Agoura Not Running on Empty : Girls: Chargers pick up a talented sophomore transfer and a strong freshman as they launch a bid for their second consecutive state Division I title.

Just when it looked as though the Agoura High girls’ cross-country team faced a rebuilding season, the Chargers have added two of the top young runners in the area.

Three of Agoura’s top five runners graduated in June, but a recent influx of talent could enable the Chargers to win their second consecutive state Division I championship.

Kay Nekota, a sophomore from Woodbridge High in Irvine, moved into Agoura’s attendance area this summer after her mother Susan accepted a teaching job with the Pleasant Valley School District in Camarillo.

Woodbridge’s No. 1 runner last fall, Nekota placed fourth in the state Division II championships, running 18 minutes 7 seconds over the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) course at Fresno’s Woodward Park. Woodbridge placed second in the state.

Nekota also has timed 18:08 over the challenging three-mile course at Mt. San Antonio College, the venue of the Southern Section championships.

The freshman class also has a blue-chip prospect in Amy Skiezesz. As a seventh-grader in 1990, Skiezesz broke the youth records of former Agoura standout Deena Drossin. Skiezesz posted a 4:59 time in the 1,600 and clocked 10:45 in the 3,200.

Drossin, now a freshman at Arkansas, won state Division I cross-country titles in 1987, ’89 and ’90. Also graduated from last year’s team that was ranked second in the country behind Mountain View of Orem, Utah, are Tiffany York (UC Irvine) and Skye Colclough (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo).

Graduating three of its top five runners would devastate most teams, but the Chargers again shape up as one of the state’s best. Before winning their school’s first state Division I title last season, the Chargers placed second to Palos Verdes the previous three years.

“We could be as good as last year, and, I hate to say it, we could be better than last year,” Coach Bill Duley said. “Because of the success in the last few years, our girls’ program is just skyrocketing. A few years ago we had 14 girls, now we have about 30.”

The top two returnees from last season’s team are coming off superb track seasons. Junior Kristie Camp and senior Laura Hayward, the Chargers’ Nos. 3 and 4 runners, placed 15th and 16th, respectively, in the state Division I cross-country meet in 1990.

Last spring, Camp timed a personal-best 2:13.21 in the 800 in qualifying for the state track preliminaries and has run 5:05.65 for one mile. Hayward has lifetime bests of 5:16.11 for 1,600 and 11:08.81 for 3,200.

Sophomores Tiffany Burt and Melissa Fox provide depth. Burt was Agoura’s fifth runner (37th in 19:38) in the state final last year and Fox finished 61st (sixth for Agoura) in 20:17.

TEAMS TO WATCH

Canyon: The Cowboys lack depth after their fifth runner, which means the scoring five must stay injury-free if Canyon hopes to dethrone three-time defending champion Quartz Hill for the school’s first Golden League title.

“You’re going to see a guy treat his girls like fine china,” Coach Dave DeLong said.

Senior Robin Heidt won the past two Golden League individual titles by 57 and 90 seconds, respectively, and placed 25th in the Southern Section Division I final last year.

Heather Giles, a junior who finished third in the league final as a sophomore, gives Canyon a potent 1-2 punch. Senior Julie Stucker, sophomore Holly Heald and freshman Teriann Boggio round out the top five.

Channel Islands: If healthy, senior Veronica Barajas will contend for the individual state Division I title after placing second to Drossin a year ago and finishing fifth in the Kinney national championships.

The gap between Barajas and the Raiders’ No. 2 runner, senior Valerie Aceves, will be significant, but Coach Ken Martinez’s team makes up the deficit with superior depth.

“This year I have a lot of wealth in the sixth and seventh positions,” Martinez said.

Leticia and Lorena Perez, junior twins, are catalysts in the scoring five. Newcomer Adriana Jasso, a junior, has run well in summer workouts.

Channel Islands won Marmonte League titles in 1988 and ’89 and tied for second in the league dual-meet standings last year when eventual state Division I champion Agoura moved into the league.

Fillmore: If Coach Epi Torres can close the gap between his Nos. 2 and 3 runners, the Flashes could challenge for the state Division IV title in November.

Junior Maribella Aparicio is the top returnee in the state Division IV after placing second last year.

Senior teammate Nikki Shaw was fifth, but Fillmore’s next runner, sophomore Marta Torres, finished 77th.

“There will still be a gap,” Torres said, “but it won’t be quite as big.”

All seven varsity runners return for Fillmore, which finished seventh (187 points) in the state Division IV team standings last year.

Hart: Boasting one of the region’s most consistent programs, the Indians will make a run at a ninth consecutive Foothill League title.

Because Hart’s top nine runners are underclassmen, Coach Gene Blankenship believes a berth in the state meet is likely--in 1992.

Sophomore Jessica De La Cerda (20:08 at College of the Canyons) emerged as the Indians’ No. 1 runner in summer time trials. Junior Melissa Flayer (21:40) posted only the fifth-fastest mark but Blankenship expects her to climb as high as No. 2 by season’s end.

Freshmen Krissy Schranz (21:25) and Erica Christiansen (21:38) and sophomore Julie Tobin (21:38) currently are ranked second though fourth.

Nordhoff: Most of the group that led the Rangers to their first state Division IV championship last year return.

Sophomore Maria Garcia, 14th in the state meet a year ago, figures prominently in Nordhoff’s up-front attack along with junior Karen Debord and sophomore Shonna Murphy.

Morro Bay ran over the Rangers in the early invitationals last year, but Nordhoff surpassed the Pirates at season’s end and nipped them for the Southern Section Division IV (47-53) and state (77-79) championships.

Individuals to Watch Stacy Auer (Thousand Oaks): Although Auer is a state-caliber runner, she has not qualified for the Southern Section preliminaries in cross-country the past two years because of consecutive fourth-place finishes in the tough Marmonte League.

As a sophomore in track last spring, Auer timed 10 minutes 38.63 seconds for the 3,200.

Jamie Kendig (La Reina): Kendig works at a disadvantage because La Reina does not field a track team, leaving only one season per year of interscholastic running competition. As a junior last fall, she placed ninth in the state Division IV final in 19:00 and fifth in the Southern Section championship in 19:51.

Gabriela Rodriguez (Oxnard): Most of the sophomore’s races during the regular season--with the exception of Channel League meets and the league final--will be frosh-soph events because Coach Derek Turner wants Rodriguez fresh for the sectional and state meets.

Rodriguez finished 12th in the state Division I final last year and clocked 11:05.52 for 3,200 in track.