Drossin Unchallenged in Win : Cross-country: With chief rivals sidelined, Agoura runner dominates at Seaside Invitational.

Dave Hartman of Canyon High faced his expected challenge in the second Seaside Cross-Country Invitational on Saturday, but Deena Drossin of Agoura never got a chance to run into hers.

The outcomes were not surprising.

Louis Quintana of Arroyo Grande breezed to victory in the junior-senior division race at San Buenaventura State Beach in Ventura ahead of runner-up Hartman. Quintana, who did not lose to Hartman in cross-country and track last year, finished in a course-record 14 minutes 14 seconds, eclipsing the 14:24 mark set by Agoura’s Bryan Dameworth in 1989.

Hartman, who finished third in last year’s state Division I cross-country championships behind Quintana and champion Dameworth, finished second in 14:33.

Mike Cherman of Agoura placed a distant third in 15:08, followed by George Barajas of Fillmore (15:12). Stewart Ellington and Fernando Mendoza, both from Channel Islands, placed fifth and sixth in 15:12 and 15:14.

Fillmore, the No. 1-ranked team in the preseason Southern Section Division IV poll, won the boys’ title with 125 points, ahead of Canyon (192), Tustin (196) and Hart (215).

In the girls’ junior-senior race, Jeannie Rothman of Westlake and Nikki Shaw of Fillmore were expected to be Drossin’s top challengers but they did not run. Rothman, who finished third in last season’s state Division I meet, was sidelined by an infection, and Shaw, a state finalist at 800 meters, was nursing a strained right knee.

Drossin took the lead at the start and finished in a course-record time of 17:11, 48 seconds under the previous mark held by Kim Robinson of Newport Harbor.

“I was looking forward to running against (Rothman and Shaw),” said Drossin, the state Division I cross-country champion in 1987 and ’89.

Veronica Barajas of Channel Islands finished second in 17:28 and Tiffany York of Agoura placed third in 17:58.

Arroyo Grande placed five runners among the top 14 to win the junior-senior girls’ competition with 41 points. Arroyo Grande is ranked second in Division I.

Agoura, the top-ranked team in Division I, placed second with 60, followed by Foothill (113), Simi Valley (180) and Buena (187).

In the boys’ junior-senior race, Quintana and Hartman broke away from the pack less than 800 meters into the opening race of the season for both runners.

Quintana held a four-second advantage after a mile (4:25), and increased his lead to seven seconds by two miles (9:30).

“I expected (Hartman) to be there,” Quintana said. “I usually don’t like to lead in the early stages, but I came out feeling real good and decided to let myself go. I felt really strong at the end.”

Hartman, however, did not feel well from the beginning.

“We went out hard the first mile and I felt sluggish right from the start,” Hartman said. “I don’t know if it was the heat or what. I’ve been training through these races, but I’m not ashamed of losing to a guy like Quintana.”