Learning to Relish the Race : Agoura’s Skieresz Runs Faster as Enjoyment of Cross-Country Grows

From Princess I Can’t as a freshman to Ms. Can Do as a sophomore, Amy Skieresz of Agoura High has undergone quite a transformation since last cross-country season.

The immensely talented Skieresz finished fifth in the 1991 state Division I championships to help Agoura to its second consecutive girls’ title, but her mental approach to training and racing was far from ideal.

“There were times last year that I wasn’t even sure if she wanted to run cross-country,” Coach Bill Duley said. “She didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in herself, and she wasn’t real motivated.”

Last year, Skieresz often was the leading offender of Agoura’s I can’t rule. According to the rule, any Charger runner who is heard saying, ‘I can’t do this or that,’ during a workout is sentenced to 25 pushups on the spot.

“There were some days when Amy did about 200,” Duley said with a laugh.

This year, penalty pushups have been rare for Skieresz, who will lead Agoura’s quest for its sixth consecutive title in Friday’s Ventura County championships at Lake Casitas. Skieresz’s emergence as one of the top high school cross-country runners in the nation this year can be attributed to three factors: increased motivation, improved attitude toward cross-country and adjustment to a growth spurt that had hindered her running.

Skieresz, 15, experienced a motivation boost at last year’s Kinney national championships in San Diego, which she attended as a spectator. Those feelings were enhanced when she participated in a running camp last summer.

“It was really exciting,” Skieresz said of the Kinney meet. “Seeing all those runners in one race was really neat. I remember thinking then that I’d like to be a part of it.”

In order to accomplish that, however, Skieresz knew that her attitude toward cross-country needed to change. Before this season, she viewed cross-country as a necessary evil to get in shape for track.

“I didn’t really like cross-country much,” Skieresz said. “I still like track more, but cross-country is also fun for me now.”

Physical problems resulting from the previous year’s growth spurt also contributed to Skieresz’s dislike for cross-country.

After growing nearly six inches and gaining 20 pounds during her eighth-grade school year, Skieresz did not feel like the same runner who had timed 4 minutes 59.3 seconds in the 1,600, and 10:45.0 in the 3,200 for the Las Virgenes Comets during her seventh-grade track season.

After not running in the eighth grade because she believed she needed a break, the 5-foot-8 1/2, 125-pound Skieresz felt awkward throughout her freshman season as she tried to adjust to her new height and weight.

Duley knew that Skieresz needed time for her strength to catch up with the sudden increase in weight. Convincing her of that was not easy.

“There were times when she wasn’t running (personal records) right away, and she couldn’t understand why,” Duley said. “I remember her saying, ‘What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I run faster than I used to?’ ”

It wasn’t until May when she ran a personal best of 4:57.77 to finish second in the 1,600 at the Southern Section 3-A Division track championships that Skieresz finally relaxed.

She finished third in the 1,600 in the state championships in June, yet Duley was surprised with how fit she was during summer workouts.

After struggling during four-mile runs before her freshman season, Skieresz routinely ran seven-minute miles during 10- and 11-mile workouts.

That fitness has led to a superb season thus far.

Skieresz won Division I titles at the Woodbridge and Kenny Staub invitationals--the latter with a course record--and finished second to Fallbrook senior Milena Glusac at last week’s Mt. San Antonio College invitational. And she has only begun to scratch the surface of her potential, Duley said.

Duley calls Skieresz the most physically talented runner he has coached. And that’s saying something.

The Charger coach for eight years, Duley trained Bryan Dameworth of Wisconsin and Deena Drossin of Arkansas, who combined for six state Division I titles.

“She’s fast and she’s strong,” Duley said of Skieresz. “In the past, my top runners like Bryan and Deena have been strength runners, but Amy is both. She’s just starting to see what she’s capable of. She amazes me in practice with her strength.

“She’s doing things that Deena couldn’t do even as a senior.”

Skieresz, soft-spoken and modest about her accomplishments, feels uncomfortable in the spotlight. Vicki Eyre, Skieresz’s coach with the Las Virgenes Comets, says that Skieresz is so modest that “she is almost to the point where she doesn’t enjoy running as much as she should. It’s like she would have more fun if she didn’t get all the glory for being as good as she is.”

Because of her accomplishments, Skieresz found herself the focus of a controversy last year when she enrolled at Agoura at the same time that Kay Nekota, the fourth-place finisher in the 1990 state Division II championships for Irvine Woodbridge High, was transferring to Agoura.

Skieresz, who lives in the Westlake High attendance area, was allowed to enroll at Agoura because she wanted to take classes in Latin, a subject Westlake does not offer.

But with her and Nekota arriving at the same time, rumors circulated that Duley was recruiting.

“A lot of things were said when that happened,” Duley said. “But I had nothing to do with Amy coming here. It was between her, her family and the school.”

With the controversy behind her, Skieresz is beginning to live up to the expectations that preceded her arrival at Agoura.

Constantly looking for ways to improve, she recently took up karate as much to help her mentally as physically.

“(Karate is) a sport that really teaches you a lot of mental concentration,” Skieresz said. “It teaches you how to focus. I think that will help my running.”

Skieresz learned last week, however, that it is possible to spend too much time focusing on a major race such as Mt. SAC.

She spent so much time thinking about Mt. SAC in the week leading up to the race that, “I didn’t want to be there,” when it came time to run.

Perhaps sensing Skieresz’s uncertainty, Glusac, the Fallbrook runner, applied the pressure early. The defending state Division I champion clocked 5:22 for the first mile (Skieresz timed 5:36) and was never challenged while romping to a course record of 17:15 over three miles.

“My coach kept telling me that I could catch her,” Skieresz said. “But when we came down off the switchbacks, I saw how far ahead of me she was and just gave up. I hate feeling that way. I have to be mentally stronger. I can’t give up like that.”

Duley chalked up Skieresz’s performance at Mt. SAC to nervousness and inexperience, but he doesn’t expect it to happen again.

“She’s only going to get better and better,” Duley said. “I don’t even want to put a limit on what she is capable of accomplishing.”