This year, the Saugus girls are much more.

Next weekend, they could very well be CIF champions.

A total of 10 Centurion girls in seven different events advanced to the finals at Saturday's CIF-Southern Section Division II prelims at Moorpark High School, while several Canyon athletes also advanced and the West Ranch girls distance runners were impressive.

The top nine marks qualify for the CIF finals in the field events, while on the track, the heat winners automatically qualify for the finals, along with the next best times until nine total finalists are accumulated.

Last spring, the Saugus girls leaned heavily on their distance team and finished second in the CIF-SS Div. II track and field championships. Thanks to marked improvements in several events, the Centurions are now among the favorites to capture the team title next weekend at Cerritos College.

But Saugus isn't getting ahead of itself.

"We just have to focus on the individual events," said Saugus head coach Christian Standley. "In the end they'll count it up. If we get it, we get it. If we don't, we'll know how it feels because of last year."

While Saugus' distance runners are still formidable, the sprinters had the most success on Saturday.

Amber Wright qualified in four different events, while Jenna Vincej qualified in three. Wright won her heat in the 200-meter dash in 24.97 seconds and finished fourth overall, while she also won her heat in the 400 at 57.19 and finished second.

Vincej won her heat in the 400 with the top overall time of 56.22, and both girls were members of the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams that advanced.

The Centurions' 4x100 team included Wright, Vincej, Sarah Huitink and Jamie Molacek and finished seventh with a time of 48.80. The 4x400 team consisting of Wright, Vincej, Alex Hampton and Nicole Penick won its heat with the second-overall time of 3:57.01.

Penick also qualified in the 400 with an eighth-place time of 58.34 seconds. Saugus' Alex Ecsedy qualified for the finals in the discus with an eighth-place throw of 119 feet, 5 inches.

In the distance races, Stephanie Bulder and Amber Murakami each qualified for the 1,600 finals after Bulder ran a fifth-place overall time of 5:02.52 and Murakami was sixth at 5:04.96.

Bulder also qualified for the 3,200 finals after posting a fifth-place time of 10:56.67, and teammate Karis Frankian was eighth at 11:03.32.

West Ranch, meanwhile, had plenty of success of its own in the distance races. Jennifer Owen qualified for the 1,600 finals after winning her heat in 5:02.63, and she also led the way as the Wildcats dominated the 800.

Owen qualified for the 800 finals after winning her heat and posting the second-best time of 2:13.30, while Ashley Welker won her heat in 2:14.27. Kylie Long finished eighth overall with a time of 2:17.02.

West Ranch's 4x400 relay team advanced with a third-place time of 3:58.36. The team consisted of Long, Owen, Welker and Lacey Surak.

Also for West Ranch, Breeann Braucher qualified for the shot put finals with a throw of 39-1 1/2.

For Canyon, Michel Noris finished fifth in the 1,600 at 4:21.88 to qualify for the finals, while Chris Low was eighth at 4:23.60.

"It was a tough race," Low said. "There was lots of pushing and shoving. I just tried to stay with the leaders."

Canyon's Kevin Enge advanced to the high jump finals after clearing 6-2, while the 4x100 relay team of Shane Habberstad, Cody Moore, Kenny Stone and Darius Rudolph qualified for the finals after finishing ninth in 42.62 seconds.

Taylor Thomas had an impressive day for the Cowboys, qualifying in both hurdles races. She was seventh in the 100 hurdles at 14.83 and ninth in the 300 hurdles at 45.27.

Teammate Tiffini Stone qualified for the long jump finals after leaping 17-6 1/4 to finish second overall.

The Foothill League also had several alternates that finished either 10th or 11th in their event and could take the place of a qualifier should they drop out.

Hampton is the first alternate in the girls 800 after a 10th-place time of 2:17.24, while Murakami is the first alternate in the 3,200 after running the race in 11:09.20. Ecsedy is the first alternate in the girls shot put after a toss of 37-5.

For Canyon, Kenny Stone is the second alternate in the boys 200 at 22.22 seconds, while Stevie Kennedy-Gold finished 10th overall in the pole vault at 10-3 and is the first alternate.

West Ranch's Kayley Braucher is the first alternate in the discus after a throw of 112-10, while Isabelle Howell is the second alternate in girls triple jump at 35-3 1/4.

Local runners are the first and second alternates in the boys 3,200 after Saugus' Robert Pion finished in 9:34.41 and Hart's Sam Peckham ran the race in 9:35.04, which was a one-second personal best.

"I feel lucky to be able to run with these guys," Peckham said. "These are the best the nation has to offer and I'm running against them."