HAYWARD — The color purple was mighty hard for Monte Vista High senior Mike Roderick to miss Saturday morning during the North Coast Section Cross Country Championships Division I boys race at Hayward High.

Since College Park's male runners dyed their hair bright purple, and the Falcons sophomore Jeff Bickert shadowed Roderick for much of the 3.0 mile race, the smooth Mustang only needed to glance over his shoulder to behold a nagging purple presence.

But Roderick, the master tactician, was too red hot in the end. The confident East Bay Athletic League champ pulled away on the hill over the final half-mile and won impressively in a time of 15 minutes, 19 seconds, beating Bickert by eight seconds and third-place finisher Alex Summers, a Granada junior, by 22 seconds.

College Park backed up its brash color scheme with the Division I boys team title with 58 points, upsetting the purple-and-gold clad Dons of Amador Valley (62 points).

Overall, it was a banner day for valley competitors in the state-meet qualifier. California junior Colleen Lillig gradually pulled away from College Park junior Alycia Cridebring to repeat as Division I girls champion in a time of 17:38. Granada senior Hayley Swanson, Foothill sophomore Jennifer Goldstein and Monte Vista freshman Kyla Aiuto, who finished fourth, fifth and ninth, also earned individual spots in Saturday's California Interscholastic Federation state meet in Fresno.

The top five individuals not on the state-qualifying teams in each of five boys and girls divisions (based on school size) at NCS earned coveted state berths.

In Division V girls, Valley Christian's Celeste Northcott placed seventh in a time of 19:51 to nab the third available individual state spot.

Lillig finished 70th at the state meet last year, but expects this year to be different at Woodward Park.

"Yeah, I'm really excited for the state meet," she said. "Currently I'm ranked fifth (in the state), so hopefully I can live up to the ranking ... Rankings don't mean everything. It's all about that day, that race, and how people are feeling."

De La Salle cruised to the boys team title in Division II, and Livermore's girls won another joust with Carondelet to take the Division II girls team title. Livermore senior Diana George, a three-time EBAL meet champion who finished second this year to Lillig, led the Cowboys with a third-place finish in a time of 17:43, equalling her 2007 NCS placing. George said she tired on the final half-mile after going out hard, which was enough to allow Carondelet's Heather Cerney to pass and take second.

George's face lit up when was asked about her teammates' influence on her.

"Oh man, it's amazing this year," George said. "Our two other seniors (Abigail Gregg, Robin Roque), they dropped minutes on last year's time. It's just amazing to see them drop so much time in a year, especially when they're already running well. They went from high (19 minutes) last year to low 18s this year."

George was also thrilled that Cowboys senior Tova Christensen was able to return to the varsity after suffering a stress fracture. Livermore freshmen Natalie Dimits and Kiely Zeitler were 10th and 18th, respectively.

Monte Vista, Granada, California, and San Ramon Valley's girls teams finished third through sixth in Division I girls, missing out on state team berths.

EBAL boys team champion Amador Valley was disappointed for the second straight year not to win the NCS crown, but at least the Dons are still headed to state. Senior Garrett Ward finished sixth to pace Amador. In addition to Summers, Granada senior Drew Callen (fifth) and Monte Vista sophomore Joshua Smiley (seventh) earned state spots as individuals.

Roderick, whose dad, Steve, celebrated his 50th birthday Saturday, laughed when asked if he'd have nightmares about the color purple.

"Man, Amador's purple, and they're the team we're gunning for, and College Park's purple, so as long as I can stay in front of them I don't think I'll have nightmares," he said.

Roderick, who dominated the EBAL this season, said he relied on his mental toughness in the mano-a-mano battle with Bickert, seemingly his athletic equal. He'd prepared for NCS by running hills and wanted to surge at various points on the course.

Contact Matt Schwab at mschwab@bayareanewsgroup.com.