Runners rise to the top of Santa Clarita sports in 2012

Runners took center stage in the Santa Clarita sports world in 2012. From the Summer Olympics in London to Central Park in Saugus, cross country and track runners were celebrated. Allyson Felix won three gold medals in London. The Saugus girls cross country team won their seventh CIF state championship in a row. Chris Low from College of the Canyons won a state title in track. John Gilbertson from The Master’s College won a national championship in cross country.

But cross country and track and field were not the only sports that athletes from the Santa Clarita Valley excelled. A receiver from Canyon High broke two state football records. A golfer from Valencia High qualified for her third US Women’s Open. The fire captain at Station 76 in Valencia won an IHRA drag racing event.

Here is a look at the top sports stories of the year:

1. Santa Clarita’s Allyson Felix won three gold medals at the Sumner Olympics in London. She won gold in the 200 and was on the gold-medal winning 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams. The 4x100 team broke the world record in London winning the race in 40.82 seconds.

Felix won silver medals in the Olympics in the 200 in 2008 in Beijing and 2004 in Athens. Finally winning gold in the 200 was a milestone achievement.

“It is unbelievable,” Felix said shortly after winning her third gold medal in the 4x400 relay. “I think about how I ended in Beijing and kind of feeling discouraged there and now four years later to have all of this happen and to really accomplish every goal that I set out, is just such a blessing. London is very special to me.”

The United States track and field team won nine gold medals in the Summer Olympics in London. Felix won a third of them.

2. The Saugus girls cross country team won its seventh straight CIF State championship at Woodward Park in Fresno in November.

Sophomore Samantha Ortega emerged as the leader of the Saugus girls team. She was the runner-up in the Division II state race completing the course in 17 minutes, 33 seconds.

Five of the Saugus girls finished in the top 50 in the Division II state race. Heidi Hoslet was 21^st in 18 minutes, 32 seconds. Abigail Frankian was 23^rd, Katie Huntington was 35^th and Olivia Altieri was 49^th.

The Saugus girls scored 97 points in the state meet and won by 11 points over La Costa Canyon.

The Centurions earned a spot in the Nike Cross National meet in Portland, Ore., for the seventh year in a row after winning the CIF State title.

3. Canyon receiver Drew Wolitarsky broke two state football records. He caught nine passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the first round of the Southern Section Northern Division playoffs against San Luis Obispo to break the state record for career catches. Wolitarsky caught 277 passes in his career at Canyon to break the old mark of 271 set by Steve Smith from Taft High in Woodland Hills. Smith is a receiver with the St. Louis Rams in the NFL.

Wolitarsky broke Smith’s state record for receiving yards with a nine-catch, 149-yard performance against Golden Valley in October. After the game, he had 4,585 career receiving yards, breaking Smith’s record of 4,486 yards. Wolitarsky finished with 5,148 receiving yards in his high school career.

4. Valencia High senior Alison Lee made the cut at the US Women’s Open at the Blackwolf Run golf course in Kohler, Wis., and finished in a tie for 60^th place. She was one of three amateurs to make the cut. Lee was making her third appearance in the US Women’s Open golf tournament.

Later in the summer, Lee won the PING Invitational golf tournament at the Karsten Creek course in Stillwater, Okla. It was her second American Junior Golf Association championship of the year.

She has won six AJGA titles in her career. In her three appearances in the US Women’s Open, Lee has made the cut twice. In her first appearance, before her freshman year in high school, she finished in 26^th place.

5. Canyon High graduate Chuck Osborne, who played football in the NFL and in college at the University of Arizona, died at his home in La Jolla in October. He was 38.

Osborne was a seventh-round draft pick by the St. Louis Rams in 1996. He played with the Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots for a total of 37 games in the NFL.

At the University of Arizona, he was an All-Pac 10 selection in his senior season. His best season was in 1994 when he led the Wildcats in sacks with 11.

He was also an all-state selection in his senior season at Canyon High School.

6. College of the Canyons track coach Lashinda Demus won the silver medal in the 400 meter hurdles at the London Summer Games.

7. College of the Canyons runner Chris Low won the California Community College Athletic Association state championship in the 800. He won the race in 1 minute, 49.16 seconds at the state meet at Cerritos College. He was one of six athletes from COC to earn All-America recognition.

8. Hart’s Tim White won two CIF Southern Section track and field championships. He won the high jump and the triple jump in the Division III meet and became the first athlete from Hart to win two CIF Southern Section titles.

9. The Master’s College’s John Gilbertson won the NAIA national championship in cross country in Vancouver, Wash., in November. He won the race in 23 minutes, 56 seconds and earned NAIA All-American honors.

Teammate Anthony Pizzo, a Canyon High graduate, also earned a spot on the All-America team with a 15^th-place finish at the NAIA national championship meet. The Master’s College men’s cross country was ranked No. 8 in the final NAIA national poll.

10. Johnny Ahten, the captain at Fire Station 76 in Valencia, won the IHRA drag racing event in the Pro Fuel Dragster division at the Nitro Jam at Southwestern International Raceway in Arizona in March.

Tim Haddock is the sports director at KHTS AM 1220. He writes for the Santa Clarita Gazette,Ventura County Star, SB Nation and the Team USA website. He can be reached by e-mail at tim@hometownstation.com. Follow him on Twitter @thaddock.