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• DNA frees Lodi man from prison

• County man turns passion for insects into a career

• Local residents pour money into political campaigns

• Lodi's lawsuit against Lehman Brothers to go forward

• Tokay students practice perfect pitch at 'Safari Chevrolet'

• Regional Roundup

• If past proves true, Eastside ballots could reflect council winners

• Firm's parking proposal has county supervisors concerned

February 8th, 2010

• Public Meetings

• Locals pick best, most memorable Super Bowl commercials

• Regional Roundup

February 6th, 2010

• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch

• Meet Larry, Curly and Moe

• Baboon business

• Regional Roundup

• Several Lodi venues let you watch the Super Bowl in style

• Lodi Library celebrates 100 years of serving the community

• Culinary craft

February 5th, 2010

• Kids, teachers help Haiti by collecting pennies for Learning Link

• Lodi, Galt students reach out to help Haiti earthquake survivors

• Tasered suspect claims he is Yosemite Sam

• Hours of sweat and work go into putting on crab feeds

• Things looking up for state's real estate

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Stray bullet strikes Lodi home; police suspect gang activity may be factor

February 4th, 2010

• Managers at Geweke Toyota answer questions about recall

• Lodi City Council votes to replace play structure at Century Park

• Lodi extends ban on pot shops for another year

• Mokelumne River triathlon set for June

• Family, friends to run half-marathon in memory of Galt family

February 3rd, 2010

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• Delta College trustees again collide over stipend committee

• Lodi-area senators Dave Cox, Lois Wolk admit to gifts; Tom Berryhill case pending

• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts

• Galt City Council avoids budget cuts — for now

• New Lodi Memorial Hospital emergency room opens to the public without a hitch

• Bad bugs, weeds are hot topics at Grape Day

February 2nd, 2010

• Big rig plows 7 cars

• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future

• Former Lodian Erica Davis is first paraplegic woman to summit Kilimanjaro

• Jumpers across California

• Correction

• Regional Roundup

• No snow leopards, otters for Micke Grove

• McNerney leads in campaign cash

• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen

February 1st, 2010

• Find cuddly alpacas not too far from Lodi

• Public Meetings

• Patients can expect faster, better service when Lodi Memorial Hospital's new emergency room opens

• Man killed by Amtrak train in Lodi

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
• President Obama's first year (67)
• Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
• Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
• Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
• Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
• Writer comments on Neely column (42)
• The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
• Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)
• Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (31)

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Lodi boys win first cross country championship since 1981; girls defend title

Twenty-three years of running in the competition's dust was enough for Lodi High's boys cross country team.

So when the dust was kicked up on Friday at the San Joaquin Athletic Association league meet, the Flames were nowhere to be found.

On a cloudless fall day at Lodi Lake, the Flames broke out into the clear and showed everyone their rears, including eight-time defending champion Lincoln, en route to their first SJAA championship since 1981.

Lodi, which came into the meet with a 9-0 league mark, finished off the perfect season despite one of the area's top runners, Jeff Merrill, dropping out of the race after battling flu-like symptoms throughout the week.

"It was a long time coming," Lodi co-coach Jeff Tillett said while swarms of supporters stopped by to congratulate him.

Tillett added that his team stepping up in Merrill's absence reinforced that the title run was a team effort.

"This was truly a team championship," he said.

Joining in the celebration were the Lady Flames, who also completed a perfect season and back-to-back championships, led by senior Fran Stonum's individual title.

She finished in 19 minutes, 26 seconds, a mere second in front of Tracy's Kristina Holtz. Andrea Johnson of Stagg was third, followed by Lodi's Jillian Carli and Desirae Gonzalez.

After the race, Stonum was too concerned about the still undecided outcome of the team standings to celebrate her victory.

"I'm happy to win in my last chance," she said, adding "We're going for a team title. That comes before individual."

In a thrilling finish to the boys race that resulted in a 1-2 finish for Tokay, Seth Green passed Manjit Sandhu in the last 10 yards to claim the victory. He finished in 17:16.

Lincoln's David Zevely was third, followed by Lodi's Daniel Magana and Andrew Grant.

Although an exhausted Green, a junior who said this was obviously the best race of his career, was thrilled with his victory, he also felt bad for his teammate.

"It's Manjit's last year," he said of the senior.

Desirae Gonzalez of the Lodi Flames makes her way around Lodi Lake at the San Joaquin Athletic Association cross country meet Friday. (Freeman, Casey/News-Sentinel)

Their combined efforts helped the Tigers finish second in the meet and for the season.

They also helped to put a scare into the Flames, particularly Tillett, who said he worried even before losing Merrill.

"I knew their top three would give us a challenge," he said.

Tokay coach Mike Roach said it was the Tigers' best finish in years, adding that his team showed up with every intention of winning the race.

"They stepped it up today," Roach said.

Once the Flames saw Merrill start the race and then drop out, Magana said they knew they had to step it up as well.

"Jeff's the best, and we knew it would be tough without him," Magana said.

Lodi finished with 44 points, followed by Tokay (55) and Lincoln (67).

Also placing for the champion Flames were Travis Grilley (8th), Jacob Wolf (10th) and Thomas Goad (25th). Other Tigers placing included Carlos Munoz (6th), Jakub Cech (20th) and Miguel Hernandez (35th).

The Lady Flames finished with 37 points and were followed by St. Mary's (65) and Tracy (88). Tokay was sixth (135).

Rounding out the Flames' title efforts were Laura Woznick (11th) and Erin McElligott (16th).

Placing for Tokay were Starr Wilson (20th), Erin Brink (21st), Brittany Hudlin (27th), Alma Gallegos (33rd) and Alicia Merwin (34th).

Lodi also won the frosh-soph girls race with 35 points, led by individual winner Lauren Fromm. She was followed by teammates Megan Spencer (5th), Kiera Hockett (7th), Samantha Carli (10th) and Jessica Higgins (12th).

Tokay was sixth, led by Adelita Guadrrama (23rd), Esther Vargas (32nd), Kimmy Johnson (33rd), Lee Kraljev (36th) and Vicki Soto (37th).

Lincoln won the frosh-soph boys race with 59 points. Lodi was fifth (83) and Tokay was seventh (197).

Quinn O'Brien of Tracy was the individual winner.

Lodi runners placing included Joel Tecklenburg (7th), Adam Ballard (12th), Matthew Bohle (22nd), Will Routt (24th) and C.J. Webster (25th).

Tokay was led by Ben Her (35th), Ryan Riley (38th), Preston Stroud (39th), Brian Steele (40th) and Brandon Ku (46th).

The Sac-Joaquin Subsection meet is Nov. 6 at Angels Camp.