Strahan, Skieresz Issue Pair of Preliminary Warnings : Track and field: Distance runners each win two heat races to advance to Southern Section finals.

Brett Strahan of Hart High prefers 1,600 meters over 3,200 meters. Agoura’s Amy Skieresz likes both races.

Strahan and Skieresz were heat winners Saturday in both the 1,600 and 3,200 in the Southern Section Division I track and field preliminaries at Veterans Stadium.

Strahan had the meet’s fastest time in the the 3,200, running a lifetime-best 9 minutes 14.18 seconds on an afternoon where swirling winds produced gusts as high as 6.57 meters per second during the boys’ 100 meters.

Strahan’s time shaved more than 13 seconds off his best of 9:27.7, set at the Foothill League finals May 5. Four hours earlier, the Wake Forrest-bound Strahan also won his heat of the 1,600 in 4:22.54.

“The 1,600 is my favorite race by far; that’s my main event,” said Strahan, the No. 3 returning runner in the nation in the 1,600 at 4:09.71.

“I was going to try doubling in the 1,600 and 3,200 in the league finals and see how I felt. Then I was going to try it at prelims. Now, I think I’m going to carry them through to the (section) finals.”

In the 3,200, Strahan clocked 63 seconds over the final 400, taking the lead off the final curve and holding off a furious surge from Antonio Arce of Palmdale, Phil Gonzalez of Crescenta Valley and Ayala’s Jeff McLarty. All four runners finished less than three-tenths of a second apart.

Arce finished .10 seconds behind Strahan in in 9:14.28. McLarty and Gonzalez were third and fourth in 9:14.38 and 9:14.41. Jeff Fischer of Thousand Oaks, who had the top mark in the 1,600 (4:21.65) was fifth in 9:15.64.

“On the top of the turn, I said I’m going now and I’m not going to let them get by me,” Strahan said. “I was scared because they were coming on hard. I’ve never really run an all-out two-mile before.”

Skieresz didn’t let it get close in the girls’ 3,200, pulling away with a 5:12 mark over the final 1,600 to win in 10:45.10, the meet’s top mark. Skieresz, who will attend Arizona, also ran 5:04.17 to win her heat of the 1,600 and record the No. 2 time behind Annie Ebiner of St. Lucy’s (5:02.80).

“It was the prelims and I wasn’t looking for a time at all, but I can’t make a decision on which race I’m going to do,” Skieresz said. “I like both the 1,600 and 3,200 so I figured I would just carry it on to Southern Section finals.”

The top nine finishers in the preliminaries advanced to the Southern Section divisional finals Saturday at Cerritos College.

Cheree Hicks of Littlerock was the top qualifier in the girls’ shotput, extending her season best by 19 inches with a heave of an even 40 feet.

Palmdale freshman Kadrina Coffee of Palmdale was a qualifier in the 200 (25.04), 400 (57.57), triple jump (35-3) and as a member of the Falcons’ 1,600-meter relay team, which advanced in 3:57.70.