Arce to Make Dash for National Splash : Cross-country: Palmdale senior peaking perfectly for Foot Locker championships.

Few high school distance runners peaked better than Antonio Arce of Palmdale during last spring’s track season, and he appears to be doing so again entering today’s Foot Locker national cross-country championships at Morley Field.

Arce, a senior, has been among the top runners in the state all season, but he has looked razor sharp the last three weeks, winning Division II titles in the Southern Section and State championships in November and finishing third in the West regional last Saturday.

He’s gunning for another top-three finish in today’s meet, which pits the top eight finishers from each of four regions across the country.

“The top three is a good goal for me if I run how I’m capable of,” Arce said. “I’m really focused on this weekend. Last week was just to qualify. This week is to go for it.”

Arce finished behind Jason Balkman of Lynbrook High in San Jose and Brandon Leslie of Gallup, N.M., in the West regional, but he figures that Brad Hauser of Kingwood, Tex., and Matt Downin of Pinkerton Academy in Hampstead, N.H., are the runners to beat.

Hauser, who finished fourth in last year’s championships, won the South regional two weeks ago. Downin, who placed eighth last year, won Northeast regional.

Leslie is the No. 2-returning runner, having placed sixth last year.

Balkman, the State Division I champion, was expected to be a contender, but he he will not run after choosing to attend a school dance Friday. Foot Locker rules stipulate that individuals who compete in the meet must attend all the pre-race functions that began Thursday evening.

“I heard talk about that dance after the West regional and I thought he must be joking,” Arce said. “But I guess he wasn’t. I sure wouldn’t miss (this meet) for anything.”

Arce, who cut his best in the 3,200 meters from 9 minutes 25.68 seconds to 9:03.19 in the last three weeks of his junior track season, heads a strong contingent of local entries in the boys’ race, which starts at 10:40 a.m.

The others are Camarillo’s Eleazar Hernandez, who finished fourth in the West regional, and Hart’s Brett Strahan, who placed fifth.

Hernandez was the hottest runner in the state for much of the season, winning the team sweepstakes race of the Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in October and the Southern Section Division I championships last month, but he hasn’t looked as sharp lately.

He placed second in the State Division I final and had to come from 11th to fourth in the final mile of the West regional.

A sinus infection limited Strahan to sixth in the Southern Section Division I final and to 11th in the State meet, but he ran the final mile of the West regional as fast as anyone, moving from 17th to fifth in the final third of the race.

Nordhoff freshman Elaine Canchola, who finished second in the West regional, and Agoura senior Amy Skieresz, who placed fifth, are the local entries in the girls’ race, which starts at 10 a.m.

Both appear capable of top-10 finishes, but no runner is expected to beat Santa Rosa sophomore Julia Stamps.

Stamps is undefeated this season and has run a slew of course records, including a 16:58 clocking in the Mt. SAC Invitational and a 16:45 time in the West regional at Woodward Park.

Erin Davis of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., won last year’s title as a freshman, but she only finished fourth in this year’s Northeast regional.

“I’m sure (Davis) is not just going to hand it to Stamps,” meet announcer Doug Speck said. “She’s going to make her work for it, at least during the first part of the race. But I don’t see anyone beating Stamps.”

Skieresz finished third in the 1992 national championships as a sophomore, but much has happened since.

A case of mononucleosis ended her 1993 track season, she did not run in the West regional last year after being hampered by illness early in the season, and her father forbade her from running track last spring when her grades did not meet his standards.

The missed track season has left her feeling less than 100% at times this fall.

“There’s nothing physically wrong,” she said. “It’s just that I didn’t run last season and my body is still not in the greatest shape.”