HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY / KENNY STAUB INVITATIONAL : Lack of Depth Short-Circuits Agoura Girls
The Agoura High girls’ cross-country team entered the Kenny Staub Invitational on Saturday as the top-ranked team in the nation, but the Chargers proved to be just the third-best team, finishing behind Peninsula and Belmont in the Division I race.
Peninsula, the runner-up in the last two state championships, placed five runners among the top 11 finishers at Crescenta Valley Park to total 35 points. Belmont, the three-time defending City Section champion, had 55 points, followed by Agoura with 68.
Agoura’s Amy Skieresz, who set a course record, and Kim Nekota finished first and second for the Chargers. But Kristie Camp, the Chargers’ No. 3 runner, dropped out shortly after the mile mark when she twisted her right ankle, and Tiffany Burt, the Chargers’ No. 5 runner, missed the meet to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
In their absence, Limor Berci, Vickie Greene and Alison Kaz were forced to fill scoring positions for Agoura, but they placed 18th, 23rd, and 24th, respectively.
“I knew we were really vulnerable today,” Agoura Coach Bill Duley said.
Camp was battling Nekota and Patty Trejo of Belmont for second when she wrenched her ankle, but even if she had finished third to give the Chargers a sweep of the first three places, Agoura would have been hard-pressed to beat Peninsula: Only 32 seconds separated the Panthers’ first and fifth runners.
Skieresz’s time of 17 minutes 30 seconds over the three-mile course eclipsed the previous course record of 17:31 set by Melissa Sutton of Newbury Park in 1986. It also gave her a whopping 84-second margin over Nekota, the runner-up in last year’s state championships.
“I had no idea how fast I was running until I came around that turn (with 400 yards remaining),” Skieresz said. “Then I heard my coach yelling that I had a chance to break the course record, so I picked it up.”
The boys’ Division I race was billed as a showdown between Margarito Casillas of Hoover and Ryan Wilson of Agoura. But Wilson pulled out at the last minute complaining of tight hamstrings and Casillas romped to victory in 15:10.
“I was a little disappointed he wasn’t in the race,” Casillas said. “I didn’t even know he wasn’t in there until I saw him at the mile mark cheering me on.”
Casillas, the fifth-place finisher in last year’s Kinney national championships, had a 12-second lead at the mile mark (4:51), a 34-second advantage at two miles (10:08) and a 45-second cushion over teammate Alvaro Lopez at the finish. Only Jeff Nelson of Burbank (14:49 in 1978) and Bryan Dameworth of Agoura (14:50 in ‘89) have run faster on the Crescenta Valley Park course.
“I’m not sure if we could have beaten the course record if (Wilson) had been in there,” Casillas said, “but I do think we could have broken 15.”
Peninsula, the runner-up in last year’s state championships, completed a sweep of the team titles, winning the boys’ race with 64 points. Canyon was next with 73 points, followed by Belmont (88), Saugus (109), and Birmingham (113).
John Bischop led Canyon with a fifth-place finish in 16:13.
