Hart Boys, Agoura Girls to Defend Rankings : Prep cross-country: No. 1 teams in state head lineup in Mt. SAC invitational.

The Hart High boys’ team and the Agoura High girls will defend their No. 1 state Division I rankings in the Mt. San Antonio College cross-country invitational, which runs today and Saturday.

Hart, also ranked No. 1 in the country by The Harrier magazine, will be pitted against Madera (the second-ranked Division I team in the state), Thousand Oaks (third), Peninsula (fourth), and Concord De La Salle (sixth) in the boys’ team sweepstakes race, which begins Saturday at 9:45 a.m.

Agoura, the No. 2-ranked team in the nation, will attempt to avenge its only loss of the year in the girls’ team sweepstakes race, which starts Saturday at 10:40 a.m.

The Chargers placed third behind Peninsula and Belmont in the Kenny Staub invitational on Oct. 10, but finished without their Nos. 3 (Kristie Camp) and 5 runners (Tiffany Burt). Camp dropped out of the race after sustaining a twisted ankle, and Burt was taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Peninsula, the second-ranked Division I team in the state, again will challenge Agoura, along with Irvine (third) and Belmont (fifth).

Fallbrook, led by defending state Division I champion Milena Glusac, also will compete. The individual battle between Glusac and Agoura sophomore Amy Skieresz rates as one of the meet’s highlights.

Margarito Casillas of Hoover is favored in the boys’ individual sweepstakes race. Casillas, the fifth-place finisher in last year’s Kinney national championships, wanted to race against Agoura’s Ryan Wilson at Mt. SAC, but Wilson and a strong Charger contingent will run in the team sweepstakes race.

Maribella Aparicio of Fillmore will be the featured performer today when the small school races kick off the meet. Aparicio placed seventh in last year’s Kinney nationals and is the defending state Division IV champion.

Today’s races start at 3:45 p.m.