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:

The Rematch: UCLA vs. Stanford

Can the UCLA football team beat Stanford? If Saturday’s outcome is any indication, the Bruins have a lot of work to do if they want to upset the Cardinal on Friday night in the Pac-12 championship game.

UCLA and Stanford will meet for the second time in six days. The venue will be different, in Palo Alto instead of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but the outcome will be the same if the Bruins can’t make some key adjustments.

Stanford rolled UCLA, 35-17. By the second quarter, the rout was on. Stanford was up 21-10 at halftime and scored two more touchdowns in 13 seconds in the third quarter to pull away.

The Stanford defense scored. The Stanford running attack gave the Bruins fits. UCLA had one scoring drive that actually netted -8 yards, a 48-yard field goal in the second quarter.

UCLA coach Jim Mora was asked after the game what his team needs to do to beat Stanford.

“Once I look at the film, I can better answer that question for you,” Mora said. “There is a lot to learn. I’m not going to get into too many specifics. But I don’t want to give away what we need to do in order to improve.”