Dameworth Goes the Distance

When Bryan Dameworth of Agoura High School began his running career at age 12, the first race he ran was 200 meters.

Fortunately, for Dameworth, he found he was not a sprinter. His performance in that race was so disheartening that he decided to begin training as a distance runner.

“I only started running distance because I wasn’t successful at the shorter distances,” Dameworth said. “I started to like running distance only because I seemed to do better.”

Now, nearly seven years later, Dameworth has made the most of that decision. He has become one of the best prep distance runners in the nation. His credentials:

--Last month, he concluded an undefeated senior cross-country season with a victory in the Kinney nationals in San Diego, after having finished fourth as a junior.

--He finished eighth in the 1986 West regional, becoming the first freshman male ever to qualify for the Kinney national meet, where he finished 19th.

--He has won three consecutive state Division I cross-country titles, most recently in a state-record 14 minutes 45 seconds in November.

--He finished second in the state championship 3,200-meter run as a junior last June.

Friday night, Dameworth will take his running talents inside when he competes in the first national high school mile run at the Sunkist Invitational track meet at the Sports Arena. “Running indoors is fun, but running on boards is tough on your calves,” Dameworth said, who last year finished third in the Sunkist two-mile. “I am hoping that I will do well this year, but you cannot really get ready because we do not have any access to any indoor tracks.”

Dameworth, who will also run the mile at the Millrose Games in New York next month, will face top competition Friday, running against Louie Quintana of Arroyo Grande, who finished third in the Kinney national; Martin Keino of Fork Union, Va., whose father is former Olympic medalist Kip Keino; and Danny Jordan of Venice, who won the City mile championship last June.

After winning the Kinney meet Dec. 9, Dameworth took two weeks off, which included a ski trip, before he began training again.

“I needed some time off after cross-country season,” said Dameworth, whose stepfather, Bill Duley, is Agoura’s track coach. “It was more mental than physical because my body is in good shape.”

During his base training period, Dameworth runs nearly 100 miles a week, and, once the outdoor season begins, he averages 80 miles a week and sometimes uses Agoura dual meets as workout days.

“Those occasions when I run three or four races in a meet are like training days for me,” Dameworth said. “I use those days to work on my speed.”

With his distance-running success, Dameworth is considered a top prospect for many college track programs, and he is looking forward to running his favorite race.

“They do not run the steeplechase in high school, but that is what I plan to specialize running in college,” Dameworth said, adding that he is considering Arizona, Oregon, Colorado and UC Irvine. “I will also continue to run cross-country, but I can’t wait until I can run the steeplechase full-time.”

Jack Dyck, boys’ basketball coach at Beverly Hills High, was not happy to see the recent rain.

Last Friday night, Beverly Hills was scheduled to play host to Bay League rival Hawthorne in the “Swim Gym,” which has a retractable floor over the swimming pool. The roof is under repair and leaked in the rain, causing the game to be moved to Hawthorne, where the Cougars handed Beverly Hills its first league loss, 69-58.

“This really hurts when you have a home game moved because of rain,” Dyck said. “We now have only a tarp ceiling over the gym and whenever it rains, it leaks on the floor.”

Dyck and Hawthorne Coach Richard Wells agreed to move their varsity game to Hawthorne in order to play on a regulation size floor after the freshman and junior varsity games were played in Beverly Hills’ smaller girls’ gym after rain had begun to drenched the “Swim Gym.”

“Hawthorne’s team got back on the bus and we got in some vans and we all drove back to Hawthorne to play,” Dyck said. “We were expecting a big crowd at home, but ended up playing in front of about 50 to 75 people in their gym.”

Beverly Hills, whose football team had to forfeit key games last fall due to a school district teachers’ strike, will travel to play Palos Verdes today and is scheduled to play host to Torrance Friday.

“I can only hope that it doesn’t rain for Friday,” Dyck said. “I used to like it when it rained, but now I shudder at the thought.”

Prep Notes

Piper Hahn, who led Mira Costa to the girls’ Division I state volleyball championship, was named national co-player of the year by Volleyball Monthly magazine. She shares the honor with Irene Renteria of Las Vegas Clark. Hahn, a second-team All-American last season, was joined by three other local players on this year’s All-American team. They are Kristal Attwood of Mira Costa, Danielle Everett of Newport Beach Corona del Mar and Taikeasha Williams of Bellflower.

TIMES’ BASKETBALL POLLS

Through Games of Jan. 14

BOYS

CITY No., School, League: Record 1. Manual Arts, Western-4A: 14-3 2. Fairfax, Western-4A: 15-2 3. Fremont, Central-3A: 17-2 4. Dorsey, Southern-4A: 13-4 5. Cleveland, North Valley-4A: 13-4 6. Crenshaw, Southern-4A: 13-3 7. North Hollywood, Mid Valley-3A: 15-1 8. Carson, Pacific-4A: 12-7 9. Washington, Southern-4A: 8-5 10. Granada Hills, North Valley-3A: 11-7

SOUTHERN SECTION No., School, League: Record 1. Mater Dei, Angelus-5A: 17-1 2. Artesia, Suburban-4A: 13-2 3. L.B. Poly, Moore-5AA: 14-2 4. Lynwood, San Gabriel Valley-5AA: 18-1 5. Loyola, Del Rey-5A: 10-3 6. Morningside, Ocean-3AA: 14-3 7. San Bernardino, San Andreas-5AA: 16-2 8. Santa Clara, Frontier-2AA: 13-0 9. St. Monica, Camino Real-5AA: 10-5 10. Dominguez, San Gabriel Valley-4AA: 15-3 11. Brea-Olinda, Orange-3AA: 14-3 12. Cajon, San Andreas-5A: 15-1 13. Compton, Moore, 4AA: 14-3 14. Edison, Sunset-4AA: 13-4 15. Redlands, Citrus Belt-5AA: 13-4

GIRLS

CITY No., School, League: Record 1. Washington, Southern-4A: 16-3 2. Van Nuys, Mid Valley-4A: 12-3 3. Marshall, Northwest Valley-3A: 13-2 4. Dorsey, Southern-4A: 13-2 5. North Hollywood, Mid Valley-4A: 7-5 6. Huntington Park, Eastern-3A: 10-3 7. Fremont, Central-4A: 7-9 8. Roosevelt, Eastern-3A: 9-2 9. San Pedro, Pacific-3A: 7-4 8. University, Metro-3A: 7-3

SOUTHERN SECTION

No., School, League: Record 1. Brea-Olinda, Orange-3AA: 17-0 2. Morningside, Ocean-5AA: 13-3 3. Lynwood, San Gabriel Valley-5AA: 16-1 4. Buena, Channel-5A: 13-0 5. Palmdale, Golden-5AA: 16-3 6. Ontario, Hacienda-5A: 16-0 7. Ocean View, Sunset-5A: 17-1 8. Hart, Foothill-5A: 13-4 9. Santa Barbara, Channel-5A: 14-4 10. Westlake, Marmonte-4AA: 14-1 11. Rubidoux, Citrus Belt-5A: 12-1 12. Muir, Pacific-4AA: 16-4 13. Palos Verdes, Bay-3AA: 15-4 14. Lompoc, Northern-3AA: 12-2 12. Riverside North, Ivy-4-AA: 10-1