HIGH SCHOOL BOYS’ CROSS-COUNTRY PREVIEW : State Champion Dameworth Gears for a Run at an Elusive 2-A Crown

In 1986, he became the first freshman to run in the Kinney national cross-country championships, placing 19th.

In 1987, he won the inaugural state Division I cross-country championships in Fresno.

And in 1988, Bryan Dameworth intends to defend his state title, qualify again for the Kinney national cross-country championships and maybe, just maybe, win the Southern Section 2-A Division title.

That goal might not seem like much, but the 2-A title is one of the few that have eluded the Agoura High junior.

He placed third in the 2-A championships as a freshman and fourth last year, then, one week later, upset Goshu Tadese of Crawford High in San Diego and David Scudamore of Palos Verdes in a thrilling stretch duel to win the state title in Fresno’s Woodward Park.

“Winning the Southern Section title wasn’t really that big a goal to me last year,” Dameworth said. “I was concentrating more on the state meet and the Kinney West regionals.”

A week after his state-meet triumph, Dameworth returned to Woodward Park but disaster struck. A quarter-mile into the race, he lost a shoe when his foot crossed the path of another runner. Later, he slipped and fell on a muddy part of the course and finally he dropped out of the race with a mile remaining.

It was one of the few times in his career that Dameworth lost his composure during the heat of competition. He vows it won’t happen again, saying that he is tougher mentally this year.

“I feel like I can out go out there and bully some of the other guys around,” he said. “I feel like I can mix it up with anyone and hold my own.

“I think I was a little intimidated by some of the guys last year. I won’t be this year.”

Bill Duley, the Agoura coach and Dameworth’s stepfather, attributes his protege’s increased confidence to maturity.

Duley said Dameworth said that he no longer considers himself an underclassman who could be intimidated. “I think in the past, he felt like he shouldn’t be out in front leading races.”

A successful track campaign also bolstered Dameworth’s confidence. He won his second consecutive Southern Section 1-A title in the 3,200 meters and placed third in the 1,600.

He also lowered his personal best to 4 minutes, 15.58 seconds in the 1,600 and 9:06.46 in the 3,200, yet he failed to meet his preseason goals of 4:12 and 9 minutes.

As a result, Dameworth has become more businesslike in his approach to workouts.

“He’s very serious in training now,” Duley said. “He’s learned that you need to approach each workout with a particular goal in mind and then set out to accomplish it.”

The Chargers fell just short of winning the Southern Section 2-A title in 1987, finishing two points behind Walnut and 14 seconds behind Camarillo (based on team time) for the fifth and final Southern Section berth in the state meet.

With Dameworth, Bob Gorman and brothers Derek and Jason Kite returning, Agoura again should contend for the boys’ 2-A title.

Only Bishop Union (1976) has won Southern Section boys’ and girls’ cross-country titles in the same season, and the Chargers (last year’s girls’ 2-A champion) could match that this year, though they are not obsessed with that goal.

Nor is Dameworth with defending his state title.

“I just want to improve upon the times I ran on the courses last year,” he said. “Winning state again would be great, but there’s always someone who can come up and surprise you.”

OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH

Camarillo: The best team in the Valley area last year, the Scorpions hope to improve upon consecutive third-place finishes in the Southern Section 4-A championships.

Abe Valdez (15th in the 1987 4-A championships), Shawn Goetzinger (25th) and Chad Malesich (32nd) will battle for the No. 1 position and Joel Gonzalez (40th) is a solid fourth man. All four are juniors. If seniors Matt Aukstkalnis and John Schnell remain free of injuries, Camarillo could contend with preseason favorite Dana Hills and Corona del Mar for the 4-A title.

“We’re more confident this year than we were last year,” Coach Mike Smith said. “Last year, there was this fear of losing because we surprised a lot of people the year before. There was some pressure and I think we felt it.

“But this year, we’re more experienced. We’re not worried about what Dana Hills or Corona del Mar is doing, we’re only concerned with ourselves. We feel like we can run with anybody if we put it all together.”

Sophomores Scott Stringer, Josh Gerry, Shannon Brusca and Richard Smith will compete for the No. 7 position.

Canyon: The Cowboys placed fifth in last year’s Southern Section 4-A championships and Coach Ed Chaidez expects them to improve this season.

“I’ve been putting this team together for three years,” Chaidez said. “We’re much more experienced and in much better shape now than we were at this time last year.”

Senior Mike Rattary has recovered from a broken foot suffered during track season and is capable of a top-10 finish at the 4-A championships. So is sophomore teammate Dave Hartman. Rattary placed 14th in 1987 and Hartman placed 18th.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they both broke 15:30 at Mt. SAC,” Chaidez said, referring to the junior college’s difficult 3-mile course. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if Mike broke 15:20.”

Keith Meter and Lee Cohen should battle for the No. 3 position and John Serrano is expected to be a solid fifth man. Twins Kyle and Kevin Frautnick and Manny DeLeon will battle for the sixth and seventh positions.

Thousand Oaks: Coach Jack Farrell guided the Lancers to Southern Section 4-A titles in 1980, ’84 and ’86 but has never had a team with this many returning fast two-milers. Seniors Mike Williamson ((9:19.22), Tim Farrell (9:30.88) and Evans Maysr (9:54.0) all broke 10 minutes in the 3,200 meters during the track season but Farrell remains cautious in his analysis.

“We’re good on the watch, but we’ve got a lot of question marks,” he said. “Mike has never run an entire cross-country season due to injuries, and Evans has never done anything particularly outstanding in cross-country. But the talent is there. I’ll just have to see how the team develops.”

Junior Bill McMillen and senior Dan Ranpacek round out the top five and sophomores Erik Spayde and Greg Hurlock are competing for the No. 6 and No. 7 positions.

Hart: The Indians have finished fourth or better in the Southern Section 3-A for four consecutive years and Coach Gene Blankenship’s 1988 team expects to extend that streak this season. Though the Indians lost their No. 1 runner (Don Patti) to graduation, and their No. 2 runner (Peter Delacerda) moved out of the school district, the Nos. 3 through 7 runners return from last year’s team.

“We don’t have any exceptional talent this year,” Blankenship said. “But they’ve worked their butts off.”

Junior Stephen Lepken, sophomore Billy Dixon and senior Arik Florimonte give Hart a potent 1-2-3 punch.

“That’s our strength,” Blankenship said. “But we don’t have as much depth as in the past. We drop off too much right now at the fourth and fifth positions.”

Sophomore Hector Chavez, senior Shaan Blanchard and junior Steve McCrank round out the team.

Burbank: The Bulldogs possess a talented 1-2-3 combination in Todd Lewis, Mike Sanchez and Robert Lopez, but their fourth, fifth and sixth runners will determine whether they top last year’s ninth-place finish in the Southern Section 3-A championships.

Lewis was the runner-up in the 1,600 meters at the 3-A track championships and also might contend for the cross-country title.

“He’s got great natural speed and a good distance background,” Coach Dave Kemp said. “If things go right, he could place in the top two or three this year.”

Robert Romero, Mike Segovia and Adrian Delarosa will compete for the Nos. 4 through 6 positions.

“They have to improve if we’re going to be a factor in the CIF championships,” Kemp said. “We’ll only be as good as they are.”