It may be slight, but Traycie Kephart admits there's a chance.

The Glendale College women's cross-country team has dominated the Western State Conference for the past six years, winning three state championships in that span.

But, behind sophomore Megan McNalley and freshman Karla Vernola, the Moorpark College coach is hoping the Raiders can take a step towards dethroning the dynasty at today's WSC Preview meet at Kenneth Hahn Park in Los Angeles

"It's a pretty small chance," Kephart said. "If you look at the numbers. Everyone would have to run with 'A' game.

"But it's possible if everyone reaches their potential, but it's going to be a big team effort.
That's our goal here to eventually beat them."

Glendale edged Moorpark in the SoCal preview meet Sept. 15 in Costa Mesa and are currently ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in Southern California.

Health will be a big factor for the Raiders when the WSC Championships arrive Oct. 23 in Santa Barbara. Sophomore Rachel Naumann will rest an injury today.

Ventura, powered by sophomore Danika Galvan and freshman Sabrina Sewell, hopes to compete with Santa Barbara City for third.

"Moorpark and Glendale are going to battle," Ventura coach Tony Veney said. "Santa Barbara is really tough. They beat us by a little bit last week, so that's going to be the deal for us."

Oxnard qualified for SoCals last season as an at-large selection.

"This year, I believe our women are going to earn their way there," Oxnard coach Geno Sharp said. "If we can put together a race, collectively, I think we can finish fourth or fifth."

The Condors have added freshman Vannessa Martinez, a Rio Mesa High product, to last year's top runner, sophomore Cristal Gutierrez.

Hahn Park is a fast course that features a 600-meter climb to separate the teams.

"It looks like it will be good weather and it's a challenging course, so it'll be an interesting meet," Sharp said. "It'll be competitive."

The VC softball team isn't just tearing it up on the field. It was one of four local programs to earn state scholar teams last month, when the California Community College Athletic Association announced its 2010-11 academic honors.

The Ventura College women's swimming (3.20 GPA) and softball (3.11 GPA) teams earned the award, which is given to the one program in the state in each sport that best balances athletic and academic success.

"It is indeed special to have Ventura College students excel both in athletic competition and in the classroom," said Ventura College president Robin Calote in a release. "It is to the credit of both (teams) that (they) have been so successful at emphasizing the importance of academic performance as well as team success."

Moorpark College was honored in both men's track (3.01 GPA) and women's track (3.17 GPA).

"That's awesome," said Moorpark track coach Traycie Kephart. "That's what they're here for."

The awards were fitting, considering the Moorpark track teams had nine members on last year's Academic All-State team, including Garrett Demerjian (decathlon), Nami Paghavi (sprints), Johan Karlsson,Tyler Regan (throws), Andrew Scott (throws) from the men and Jennifer Konish (throws), Nicole Rietveld (distance), Bailey Schentrup (sprints, jumps), Jessica Serrano (distance) from the women.

Rietveld and Schentrup are members of this year's team.

The Moorpark College women's cross country team finished sixth in Southern California Nov. 4 and are hoping to finish at least that high Saturday at the California Community College championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

"You never know," said coach Traycie Kephart.

Last year, the Raiders, spurred on by freshman Andrea Barrera, saved their best performance for last and finished a surprising sixth. Barrera, now the Raiders' top runner, is aiming for a Top 15 finish,

"We're hoping to continue that this year," said Kephart. "They've been running really well at practice, which is really nice... We'll see. It's fun to see how we can continue to improve."

Returning four scorers from the team that finished sixth in the state a year ago, the Moorpark College women's cross country team may have had designs on breaking up Glendale College's six-year Western State Conference run and competing for the state title.

"I like (competing with Glendale) because it always gives us that goal, that team up there to chase," said coach Traycie Kephart. "I know that year that we do beat them our team is going to be a top contender for state."

But, despite losing sophomore Nicole Rietveld for the season to a leg injury, the Raiders enter championship season strong.

"The potential was there with (Rietveld) in top condition, but our team is still pretty strong," said Kephart. "It's a good team and it's still going to be good next year, too."

Moorpark prepared for Tuesday's Western State Conference championships in San Luis Obispo over the weekend by finished fourth in the Mount San Antonio Invitational, trailing only Glendale, Mount SAC and Pima (Az.).

Moorpark has been led by sophomore Andrea Barrera, a Fillmore High product who finished 11th in the state a year ago.

"She's a smart athlete," said Kephart. "She takes really good care of herself and she gets better as the season goes on."

A pair of freshman, Simi Valley High product Megan McNally and Newbury Park High product Clarissa Wentworth, have shown the potential to run alongside Barrera.

"Megan is a bulldog, she gets out there and she fights," said Kephart, who remembered McNally racing out ahead on the Santa Barbara sand at the WSC Preview meet. "She went out there aggressively. That's her mentality."

Freshman Emily Kelly has surprisingly given a veteran Moorpark team three freshmen among its Top 4.

"It's what you hope for," said Kephart. "You always want to bring in some freshman up there with your top returners. That keeps your program strong each year."

Sophomores Alexis Pichardo (Moorpark) and Ashley Hamilton (Simi Valley) round out a balanced and deep team, which expects to compete with host Cuesta for second place in the conference finals Tuesday.

Individual champion Charlie Petrie of the Moorpark College men's cross-country team was named WSC men's Runner of the Year. The Oak Christian School product won the WSC individual championship.

Moorpark College coach Traycie Kephart was named WSC Coach of the Year after guiding the Raiders to a second-place finish in the WSC Championships.

The All-Western State Conference men's cross country first team included Petrie and Justin Booth-Ortega and Cody Kempema of Ventura.

The second team included Isaac Gomez of Moorpark and Ed Ramos and Esequiel Martinez of Ventura.

The All-Western State Conference women's cross country first team included Moorpark's Nicole Rietveld, Oxnard's Zulie Jimenez and Ventura's Carissa Arce.

The second team included Andrea Barrera, Alexis Pichardo, Ashley Hamilton and Torrie Marschik of Moorpark and Jessica Serrano of Oxnard.

Click the jump for the full team.

Five is the magic number for the Moorpark College cross-country teams Saturday, when, on top of Charlie Petrie's Top 5 individual aspirations, the five runners who have carried the Moorpark women's team will also be working towards a Top 5 finish.

"We've been blessed this season," said coach Traycie Kephart. "We've had five women pretty much this whole season. The fact that they've been able to stay so healthy and keep improving has amazed me."

The Raiders finished fifth at SoCals behind a 12th-place finish (19:40) by freshman Nicole Rietvelt, followed by Andrea Barrera (34th, 20:23), Alexis Pichardo (45th, 20:39), Ashley Hamiltion (53rd, 20:55) and Torrie Marschik (66th, 21:05).