Mission Viejo High School

More than 100 elementary students received a lesson in leadership from high school student council representatives during a recent conference at Mission Viejo High School. At the 10th annual Elementary Schools Leadership Conference, younger students attended workshops on such varied topics as publicity, being a good role model, running effective meetings and school spirit. "It was pretty cool," said Hamid Al-Serri, a fifth-grader at Foothill Ranch Elementary School.

Mark Gleason made an immediate and lasting impression on the Orange County prep cross-country scene this fall. Gleason, a junior at Mission Viejo, started fast, winning the first invitational of the season at Laguna Hills High, and he never looked back. He won individual titles at the Orange County Championships and the Southern Section Division II finals. Gleason, The Times Orange County boys' runner of the year, is considered by many to be among the West Coast's top prep distance runners.

The last of Scott Von der Ahe's four-syllable last name was not yet out and already the NFL executive was talking about the Arizona State inside linebacker. "Oh, yeah, we know about him," said Billy Devaney, the Chargers' director of player personnel. "His size, really that's about the only question there is about him. Because of his size (6 feet, 250 pounds), everybody's going to be comparing him to Zach Thomas, the linebacker last year from Texas Tech. Production-wise, he's on par with Thomas."

The last of Scott Von der Ahe's four-syllable last name was not yet out and already the NFL scout was talking about the Arizona State inside linebacker. "Oh yeah, we know about him," said Billy Devaney, the Chargers' director of player personnel. "His size, really that's about the only question there is about him. Because of his size [6 feet, 250 pounds], everybody's going to be comparing him to Zach Thomas, the linebacker last year from Texas Tech. Production-wise, he's on par with Thomas."

A group of high school students played teacher Thursday, leading 125 Foothill Ranch Elementary School kindergarten students on a nature hike through Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park to study animal habitats and native foliage. For some of the youngsters, the field trip was their first experience in the wilderness and an educational one. "I learned not to touch poison ivy," said Leah Bloomanstein, 5. Said classmate Brieann Hood, 5, "I got to see plants, holes and a squirrel."

Site--Cerritos Gahr When--8 tonight Mission Viejo (18-6-2)--Starters: Hannah Cochrun, Fr., goalkeeper, 12 shutouts, gives up fewer than one goal per game; Devon Grissom, Sr., sweeper, team captain for the second year and a first-team All-South Coast League selection last year; Jill Erickson, So., stopper; Suzy Margolis, Sr., defender; Annie Terry, So., defender; Whitney Fitzpatrick, So., midfielder; Sarah Higham, So.

Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria flew in from Houston on Monday to bring his alma mater a gift from NASA. Introduced at an assembly as Mission Viejo High School's most famous graduate, Lopez-Alegria presented the school with a plaque signed by his crew mates on the space shuttle Columbia and gave students an account of piloting a 4.5-million-pound vehicle traveling 5 miles per second.

Coming into this season, Mission Viejo's Mark Gleason wasn't always recognized among the county front-runners. But no one is ignoring him now. Gleason has emerged as perhaps the top boys' cross-country runner in the county. He leads a group of hopefuls vying to become the first county runners to qualify for the Foot Locker National Championships since 1993. Two weekends ago, Gleason blistered the field to win at the Orange County Championships and become Mission Viejo's first county champion.

President Clinton was there. So were challengers Bob Dole, Ross Perot, Harry Brown and Ralph Nader. Amid balloons, banners and bunting, a civics class at Mission Viejo High School held a mock presidential debate and rally Friday, with students portraying the candidates in the national election. Nearly 100 students took part in the rally, which included representatives from all parties, stump speeches by well-known figures such as Sen.