PREP CROSS-COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Hart, Madera to Tangle With No. 1 Ranking on the Line

Last season Madera High defeated Hart in the Stanford and Mt. San Antonio College cross-country invitationals before the Indians ended the Central Section school’s bid for an undefeated season in the state championships.

The running shoe is on the other foot in the state meet today at Woodward Park.

Hart beat Madera in the Stanford and Mt. SAC meets this fall, but the Coyotes have improved throughout the season.

Hart, ranked No. 1 in the nation all season by The Harrier magazine, outscored Madera, 50-81, at Stanford on Oct. 5 but beat the Coyotes by just 11 points, 77-88, at Mt. SAC two weeks later.

Last year, Madera won those same invitationals by scores of 45-80 and 96-161, respectively.

Hart, whose last loss was to Madera at Mt. SAC in 1990, is led by junior Keith Grossman, who finished 13th in the state Division I final a year ago.

The Agoura girls’ team also is looking for a national title but must fend off Palos Verdes Peninsula and San Diego Mt. Carmel in the Division I race.

The Chargers have not lost a meet since the 1989 state Division I final, in which they finished second to Palos Verdes, a school that no longer exists.

Sophomore Kay Nekota, the Southern Section Division I individual champion, will lead the Chargers in their hunt for a second consecutive state title.

Agoura’s Ryan Wilson and Newbury Park’s Jeff Wilson, Marmonte League rivals, will be overwhelming favorites for the boys’ Division II and III titles, respectively.

Ryan Wilson was ninth in the Division II meet a year ago and Jeff Wilson, the nation’s No. 1-ranked schoolboy cross-country runner, has a virtual lock on his second Division III title.

Fillmore’s Maribella Aparicio, the Southern Section Division IV champion, is favored to win the state title after a runner-up finish last year.

The Flashes are ranked No. 1 in the division but will be challenged by Nordhoff, another Frontier League team and the defending state champion.