Dameworth Sets Pace for the Nation’s Best

Winning. The word has become synonymous with Agoura High distance runner Bryan Dameworth. In fact, the last time Dameworth lost a race was in the state track and field championships last June when he finished second to David Welsh of Sacramento Jesuit in the 3,200-meter final.

Less than two months after conquering the nation’s finest high school cross-country runners in the Kinney national championships, Dameworth, a senior, took his enviable record to the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The surroundings might have been unfamiliar but not the result. Overcoming a case of nerves and a shaky start, Dameworth won the high school mile Friday in 4 minutes 14.52 seconds.

“Basically, when the gun went off, it was like ‘Whoa,’ ” said the 6-foot-3, 163-pound Dameworth, who surged into the lead with 640 yards remaining. “It took a while to get into the groove.”

Dameworth defeated a field that included runner-up Martin Keino (4:16.63), a senior at Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy and the son of former Olympic champion Kip Keino of Kenya.

It was also win No. 2 indoors for Dameworth, who captured the same event (4:17.77) in the prestigious Sunkist Invitational on Jan. 19 at the Sports Arena.

There he outdistanced Keino (who finished third in 4:18.78) and Somalian Jama Bile (fifth, 4:19.37), younger brother of Abdi, the 1987 world champion at 1,500 meters.

But the competition on the track took a back seat for Dameworth, who had other concerns about visiting the Big Apple on his first trip to the East Coast.

“I was making sure I didn’t get killed or anything,” he said.

While Dameworth was watching his back, Agoura Coach Bill Duley was at home in Calabasas thinking about being with his stepson.

“I stayed home and wondered and waited for the phone call (providing the results of Dameworth’s race),” Duley said. “I was fine until about an hour before his race, then I really wanted to be there.”