Jones Gets Top Billing, but Agoura Best From Distance

Marion Jones of Thousand Oaks High, the three-time defending state champion in the girls’ 100 and 200 meters, undoubtedly will be the most watched high school track and field athlete in the nation this season.

But for the first time during her high school career, she might not be on the premier track team in the region.

Marmonte League rival Agoura, better known for its outstanding cross-country program, appears to have enough firepower to defeat the Lancers at both the dual-meet and Southern Section championship level.

The Chargers defeated the Lancers for the league title last season, but they finished seventh in the Southern Section 3-A Division championships, won by Thousand Oaks.

Agoura had the depth to turn back Thousand Oaks for the league title last year, but it lacked the quality individuals to keep pace with the Lancers at the section meet, where one or two big guns--i.e. Jones--can account for more points than a group of solid but unspectacular performers.

Agoura Coach Bill Duley believes his team might be helped by a new realignment of the Southern Section.

From 1977-92, the section staged track championships in four divisions, ranging from the 4-A to the 1-A. Those divisions’ designations have been changed to I through IV this year.

With the change has come a realignment that moved the Marmonte from what was known as the 3-A Division to Division I, theoretically the section’s toughest.

“I don’t know for sure, but (Division I) doesn’t appear to be as strong in the distance races as (Division II),” Duley said. “That could prove to be to our advantage.”

If Agoura has a weakness, it will be in the sprints, but the Chargers should be able to overcome that deficiency with several top performers in other events, especially in the middle- and long-distance races.

Sophomore Amy Skieresz, junior Kay Nekota and senior Kristie Camp are capable of amassing points at the Division I level.

Skieresz finished third in the 1,600 meters at last year’s state championships, and she is coming off a superb cross-country season in which she finished third in the Kinney national high school championships.

Although Skieresz could run in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Division I meet, Duley said she probably will concentrate on only the 1,600.

“She’s so young,” Duley said. “I don’t want to do too much with her too early in her career.”

Nekota was slowed by injuries during the cross-country season, but she still managed to finish fifth in the state Division I championships. Her personal best of 10 minutes 52.68 seconds in the 3,200 makes her a potent force.

Camp finished third in the 800 at last year’s 3-A Division track championships, and she placed eighth at the state meet.

Juniors Cathy Prater, Carrie Malnekoff and Kelly Bleiberg also are expected to play major roles in Agoura’s success. Prater placed second in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and triple jump at last year’s Marmonte League finals before finishing seventh in the 300 hurdles at the 3-A meet.

Malnekoff was the runner-up in the 400 at the Marmonte League meet and finished sixth in the 3-A final, but she will concentrate more on the 300 hurdles this season.

“She and (Prater) should give us a pretty good one-two punch in that event,” Duley said.

Bleiberg won the league title in the high jump and finished fifth in the 3-A finals.

Despite Agoura’s strong returning cast, Duley hasn’t tried to figure the outcome of the Division I meet. He’s too concerned with the Chargers’ meet March 18 against Simi Valley and host Thousand Oaks.

A victory in that meet will give the Chargers a big step toward a second consecutive league title.

“That’s our No. 1 goal,” Duley said. “To try and repeat as league champions.”

OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH

Thousand Oaks: As long as the North Carolina-bound Jones is healthy, the Lancers will be formidable. But with senior Stacey Auer listed as questionable because of a stress fracture in her right foot, and senior Wendy Wendelstein out for the season because of ligament damage in her right knee, Thousand Oaks’ chances of repeating a Southern Section championship appear remote.

Auer, who has committed to Auburn, placed third in the 1,600 and the 3,200 at last year’s 3-A meet, but an injury that cut short her senior cross-country season has healed slowly. She regards her chances of racing this season as only 50-50.

Wendelstein, who has a personal best of 12.3 seconds in the 100 meters and 25.9 in the 200, was a member of the Thousand Oaks 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams that won 3-A titles last season.

Together, Auer and Wendelstein accounted for 33 of the Lancers’ 94 1/2 points at last year’s league finals, and they combined for 17 of Thousand Oaks’ 58 points at the 3-A championships.

Jones, who has personal bests of 11.14 in the 100 and 22.58 in the 200--the latter a national high school record--is a prohibitive favorite to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive state title in both events this year, and she plans to add the long jump to her repertoire.

Thousand Oaks should be strong in the distance events even if Auer does not return: Freshmen Kim Mortensen, Tara Marsden and Patricia Gibby finished third, fourth and fifth in the Marmonte League cross-country finals.

Rio Mesa: After four consecutive top-two finishes in the Southern Section championships from 1988-91, the Spartans failed to place in the top 10 at last year’s 3-A meet. However, a senior-laden team complemented by a couple of talented sophomores makes a top-five finish possible at the Division II level this season.

Twin seniors Ashanti and Chianti Austin along with senior Laurie Hendren are expected to make up three-quarters of the Spartans’ 400 relay team. They also could give Rio Mesa a trio of 17-foot performers in the long jump.

Sophomore Andrea Wasden ran a personal best of 14.73 to place fourth in the 100 low hurdles at the 3-A meet last year, and she also has timed 25.70 in the 200 and 12.4 in the 100.

Senior Laura Saw has timed 14.9 in the 100 hurdles and 47.87 in the 300 hurdles.

“Right now, all I’m concerned about is winning league,” co-Coach Brian FitzGerald said. “I’m sure we’ll score a fair amount of points at the Southern Section meet, but I couldn’t tell you how many.”

Rio Mesa, which has a 48-1 record in Channel League competition the past seven seasons, is shooting for its eighth consecutive league title.

Channel Islands: Senior Shenalle Rogers and juniors Dolores Tuimoloau and Dawn Hawkins return from a team that finished fourth in the 3-A championships and third in the Marmonte League finals.

Rogers ran a personal best of 58.49 to place third in the 400 at the 3-A meet, and Hawkins bounded 35-2 1/4 in the triple jump to finish fourth.

Tuimoloau placed second in the shotput with a personal best of 42-0, and she finished fifth in the discus, an event in which she has thrown 133-6.

Quartz Hill: The Rebels won their fourth consecutive Golden League title last year and their top performer from that team--Cheaza Figueroa--returns for her senior season.

Figueroa placed fourth in the long jump at last year’s state championships and her personal best of 19-4 makes her the No. 2 returner in the state. She has also timed 11.9 in the 100, 58.1 in the 400, and 14.5 in the 100 hurdles.

She won the long jump at the Sunkist Invitational last month with a leap of 18-8 3/4.

INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH:

Maribella Aparicio (Fillmore): The runner-up in the 3,200 meters at last year’s state championships, the Brigham Young-bound senior has personal bests of 4:55.67 in the 1,600 and 10:39.08 in the 3,200.

She hopes to lower her bests to “the low 4:50s in the 1,600 and to the high 10:20s in the 3,200” this year, but she realizes that a state title in the latter event will not come easily: Defending champion Milena Glusac of Fallbrook is coming off a stellar cross-country campaign.

Karen Bockel (Nordhoff): he senior exchange student from Germany made her presence felt during cross-country season when she won the state Division IV title, but it is on the track that she really excels. Bockel’s personal best of 4:36.07 in the 1,500 makes her a serious contender for the state title in the 1,600.

Nada Kawar (Crescenta Valley): The senior from Jordan won the Southern Section 4-A Division title in the shotput and placed third in the state championships last year. Her personal best of 45-9 1/2 makes her the No. 2 returner in the state behind defending state champion Kristen Heaston of Concord Ygnacio Valley.

Crystal Brownlee (Westlake): As a sophomore, Brownlee finished a quarter-inch behind winner Mika Hilaire of Pittsburg in the shotput at the 1991 state championships, but she was a well-beaten sixth in last year’s state meet.

Brownlee produced consistently farther puts as a junior than as a sophomore, but her 41-5 1/2 effort in the state finals paled in comparison to her personal best of 45-4 set in the 1991 state meet.

She has also thrown the discus 141-0.

Jen Frank (Oak Park): One of the top performers at the 1-A level for the past two seasons, Frank is looking to become one of the section’s best at any level.

Frank, a senior, won the 100 and 200 in the 1-A championships as a sophomore and has personal bests of 12.32 in the 100 and 24.84 in the 200.

She also has spanned 18-0 3/4 in the long jump, placing second in that event at the 1991 1-A meet and finishing fourth last year.

Zenzile Johnson (Paraclete): The Spirit senior set a 1-A record of 14.76 in winning the 100 low hurdles at last year’s Southern Section championships. She also finished sixth in the 100 and has a personal best of 12.5 in that event.