CROSS-COUNTRY: PREP PREVIEW : Aparicio Is a Big Name From a Small Town

Maribella Aparicio savors the intimacy of Fillmore, an agricultural town of 12,000 in northeastern Ventura County.

There, the Fillmore High senior can escape the expectations and pressures that go with being one of the country’s top cross-country runners.

She often passes through the orange groves and strawberry fields or along the trails and riverbeds of the nearby foothills during her daily training runs, which typically total 35-40 miles a week.

Most of Fillmore’s businesses are within walking distance on Central Avenue--the town’s main thoroughfare.

Fillmore High, a school of 850 students, is up the street from the city hall, a grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store and the old movie theater.

“I like it here because you can relax and there’s not much commotion,” Aparicio, 17, said. “Most people don’t know of Fillmore and never heard of it. I tell people where I’m from and they always confuse it with Sylmar (in the San Fernando Valley).”

Competing in Division IV--the smallest of the state’s divisions in cross-country--doesn’t help the town’s image much either.

But Aparicio is helping change that.

She ran seventh in the Kinney National Championship meet in San Diego last year and won state and Southern Section titles, helping the Flashes to a section team title and second-place finish in the state meet.

Fillmore is expected to contend with two-time defending champion Ojai Nordhoff, Orange Lutheran and Laguna Beach for this season’s state title.

In track, Aparicio was second in the 3,200 meters in a personal-best 10 minutes 39.08 seconds at the state meet in June. She also ran 4:55.67 for 1,600 meters.

“She doesn’t get the exposure and recognition as somebody from a larger school, but anybody who follows the sport knows who she is,” Epi Torres, Fillmore’s coach said.

The Aparicio name, however, has long been in the Fillmore High record books.

Ben Aparicio, 44, still holds the school’s two-mile record of 9:15.5, set in 1968. He helps as an assistant coach at his alma mater.

As a child, Maribella often timed her father’s workouts, but she was more interested in ballet and tap-dancing than running until a friend persuaded her to join the Fillmore Condors, a youth-group track club, seven years ago.

Success did not come quickly.

“When I started, I was running against girls who were a year older than me, and I was never up front,” Aparicio said. “I liked running and wasn’t disappointed. I was inspired because the other girls were so fast.”

She has shown steady improvement, winning a section title as a freshman and placing second in the state meet the next season.

Now, the 5-foot-7, 115-pound senior has attracted scholarship interest from Villanova, Stanford, Northern Arizona, Brigham Young and Wisconsin.

Aparicio opened the season with a course record in the Seaside Invitational at Ventura on Sept. 12, breaking a mark set by Agoura’s Deena Drossin--a Division I All-American at 5,000 meters at Arkansas last season--by eight seconds.

She also won the Irvine Woodbridge and Moorpark invitationals.

But with the exception of the Ventura County championships and a few invitationals, Aparicio does not have an opportunity to race runners from larger schools until a week after the state meet, at the Kinney Western Regional meet, the qualifying race for the national championship event.

At last year’s state meet, Aparicio covered the 5,000-meter course in 17:47, winning the Division IV title by 54 seconds over teammate Nikki Shaw. The third-place runner was 1:24 behind.

“When you race by yourself, you have to go for time and set goals,” she said. “When I race against the bigger schools, I feel like an underdog. I don’t get to see them until the very end (of the season), but I’m always comparing myself to the other top girls’ times.”

Lately, she has ranked among the best.

A look at other top teams and individuals:

BOYS

Newhall Hart, Division I--The Indians are seeking their third state and fourth Southern Section championship in a row. Hart has six of its top seven runners back from last season, including senior Keith Grossman, fourth in the state meet, and senior Paul De La Cerda and sophomore Brett Strahan, who were 11th and 12th.

Arroyo Grande, Division I--Eric Dunn ran 15:37 at Mt. San Antonio College last season as a sophomore and the Eagles, a team of underclassmen, placed eighth in the section final.

Thousand Oaks, Division I--Brandon Del Ocampo, a junior transfer from Westlake Village Westlake, will be the key to the Lancers’ success.

Agoura, Division II--The Chargers, led by runner-up Ryan Wilson, placed seventh in the state meet last season. Wilson was fifth in the 1,600 in the state track meet in 4:12.77 as a junior and set a course record at the Woodbridge Invitational this season.

Anaheim Katella, Division II--Senior Mike Love, fourth in last year’s state meet, and juniors Mike Moreno and Delphino Resendiz led the Knights to a season-opening victory at the Bronco Invitational.

Margarito Casillas of Glendale Hoover is the favorite for the Division I individual title. . . . Jim Cera of Upland, ninth in the State Division I race, set a course record in winning the Bronco Invitational.

GIRLS

Agoura, Division I--The Chargers are seeking their seventh consecutive Southern Section title and third state championship in a row. Junior Kay Nekota, sophomore Amy Skieresz and senior Kristie Camp finished second, fifth and 11th in last season’s state meet.

Palos Verdes Peninsula, Division I--A conglomeration of Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Miraleste, Peninsula finished second to Agoura at the state meet in the school’s first year. Sophomores Molly Mehlberg (12th) and Mary Blake (22nd) are the top returners.

Hart, Division I--The Indians finished sixth in last year’s Southern Section championships. Six of the top seven return, led by sophomore Krissy Schranz and senior Jessica De La Cerda.

Belmont, Division I--The Sentinels are favored to win their fourth consecutive City Section championship. Patty Trejo, Alma Herrera and Yolanda Gomez helped Belmont to an eighth-place finish at the state meet.

Huntington Beach Edison, Division II--Individual champion Shelley Taylor is at Arkansas, but the rest of the Chargers’ state champion team return. Sophomores Jennifer and Jeannie Formosa finished 12th and 18th.

Carrie Garritson of Buena Park is attending her third school in three years. Garritson was the State Division II runner-up and was fourth in the Kinney national championships as a sophomore at Fullerton Sunny Hills last season. She ran the state’s fastest 3,200-meter time of 10:28.20 during track. . . . Stacey Auer of Thousand Oaks placed third in the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Southern Section 3-A Division track meet as a junior. . . . Christina Blackmer of Upland was second in the Southern Section meet and second in the State Division I finals as a junior. . . . Erica Sumi of Long Beach Wilson hopes to regain form that helped her to seventh place in the 1990 Kinney Western Regional meet as a sophomore.