HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY / SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS : Agoura Girls Track Down Peninsula in 3rd Attempt

Call it pay-back--with interest.

The Agoura High girls’ cross-country team, led by record-setting individual champion Amy Skieresz, won its third consecutive Division I title in the Southern Section championships Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College.

The Chargers placed four runners among the top 13 finishers to defeat Peninsula, 42-56, and post their sixth consecutive section title. Irvine finished third with 87 points, followed by Long Beach Wilson with 144.

Thousand Oaks defeated two-time defending state champion Hart, 53-104, to win the boys’ Division I title. It was the Lancers’ first section championship since 1986 and their fourth since 1980.

The top four teams in each of the four divisions, and the top five individuals on non-qualifying teams advanced to Saturday’s state championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

Agoura avenged two losses to Peninsula this season, and the Chargers’ team time (the combined time of five scoring runners) of 93 minutes 1 second was the second fastest by a Southern Section team.

Only Irvine University (92:25 in 1981) has run faster than Agoura, the two-time defending state Division I champion.

“This is a very important win for us,” Skieresz said. “We figured if we could beat Peninsula here, we would have a great chance at winning the state meet.”

Agoura Coach Bill Duley credited a different approach to training this season for the Chargers’ success.

“In the last two years, we got so caught up in the national rankings that we were worn out at the end of the season,” Duley said. “But this year, I designed their training program with only two meets in mind, today and (the state championships).”

Some Charger runners questioned Duley’s strategy this season when Agoura was taking some unaccustomed lumps, but it paid off Saturday as Skieresz timed a sophomore record of 17:24 over the three-mile course, and all five of Agoura’s scoring runners recorded either personal or season bests on the Mt. SAC course.

Junior Kay Nekota (third in 18:18), senior Kristie Camp (ninth in 18:45), senior Tiffany Burt (13th in 18:53) and junior Limor Berci (28th in 19:42) were the Chargers’ Nos. 2 through 5 runners.

Thousand Oaks and Hart were expected to wage a tight battle for the boys’ Division I title, but the Lancers placed five runners ahead of the Indians’ No. 3 runner to turn it into a rout.

Sophomores Jeff Fischer (sixth in 15:29) and Kevin Marsden (10th in 15:48) led Thousand Oaks. The Lancers’ other scoring runners were junior Brandon Del Campo (15:59), junior Chadd Aldrich (21st in 16:04), and senior Ryan Nugent (24th in 16:09).

Seniors Margarito Casillas of Hoover and Ryan Wilson of Agoura remained undefeated with victories in the boys’ Division I and II races, respectively.

Casillas timed 15:09 and Wilson clocked 14:54--the fastest time of the meet--to win his second consecutive title and lead the Chargers to a runner-up finish behind Katella, 79-81.

Nordhoff swept the boys’ and girls’ Division IV team titles, and Fillmore senior Maribella Aparicio timed 17:32 to win her second individual title in a row.

Nordhoff edged Morro Bay for its second consecutive boys’ title, 67-77, and the Rangers crushed Laguna Beach, 39-115, for their second girls’ title in three years.

Valley-Area Champions Team

Boys: Thousand Oaks (Division I), Nordhoff (Division IV)

Girls: Agoura (Division I), Nordhoff (Division IV)

Individual

Boys: Margarito Casillas, Hoover, (Division I); Ryan Wilson, Agoura, (Division II)

Girls: Amy Skieresz, Agoura, (Division I); Maribella Aparicio, Fillmore, (Division IV)