Wilson of Newbury Park Gains Edge on Rival Runner

Jeff Wilson finally got the upper hand against Ryan Wilson.

Sort of.

After taking a back seat to Ryan Wilson of Agoura High in the Woodbridge cross-country invitational two weeks ago, Jeff Wilson of Newbury Park got revenge Saturday against his Marmonte League foe.

Jeff Wilson timed 15 minutes 13 seconds over the three-mile course at Crescenta Valley Park to win the boys’ Division II race in the Kenny Staub invitational and beat Ryan Wilson’s winning time of 15:19 in the Division I race.

Ryan Wilson and Jeff Wilson posted victories in 14:45 and 14:48, respectively, in different divisions at Woodbridge. Based on the faster time, Ryan Wilson was named the male athlete of that meet.

On Saturday, Ryan Wilson competed despite battling flu during the week. He also was bothered by tendinitis in his left knee. The Charger junior ran neck and neck with Hoover’s Margarito Casillas through one mile (5:07) and two miles (10:30) before turning in a scorching 4:49 final mile and burning Casillas in the stretch. Casillas finished second in 15:20.

“My knee felt good during the race, but I felt (my) cold,” Ryan Wilson said. “All week long I ran (only) twice.”

Senior Jeff Wilson was even with St. Francis’ Froylan Sanchez at the one-mile mark (5:04) before bolting to a 45-yard advantage at two miles (10:18). Sanchez finished second in 15:50.

Ryan Wilson’s victory helped Agoura win the Division I title. The Chargers scored 79 points and Hoover was second (85). Newbury Park (101) finished second to San Marino (62) in Division II.

Agoura swept the top three places and took four of the top five in winning the Division I girls’ title and setting a meet cumulative team-time record.

Freshman Amy Skieresz (18:08), Kay Nekota (18:10) and Laura Hayward (18:32) finished 1-2-3 as the Chargers totaled 23 points. Simi Valley, paced by Rikke Pedersen with a fourth-place effort in 18:37, was second with 87.

Kristie Camp was fifth in 18:48 and Allison Kaz placed 12th in 19:43 as the Chargers bettered their year-old team-time mark by more than a minute, 93:21 to 94:43.