RUNNING / JOHN ORTEGA : Stress Fractures Throw Dameworth, Jones Off Track

For any track and field athlete--distance runner or sprinter, high jumper or shotputter--there is a fine line between being in great shape and being injured.

Treading the middle ground between being undertrained and overtrained can be like walking a tightrope.

Just ask Bryan Dameworth of Agoura High and Marion Jones of Rio Mesa.

On June 2, they won titles at the state track and field championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk. A little more than two weeks later, their seasons ended abruptly because of stress fractures.

Dameworth, the 1989 Kinney national and three-time state Division I cross-country champion, won his first state track title in the 3,200 meters at Cerritos, while Jones won the girls’ 100 and 200 as a freshman.

The stress fracture in Jones’ left foot will prevent her from competing in The Athletics Congress Junior Championships at Fresno City College today through Sunday. The injury to Dameworth’s right foot will force the recent Agoura grad to wear a cast for four weeks and prevent him from racing in Europe this summer.

“We don’t know exactly how it happened,” Agoura Coach Bill Duley said of Dameworth’s injury. “There was some tenderness in his ankle before and after the Golden West meet, but we thought it was just a case of tendinitis.”

After timing a personal-best 4 minutes 9.32 seconds to place third in the mile at the Golden West Invitational at Cal State Sacramento on June 9, Dameworth hoped to lower his nation-leading two-mile best (8:56.41) at the International Prep Invitational in Elmhurst, Ill., the following week.

But after finishing a disappointing third in 9:04.24, Dameworth knew the injury was serious.

“I could barely walk for a couple of days,” Dameworth said. “I’m glad I went back (to Illinois). It was fun. But after the race, I do remember thinking, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done this.’ ”

Two days after Dameworth returned home a bone scan revealed the fracture, and when he graduated from Agoura last Thursday he was sporting a cast.

Jones’ injury did not require a cast. However, the Spartan rocket won’t be burning up any tracks until at least January, when the high school indoor season starts.

The national age-14 record-holder in the 100 (11.62 seconds) and the 200 (23.70) meters, Jones ran with a swollen--and heavily taped--left ankle at the state meet. Although Jones limped noticeably after winning the 100 and the 200, Rio Mesa co-Coach Brian FitzGerald figured the injury would heal with a week’s rest.

When it didn’t, Jones underwent a bone scan that revealed a break on the outside of the middle of her left foot.

“I think (Marion) injured it at the state meet,” FitzGerald said. “I think she altered her stride somewhat so it wouldn’t hurt.”

In hindsight, the injuries to Dameworth and Jones might have been caused by fatigue and heavy schedules.

Both athletes raced indoors and had arduous outdoor seasons that often included dual meets on Wednesdays or Thursdays, followed by invitationals on Saturdays.

Add Dameworth: How the stress fracture will affect Dameworth’s plans for his first collegiate cross-country season at the University of Wisconsin remains to be seen.

Though he won’t be able to run for at least six weeks, Dameworth hopes to return to form by the end of August.

If he’s slow to come back, he could redshirt, although he regards that as the last alternative.

“I don’t want to (redshirt) unless I absolutely have to,” Dameworth said. “Hopefully, I can get back in shape before the season starts.”

Add Duley: He has coached Dameworth since he began running for the Las Virgenes Comets in 1983, but Duley said he has no reservations about his charge’s coming under the guidance of another coach (Wisconsin’s Martin Smith) in the fall.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem,” Duley said. “I think it’ll be good for Bryan to work with someone else. . . . It’ll give me a chance to finally be a fan and a spectator. Whenever he’s run before, I’ve always watched the race and analyzed how he was running. Now, I’ll be able to just watch and enjoy it.”

Looking ahead: Traditionally one of the top cross-country leagues in the Southern Section, the seven-team Marmonte League should become even stronger with the addition of Frontier League power Agoura in the fall.

Having produced five 4-A Division team titlists (all boys) and six individual champions (three boys, three girls) during the 1980s, the Marmonte League will inherit an Agoura program that has won five state Division I individual titles since 1987 and three consecutive 2-A girls’ titles.

The Charger girls also have been runners-up in the state Division I championship the past three years.

Fresno-bound: Chris Perry of Cal State Northridge, Angela Burnham of UCLA and Melanie Clarke of Valley College will compete in the TAC Junior meet.

Perry, the Northridge record-holder (25 feet 10 1/4 inches) and 1990 NCAA Division II champion in the men’s long jump, will compete in that event Saturday and in the triple jump Sunday.

Burnham, a five-time state sprint champion at Rio Mesa High, has entered the 100--in which she finished second the past two years--and the 200, in which she’s the defending champion.

Qualifying heats and the final of the 100 will be run Saturday; 200 heats and final will be on Sunday.

Clarke, a 1989 El Camino Real High graduate, will compete in the heptathlon today and Friday, and in the high jump Sunday.