After years of third-place Pacific View League finishes, the Hueneme High girls' cross country program was paid its highest compliment Thursday.

For three weeks, Camarillo's primary focus was having the right preparation and game plan to catch Hueneme at the Pacific View League championship.

Placing all seven of its runners in the top 20, Camarillo edged Hueneme, 41-50, in the third and final league meet at College Park as the two teams finished as co-champions. Oxnard placed third to qualify for next week's CIF-Southern Section Prelims.

Camarillo won the boys' team championship with 37 points. Rio Mesa broke a tie with Pacifica for second place by one point, 60-61.

Hueneme's Jose Alcantar and Camarillo's Cassie Brooker were the individual boys' and girls' champions, respectively.

For the Hueneme girls' program, the title was a first.

"We knew how good they were," said Camarillo coach Mary Perez. "We had to go after their No. 2 and No. 3 runners and have all seven finish ahead of their No. 5 runner."

The game plan went true to form.

Brooker outkicked Hueneme's Liz Robles in the final mile, winning with a time of 18 minutes, 5 seconds. Robles was second in 18:17. Zuly Jimenez of Channel Islands placed third in 18:34.

"I really wanted it that last 400 to 800 yards," said Brooker. "I was tired. She was tired. I figured that if I made a move, it would be harder for her to come back."

Megan Mukai (19:21) and Keely Dorthalina (19:23) were sixth and seventh for Camarillo. The Scorpions had a 13-second time gap between their No. 2 and No. 6 runners.

All five of Hueneme's scorers placed in the top 20.

"We're very happy to be co-champion," said Hueneme coach John Grenfell. "It is a great group of girls. They all ran close to their best times, but not quite enough."

Camarillo used tight pack running to capture the boys' team title.

Behind remarkable freshman Heyden Wooff, who finished runner-up with a time of 15:38, Camarillo's next four runners finished only two seconds apart.

"They ran faster that I thought they would," said Camarillo coach Mike Smith. "I thought that we might be a little tired after running the last two weeks. But they were very sharp.

"Heyden is one of the best freshmen I've ever seen. I've been around 26 years and I've rarely seen a freshman who can run like him."

For Rio Mesa, the 17th-place finish by Nicholas Salire in 16:38 proved to be the difference for a second-place team finish.

After missing nearly two weeks of training because of a viral infection, Alcantar won the individual title in 15:06, bettering his personal best on the course by 12 seconds.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Alcantar, who was 24th at the Ventura County Championships last week.

"I had bad fever and pain on my sides," said Alcantar. "I have been psychologically battling with myself. I wanted to PR and I did.

"I was back today."