Not listed among the section's upper-tiered Division I programs, three-time defending champion Royal High showed it can't be counted out of the title picture.

Royal posted one of the fastest Division I boys' cross country team times Saturday as the Highlanders placed second in their heat at the CIF-Southern Section Prelims at Mount San Antonio College.

The Marmonte League champion was one of 10 area teams to qualify for the section finals Saturday on the same course. Six Ventura County runners advanced as individuals.

In one of the most stunning upsets of the day, fourth-ranked Ventura did not advance after losing a tiebreaker with Corona.

Competing in the last Division I heat, Ventura had a faster team time and beat Corona's top four runners head to head. Corona gained a 119-119 tie with a faster fifth runner. The tie was broken by comparing the teams' non-scoring sixth runners.

Ventura was ranked as the overall No. 1 team in the state by DyeStatCal.com prior to the season. The 2006 Division II state runner-up, Ventura was switched to Division I in midseason after schools' enrollment figures were released. Only two other Division II teams had faster times than Ventura.

Alex Routh was an individual heat winner for Royal, completing the 2.91-mile course in 15 minutes, 8 seconds. Travis Edwards was eighth in 15:37. Royal was ranked No. 7 in the latest Division I section poll.

Other individual heat winners were Oak Park's James Goldstein, Division III boys, Oaks Christian's Rosanne Fleming and La Reina's Sarah Pearson, Division IV girls.

With only 33 seconds separating its top four runners, Thousand Oaks qualified by placing third in its Division I boys' heat. Sean Gildea was eighth for Thousand Oaks in 15:45.

Westlake qualified fourth in its Division II boys' heat with 118 points. Westlake had a 33-second time gap between its five scorers. Garret Drogosch (16:22) and Marcus Lam (16:25) were 16th and 17th. Simi Valley was fifth in its heat and just missed advancing despite top-20 individual finishes from Steven Semler (16;09) and Bryan Reina (16:30).

Hueneme's Jose Alcantar advanced to the CIF Division II finals as an individual. Alcantar placed third in his heat in 15:28.

Oak Park and Oaks Christian will be sending two teams to the CIF Finals.

The Oak Park boys' team was runner-up to Palos Verdes in their Division III heat. Oak Park had a 36-second time gap between its No. 2 and No. 5 runners. Melissa Skiba, Marissa Diehl and Courtney Lightfoot had top-10 finishes as the Oak Park girls' team cruised to a third-place finish.

Oaks Christian won both of its Division IV heats.

In the Division IV second heat, Oaks Christian edged Nordhoff, 59-61. Charlie Petrie, Ethan Long and Hunter Hays were top-10 finishers for Oaks Christian, while Joseph Finley and Zack Deneen were fourth and 10th, respectively, for Nordhoff.

Four Oaks Christian runners placed in the top 20 as the girls' team won its heat with 55 points.

La Reina won its Division IV girls' heat with 47 points. Tara Blanchard and McKenzie O'Malley were sixth and seventh, respectively.

Pacific View League champion Camarillo was sixth in its Division II heat and did not qualify. Freshman Heyden Wooff was ninth in 16:00.

Thacher was runner-up in its Division V boys' heat. Thomas Waltcher (16:51), Joel Reimer (17:06) and Will Callan (17:07) finished in the top 10 for the Toads.

Royal was the only area Division I girls' team to advance.

Tightly packed by 12 seconds from its No. 1 through No. 5 runners, Royal placed fourth with 113 points. Paige Newman (19:03) placed 21st for Royal.

Ventura and Buena finished out of the money in their Division I heats with fifth- and eighth-place finishes. Oxnard was 13th in its heat.

Running in the same Division II girls' heat, Simi Valley and Newbury Park qualified by placing second and fourth, respectively. Simi Valley's Liberty Miller was the third fastest individual at 17:54, while Jenny Mallen of Newbury Park was sixth in 18:07.

Agoura had four runners in the top 25 on the path to a third-place Division II heat finish. Erin Baird was third in 18:27.

Other area individual qualifiers for the CIF Finals were: Stacey Flores, Buena, Division II girls; Liz Robles, Hueneme, Division II girls; Jenessa Rose, St. Bonaventure, Division IV girls; Roberto Garcia, Santa Clara, Division V boys; and Kristen Findley of Thacher made it to the Division V girls' final by placing third in 19:32.