Runners Del Campo, Skieresz Win Titles

On the outside, Brandon Del Campo of Thousand Oaks High and Amy Skieresz of Agoura were cool, calm and collected prior to Monday’s Ventura County cross-country championships at Lake Casitas.

On the inside, however, they were each a bundle of nerves.

Del Campo said he was “as nervous as I’ve ever been before a race” because he had not run well in previous county championships, and Skieresz expected little after a series of illnesses had prevented her from competing in a major race since finishing second Oct. 2 in the Vulcan Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.

Despite their doubts, Del Campo and Skieresz each won and led their teams to victory.

Del Campo timed 15 minutes 11 seconds over the three-mile course as Thousand Oaks placed five runners among the top nine finishers to total 25 points and win its second consecutive title.

Nordhoff, led by fifth-place Javier Ramirez, finished second with 69 points, followed by Camarillo (114), Buena (118) and Agoura (124).

Del Campo, teammate Jeff Fischer, Eleazar Hernandez of Camarillo, John Greene of Agoura and Ramirez led the field through the first mile in 4:52.

By two miles (10:04), the lead pack had dwindled to Fischer, Del Campo and Hernandez as Greene trailed that trio by 10 yards.

Greene dropped out shortly thereafter due to extreme pain in his left Achilles’ tendon, but he expects to run in the Marmonte League finals Thursday.

Del Campo and Hernandez broke away from Fischer with three-quarters of a mile left before Del Campo opened up a small lead on Hernandez with 600 meters left.

“From the two-mile point on, (Hernandez) was surging,” Del Campo said. “But I wasn’t going to let him get away from me. I felt too good to let that happen again.”

It didn’t as Hernandez finished second in 15:14.

“Whenever we race, we have a strong competition between us,” Del Campo said. “We’re both out for blood, but it’s in a good way, not a bad way.”

Fischer and fellow junior Kevin Marsden finished third (15:29) and fourth (15:38) for Thousand Oaks, the No. 4-ranked team in Harrier magazine’s national poll.

Junior Keith O’Doherty (eighth in 15:54) and sophomore Todd Disney (ninth in 16:04) rounded out the scoring for the Lancers.

Sophomore Billy Paules, Thousand Oaks’ No. 7 runner, was airlifted to Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura after losing consciousness after the race, but he was later released after being treated for severe dehydration.

Agoura placed four runners among the top seven finishers in the girls’ race to total 36 points and win its seventh consecutive county title. The Chargers were followed by Thousand Oaks (71), Buena (105), Simi Valley (107) and Nordhoff (132).

Skieresz, who timed 17:53 over the three-mile course, shared the lead with Oxnard’s Gabriela Rodriguez for the first half of the race before breaking away after two miles.

“I didn’t think I was going to do well at all,” Skieresz said. “I just wanted to do what I could for the team, but I felt good as the race went on, so I decided to push it in the last mile.”

Rodriguez finished second in 18:17, followed by Agoura’s Kay Nekota (18:25) and Cathy Prater (19:06).