WALNUT -- With the wind whipping through the course and the temperature dropping Saturday afternoon at Mount San Antonio College, the conditions adversely affected some of the area's most talented runners and cross country teams at the Southern Section prelims.

As for Quartz Hill junior Bradley Wiggs, he felt right at home.

On a day when 17 local girls' teams and 12 area boys' teams moved on to next Saturday's final, Wiggs was one of eight local individuals to advance and the only athlete representing the Golden League.

Wiggs battled the elements to cover the 2.94-mile course in 15 minutes, 32 seconds, finishing sixth to secure the final individual berth in his Div. I race to qualify for the championship heat, also at Mount SAC.

"The A.V. prepares us well. Other runners might have been scared of the weather, but I was like, `Bring it on.' It felt like home out there," Wiggs said. "I knew where I was the whole race. I guess I planned it out perfectly (being sixth). The whole way it was scary, but I guess I was teetering on the right side."

Although Quartz Hill didn't advance in its heat, Gabe Collison's fourth-place effort (15:24) helped Crescenta Valley finish third with 78 points and Simi Valley took fourth to grab the final berth with 106 points. For added measure, Quartz Hill's eighth-place finish (220) was just ahead of league rival Knight (232), atoning for a 29-46 loss Oct. 31 at the Golden final.

"This means the world

to me. I never thought I'd be here in this situation, so this is awesome," Wiggs said. "I wish my team qualified, but this was a great experience and I'll try to come out and run a PR (at finals)."

Camarillo's Joel Gonzalez (15:17) and Jonathan Byrne (15:39) both qualified individually in Div. II. Buckley's Nicholas Martin (16:23) advanced in Div. V.

It was bittersweet for Byrne, as teammate Frederick Pond was credited with the same time of 15:39, but finished seventh.

Since Newbury Park placed fifth in its Div. II race and didn't secure a team berth in the finals, individuals on non-qualifying teams must place in the top six in order to advance.

Sierra Canyon's Raina Sprock (19:56) also secured the last individual qualifying berth in her Div. V race by finishing 12th. Since there are only two heats in Div. V, athletes on non-qualifying teams must place in the top 12 in their prelim race to advance.

Valencia's Olivia Pear (18:18) moved on in Div. I, Westlake's Jenny Giguere (18:09) advanced in Div. II and Malibu's Caroline Pietrzyk (18:37) in Div. IV.

Simi Valley demonstrated it was ready for a showdown with Great Oak in the Div. I girls' final, sweeping the top five spots in its race for a 15-point effort, led by Sarah Baxter's 16:41.

Olivia Rosellini (18:14), Charlotte Utash (18:19), Samantha Tetef (18:21) and Desirae Jones (18:22) rounded out the top five for the Pioneers, with Sarah Riggs (18:34) finishing ninth.

Great Oak won its heat with 37 points, placing all five scorers in the top 11, but had three runners post faster times and a fourth equal to Rosellini.

Crescenta Valley also qualified in Div. I, finishing third in its heat with 108 points.

Despite resting two runners, Saugus produced a 29-55 victory over Golden Valley in its Div. II heat, with Thousand Oaks advancing in fourth (133).

Golden Valley freshman Bianca Tinoco won in 17:48, with Saugus' Samantha Ortega (17:50), Golden Valley's Chelsey Totten (18:09), Saugus' Abigail Frankian (18:22) and Saugus' Heidi Hoslet (18:32) rounding out the top five.

Moorpark, led by heat winner Monika Gyalay (17:51), took fourth in its Div. II race with 107 points and Canyon was fourth in its heat with 91 points.

La Ca ada and Oak Park advanced in Div. III, placing third in their respective heats with 106 and 136 points.

Notre Dame, led by Kazia Mermel in fifth, (18:51), won its Div. IV heat with 80 points, with Paraclete (90) taking third.

La Reina (81) was second in the other Div. IV heat, with Harvard-Westlake (89), Oaks Christian (141) and Flintridge Sacred Heart (172) also qualifying.

Desert Christian was second in its Div. V heat with 78 points and Flintridge Prep took third in its race, also with 78 points.

Saugus' A.J. Yarnall (15:18) and Rodrigo Ornelas (15:25) finished third and fifth in their Div. II heat, with Hart's Josh Sherfey (15:20) in between, as the Centurions won with 64 points and Hart (115) took third.

Mikey Giguere's second-place finish (15:12) helped Westlake win its Div. II heat with 51 points, with Golden Valley - led by Nolan Del Valle in fifth (15:16) - taking fourth in its race with 105 points.

Sahm Bazargan and Patrick Thedinga both clocked 15:25 to take fourth and fifth for Oak Park, which placed third in its Div. III heat with 108 points.

Crespi's Joe Joe Cortez-Adams won his Div. IV heat in 15:42, helping the Celts (108) place fourth, with Oaks Christian (204) in eighth. Harvard-Westlake (135) was fourth in its heat.

Flintridge Prep took second in its Div. V race with 40 points and Desert Christian was runner-up in its heat with 62 points.