Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff Simi Valley's Liberty Miller, center, leads the pack on her way to the Marmonte League championship.

With tradition placed squarely on their shoulders, Alex Routh and Liberty Miller did not disappoint at the Marmonte League Cross Country Championships on Thursday afternoon.

Routh won the boys' race in 15 minutes, 33.26 seconds while pacing Royal High to its eighth consecutive league title, and Miller's winning time of 17:56.54 marked the fourth consecutive individual triumph for a Simi Valley High athlete in the girls' race at Agoura High.

Both runners said tradition turned into inspiration.

"As an underclassman, I've watched my teammates win this race in the last few years," said Routh. "As a senior, I definitely wanted to do my best.

"I didn't feel like letting down this team or any of my old teammates."

As has been Royal's hallmark since winning every league championship since 2000, balance sparked the Highlanders. Teammates Travis Edward was third (15:47.49), Otto Cipolla was fifth (16:01.65) and Sean Upson was eighth (16:09.15).

Miller was a freshman a year ago when she watched Pioneer teammate Anna Sperry win her third consecutive girls' individual league championship in a meet record time of 17:23.

Miller, fourth in the league meet last year, became Sperry's successor by going virtually wire-to-wire and holding off a determined challenge from Agoura's Erin Baird. The Chargers senior finished second in 18:00.91.

"I wanted to keep the streak alive for our team and for Anna," said Miller, who won last week's Ventura County Championships and finished undefeated in the Marmonte League. "I kind of felt a lot of pressure today to get that done. I do feel good, to win, even though I was hoping for a better time. But I'm definitely happy."

Only a sophomore, Miller may now start her own league streak. She was also pleased to help Simi Valley finish third in the team competition and secure a berth in the CIF-SS playoffs.

The Royal girls had Katelyn O'Connell take sixth (19:08.12), Paige Newman finish eighth (19:15.13) and Nicole McCormick grab ninth (19:16.04) to lead the Highlanders to their second successive team championship.

"We missed some time last week due to the wildfires, and chose not to run at the county championships to get ready for this meet and for CIF-SS," said Royal coach Jay Sramek. "We didn't have anybody in the top five, but its a credit to our balance and the work ethic of our runners that we win the league championship."

Behind Royal, Agoura, Simi Valley and Newbury Park earn spots in the CIF-SS team competition.

Rounding out the top five individuals were Newbury Park's Jenny Mallen (third in 18:20.65), Westlake's Victoria Smith (fourth in 18:50.77) and Thousand Oaks' Kaitlyn Sullivan (fifth in 19:06.05). Smith and Sullivan advance into CIF-SS competition as individuals.

In the boys' race, Royal finished with 30 points. Also heading to postseason are second-place Thousand Oaks (63), third-place Westlake (89) and fourth-place Simi Valley (108).

The top six individuals were Routh, Thousand Oaks' Sean Gildea (15:47.45), Edwards, Calabasas' Clayton Graham (15:53.36), Cipolla and Simi Valley's Steven Semler (16:03.78).

Graham earns a spot in postseason as an indivdual.