HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY KINNEY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Trio of Area Runners Rate Among Favorites

One of the runners failed to win either a Southern Section or state title this season, another had his unbeaten season end last Saturday, and the third has been overshadowed all year by a runner with the same last name.

Yet, Margarito Casillas of Hoover High, Jeff Wilson of Newbury Park and Ryan Wilson of Agoura will be among the favorites for the boys’ title in the Kinney national cross-country championships today at San Diego’s Morley Field.

The three runners finished one-two-three in the West regional in Fresno last Saturday, but there are another seven runners from across the nation who are given a legitimate chance at winning today’s 5,000-meter race.

Those expected to challenge for the national championship in the boys’ 32-runner field include Corey Ihmels of Williston, N. D., and Phil Downs of Madison, Wis., who finished one-two in the Midwest regional two weeks ago; Northeast regional champion Brendan Heffernan of Glen Gardner, N. J.; and Marc Davis of Spartanburg, S. C., and Jama Bile of Fairfax, Va., who ran one-two in the South regional.

Californians Angel Martinez of San Gabriel and Daniel Das Neves of La Mesa Helix also are regarded as potential winners, although they finished only eighth and sixth, respectively, in last week’s West regional.

“It’s up for grabs,” Hoover Coach Greg Switzer said. “This is the first time in a long time that there is no dominant superstar. There are no Dameworths or Quintanas this year, guys who entered the race as heavy favorites.”

Wisconsin’s Bryan Dameworth won the 1989 title for Agoura High and Villanova freshman Louie Quintana won last year’s race for Arroyo Grande.

Casillas, a junior, finished second to Martinez in both the Southern Section and state Division I championships before shocking a lot of people, including himself, by winning last week’s regional.

Jeff Wilson, the state Division III champion in 1990 and 1991, was undefeated this season and considered a favorite for a national title as recently as two weeks ago, but the senior’s stock dropped after Casillas beat him last week.

“I think it was good for him,” Newbury Park Coach Ed Lingelbach said of Wilson’s loss. “I think it took some pressure off him coming into this race.”

Ryan Wilson, a junior, was the runner-up to Das Neves in the state Division II meet before turning the tables on his rival last week.

The co-favorites in the girls’ 32-runner field are undefeated juniors Milena Glusac of Fallbrook High and Liz Mueller of Waterford, Conn. Glusac, seventh in the Kinney meet as a sophomore, won the West regional last week. Mueller defeated Amanda White of Cockeysville, Md., for the Northeast regional title two weeks ago. White, a junior, placed third in last year’s national meet.

Fillmore junior Maribella Aparicio will be shooting for a top-10 showing after placing fifth in the West regional.

The girls’ race starts at 10 a.m., followed by the boys’ at 10:40.