PREP CROSS-COUNTRY STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS : Hart Boys, Agoura Girls, Nordhoff Win Total of 4 Titles

The Hart High boys’ and Agoura girls’ cross-country teams, ranked No. 1 in the nation by The Harrier magazine, capped undefeated seasons by running away with Division I titles in the state championships Saturday at Woodward Park.

The victories virtually assured the Indians and the Chargers of national championships as determined by The Harrier.

In winning the boys’ and girls’ Division IV titles, Nordhoff became only the second team to sweep state championships. Escondido San Pasqual won both Division II titles last year.

Local individual winners were Fillmore’s Maribella Aparicio (girls’ Division IV) and Newbury Park’s Jeff Wilson (boys’ Division III).

Hart runners were confident they would win a second consecutive title even before they arrived here Friday, but two incidents gave them added incentive.

Late Friday night, Hart’s team van was covered with toilet paper and dozens of condoms by pranksters. Additionally, before the Division I final, Hart junior Keith Grossman went to wish Madera’s runners good luck, but the Coyotes, whom Hart stunned in winning the state title last year, ignored his gesture. “That made me angry,” Grossman said. “They don’t like us and they never will like us.”

Grossman converted his anger into a personal-best 15 minutes 24 seconds on the 5,000-meter course for a fourth-place finish in leading the Indians to a 43-88 victory over Palos Verdes Peninsula. Madera (90) was third.

Junior Paul De La Cerda (11th in 15:43) and freshman Brett Strahan (12th, 15:59) helped Hart post the third-lowest score for a boys’ Division I champion. Camarillo scored an all-time low of 39 in 1989.

Hart’s third consecutive state-meet appearance was its most dominating: The Indians’ No. 7 runner--Jon Eveleth--finished 37th in 16:22, ahead of Madera’s No. 3 runner Frank Madrigal (39th, 16:24) and Peninsula’s No. 4 runner Dan Minami (50th, 16:28).

The Agoura girls also used a dominating performance to seal their second state Division I title and fifth top-two finish in a row. The Chargers finished second to Palos Verdes (now Peninsula) in the Division I meet from 1987-89.

Three Agoura runners placed among the top eight finishers and a fourth missed a top-10 finish by one second as the Chargers tied their all-time low state-meet score in a 41-67 win over Peninsula. San Diego Mt. Carmel (114) placed third. “We went out pretty hard because we wanted to get ahead of the pack and then settle into our own pace,” Agoura senior Laura Hayward said.

Agoura’s Kay Nekota, a sophomore transfer from Irvine Woodbridge, finished second to Fallbrook’s Milena Glusac in 18:01. Agoura freshman Amy Skieresz finished fifth in 18:17 and Hayward was eighth in 18:45. Agoura junior Kristie Camp timed 18:45 in placing 11th behind San Diego Granite Hills freshman Wendy Murphy (18:44).

Glusac timed a state-record 17:13 to break former Agoura standout Deena Drossin’s 2-year-old standard by 14 seconds.

The Nordhoff boys entered the meet as the state’s No. 1-ranked Division IV team and solidified their status with a 78-101 victory over Bell-Jeff.

Four Nordhoff girls placed between Fillmore’s Nos. 3 and 4 runners to overcome the Flashes’ 1-2 finish of Aparicio (17:47) and Nikki Shaw (18:41) and win their second consecutive title, 72-79.

“Our goal all year was to make a sandwich between their third and fourth runners,” Coach Ken Reeves said.

For Nordhoff’s girls, who finished second in the Frontier League to Fillmore and third in the Southern Section meet, it was their first title of the season.

Newbury Park’s Wilson mirrored his performance of last year, winning the boys’ Division III title in 15:15.

In the boys’ Division I race, Hoover’s Margarito Casillas ran even with San Gabriel’s Angel Martinez through two miles (9:46) before Martinez broke away with 500 meters left to win in 15:06--the fastest time of the day. Casillas clocked 15:14 to finish second.

Agoura junior Ryan Wilson (15:16) was second in the Division II race.