish in the 1996 state Division IV championships, the Division III title last year and a No. 16 ranking in Harrier magazine’s national poll this year.

“We laugh about it now because neither one of us wanted to coach the girls,” McNulty said. “And look at all the success we’ve had with them.”

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Thousand Oaks was noticeably absent from the boys’ and girls’ sweepstakes races of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational on Saturday.

The Lancer girls were ranked third in the state Division I poll at the time and the boys were ranked ninth, but they skipped the meet’s premier races because first-year Coach Robert Radnoti didn’t know they had been entered until Friday afternoon.

“I kept checking [the Mt. SAC] website and we weren’t in [the team sweepstakes] races,” Radnoti said. “So I just figured we’d run later in the day. By the time I found out we were in the team sweeps, I thought it was too late to change our plans.”

The Top 10

Rankings of cross-country teams from the region

BOYS

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 Saugus (Foothill) 2 3 Nordhoff (Frontier) 3 8 Canyon (Foothill) 4 2 Notre Dame (Mission) 5 5 Ventura (Channel) 6 6 Buena (Channel) 7 7 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 8 4 Camarillo (Pacific View) 9 10 Agoura (Marmonte) 10 NR Hart (Foothill)

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GIRLS

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RK LW School (League) 1 1 La Canada (Rio Hondo) 2 2 Thousand Oaks (Marmonte) 3 4 Canyon (Foothill) 4 3 Simi Valley (Marmonte) 5 8 Nordhoff (Frontier) 6 10 Royal (Marmonte) 7 5 Birmingham (West Valley) 8 6 Louisville (Mission) 9 9 Newbury Park (Marmonte) 10 NR Crescenta Valley (Pacific)

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