San Diegans Seeking Titles at Mt. SAC

The Agoura and Palos Verdes Peninsula High girls’ cross-country teams will renew their rivalry today in the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational, but Mt. Carmel hopes to have something to say about the outcome.

The schools were first, second and third in last season’s state Division I meet, but Agoura suffered its first defeat in three seasons at the Kenny Staub invitational Oct. 10, finishing behind Peninsula and Belmont.

Agoura, a two-time state champion, ran without Kristie Camp, who dropped out after spraining an ankle, and Tiffany Burt, who was taking the SAT.

And Mt. Carmel, the defending San Diego Section champion, is ranked fourth in the state and coming off a first-place finish at the Moreau Invitational in Hayward last weekend. The time difference between Mt. Carmel’s first runner and their fifth at that meet was only 52 seconds.

“Any loss affects you,” Agoura’s Kay Nekota said. “Peninsula is very good, but I think we’re getting really motivated to come back and have a good race.”

Belmont, three-time City champion, and Irvine are also in the team sweepstakes race at 10:45 a.m., which will feature Division I champion Milena Glusac of Fallbrook.

Glusac, who has been hampered by injuries this season, on Saturday ran the second-fastest time ever on the 2.5-mile Guajome Park layout in Oceanside, clocking 14 minutes 5.85 seconds at the Southern California Invitational. Glusac owns the best time, too, 13:41.

In the boys’ team sweepstakes race at 9:45 a.m., Newhall Hart will try to break the team time record of 77:58, set in 1985 by Sacramento Jesuit on the hilly, three-mile course.

Hart has six of its top seven runners back from last season’s Division I championship team and has won the Stanford and Bell-Jeff invitationals this season.

The boys’ field also includes Peninsula and Madera, second and third behind Hart in last year’s state meet; Division II champion Concord De La Salle and Thousand Oaks.

Among the boys who will compete in the individual sweepstakes race is Nazario Romero of San Pasqual, who won last week at the Southern Cal Invitational and who finished ninth at last year’s Kinney National Western Regional Championships, missing by one position of qualifying for the national championship race.

Romero will try to overcome Glendale Hoover’s Margarito Casillas, who was fifth at the Kinney Nationals.

More than 7,000 athletes and 300 schools are expected to compete in the two-day meet that concludes today.