They've been running together for nearly half their childhood.

Thursday afternoon at Camino Real Park, Ventura's Michael Barnes and Buena's Isidore Herrera chased down history together at the Channel League Cross Country Championships.

Jockeying for position and sharing the lead throughout much of the flat, fast course's three miles, both seniors threatened the 15-minute mark.

Barnes came from behind to nip Herrera at the finish by three seconds to win the race in 14:57.

"I threw in a surge and barely passed him," said Barnes. "It was really nice to have Isidor to work with throughout the whole course."

The mark tied the course and meet record set by Ventura's Josh Spiker in 1998.

"I was aiming for sub-15 (minutes)," said Barnes. "It's pretty indescribable. It's one of my dream goals to come close to one of his records."

Ventura, which opened up the season ranked No. 1 in the state after finishing second Division II last year, won the boys' meet with 34 points.

Five Cougars finished in the top 11 places — Barnes, Daniel Simmons (third, 15:12), Mike Ramos (ninth, 15:32), Jon Hooke (10th, 15:34) — as Ventura finished in 76:69, bettering its school record on the course by 0.79 seconds.

"The goal for this race was to walk off the course happy," said Ventura coach Tyree Cruz.

Buena, running without two of its top four runners, Chris Frias and Morgan Ryan, edged San Marcos for second. Both teams had 60 points, but Buena's Charlie Naurath (22nd, 16:41) provided the tiebreaking sixth time.

The Ventura girls placed seven runners in the top 12 as it breezed by second-place San Marcos, 35-62. Buena, led by runner-up Stacy Flores (17:51), finished third with 72 points.

Krista Drechsler of Santa Barbara won the girl's race in 17:17.

Six Ventura girls finished in less than 19 minutes, including Olivia Guadiana, who finished fourth in 18:03. Nine Cougars bettered the 19-minute mark.

"Which is just amazing," said Ventura coach Schatzi Sovich. "All that hard work is paying off and it just brings tears to my eyes."

The flat course and cool conditions set up Barnes' and Herrera's performances.

"And they just mowed the grass," said Cruz. "It's just a great day to run, perfect conditions."

Barnes started fast by chasing the rabbit, Buena's Aaryn Dominguez, for the first mile. He traded the lead with Herrera for much of the second mile.

"That helped keep the pace up," said Barnes.

Herrera took the lead in the final loop before Barnes edged it at the tape.

"He wanted to win today," said Cruz.