HIGH SCHOOL TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Skieresz Defeats Rival but Can’t Lick Stamps : State meet: Agoura standout no match for Santa Rosa sophomore in star-studded girls’ 3,200 field.

Amy Skieresz of Agoura High finally defeated nemesis Courtney Pugmire of Anaheim Esperanza in the State track and field championships at Cerritos College on Saturday, but there was no turning back Santa Rosa sophomore Julia Stamps in the girls’ 3,200 meters.

Pugmire, Skieresz and 1994 champion Stamps entered the race as the three top-ranked runners in the nation, but Stamps powered away from Skieresz and Pugmire in the final 1,600 to win in 10 minutes 15.27 seconds before 11,362.

The time was slower than the national-leading 10:14.48 Pugmire ran to defeat Skieresz (10:16.42) in the Southern Section Masters Meet eight days earlier, but there was no question about Stamps’ dominance as Skieresz placed second in 10:28.23 and Pugmire third in 10:38.40.

Skieresz had finished second to Pugmire in three previous races.

“I’m disappointed with the time because we all had such fast times coming in,” Skieresz said. “But the pace was too slow. I was hoping that [Stamps] was going to take it out, but I think that she wanted me to take it.”

Because of their indecisiveness, Stamps, Skieresz and Pugmire reached the 1,600 mark in a slow 5:21.8 before Stamps ran a 70.8-second fifth lap to blow the race open. Her last 1,600 was an impressive 4:53.5.

“I was pretty sure she was going to go when I heard the [1,600] time,” Skieresz said of Stamps.

Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks finished fourth in 10:46.18.

The Lancer junior was in eighth place at 1,600 meters and in sixth with 200 to go, but ran down Molly Mehlberg of Peninsula and Tracy Cohn of Bakersfield Stockdale in the final straightaway.

Ventura’s Nicole Campbell also used a strong kick to finish fourth in the girls’ 800, with a region-leading 2:13.46.

The Cougar sophomore was seventh entering the homestretch, but surged past three runners to record her third personal best in the last four races.

A member of Ventura’s varsity basketball team, Campbell concentrated on the sprints during the early part of the season before slashing more than four seconds off her 800 best in the last two weeks.

“If you had told me before the season that I was going to finish fourth in State, I would have said, ‘Sure. Sure I will,’ ” Campbell said. “After last year, my goal was just to get here, so this is great. I’m really excited.”

In other events, Palmdale ran a school-record 3:47.78 to finish fifth in the girls’ 1,600 relay, and the Falcons’ Antonio Arce placed fifth in the 3,200 and sixth in the 1,600.

Arce outkicked Mike Stember of Carmichael Jesuit in the 3,200, finishing in 9:13.98 to Stember’s 9:14.02. But no one could keep pace with Stember in the 1,600 as the junior ran 4:04.00 to win by more than 4 1/2 seconds.

Brett Strahan of Hart led the 1,600 field through 800 meters in 2:05.8, but Stember ran his last 800 in 1:56.9 to stun his opponents.

“It just shocked me,” said Arce, who ran 4:12.71. “I said, ‘How could he just pass us like that?’ ”

High jumpers Dale Fowle of Saugus and Liz Giltner of Chaminade and triple-jumpers Steve Williams of San Fernando and Neisha Henderson of Cleveland finished sixth in their respective events.

Fowle and Giltner tied their personal bests of 6 feet 8 inches and 5-8 in the boys’ and girls’ high jump.

Williams, the state leader in the boys’ triple jump at 49-1, produced a disappointing 47-1, but Henderson recorded a region-leading 38-3 3/4 in girls’ competition.

Andrea Wasden of Rio Mesa did not run in the girls’ 100 high hurdles and 300 lows because of a sprained right ankle she suffered at end of the high hurdles in Friday’s prelims.

Ronney Jenkins of Hueneme placed a disappointing seventh in the boys’ long jump at 22-2 1/2, and Ramsey Jay of Ventura was ninth in the boys’ 400 in 49.89.

Jay and Hart’s Strahan (4:18.91 in the 1,600) each placed fourth in their respective events as juniors, but finished ninth Saturday.

Muir, led by sophomore Obea Moore, and Long Beach Poly, led by senior Andrea Anderson, won the boys’ and girls’ team titles.