TRACK AND FIELD / JOHN ORTEGA : Arkansas’ Drossin Opted to Stop Running to Give Her Career a Fresh Start

A five-month hiatus from running has Deena Drossin of the University of Arkansas again training with the zest and zeal that propelled her to a runner-up finish in the 1992 NCAA Division I cross-country championships.

The former Agoura High standout placed sixth and 12th in the 1993 and ’94 NCAA championships to help the Razorbacks to second- and third-place finishes, but a series of nagging injuries and Drossin’s negative reaction to them had taken the enjoyment out of running.

“It started at the beginning of my junior year,” she said. “I was running, but I was just going through the motions. My head wasn’t into it. I was just letting my body take over, but it wasn’t really fair to myself or to my teammates, who were counting on me.”

Needing a break, Drossin wanted to be a redshirt in the 1994 cross-country and 1995 track seasons, but Arkansas Coach Lance Harter talked her into running cross-country because the NCAA championships were going to be held on the Razorbacks’ home course.

She earned All-American honors for the fourth consecutive year in the NCAA meet, but the burned-out feeling that accompanied that race made Drossin wonder if 11 years of racing had tapped dry her competitive well.

“I was hoping that I just needed a break,” she said. “But I was also scared that my last run might really have been my last run.”

Drossin didn’t miss running “one bit” during the first two or three months of her layoff, but her love for the sport returned at the end of the 1995 collegiate track season. She is currently running 55 miles a week and looking forward to the 1996 track season when she will be a fifth-year senior shooting for the NCAA title in the 10,000 meters.

“I’ve been going full force for the last month and a half and I’m excited about it,” she said. “I feel strong and I feel rested. I’m enjoying running for the same reasons I did when I first started.”

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Kristin Dunn underwent arthroscopic surgery for the second time in five weeks Tuesday, but the Cal State Northridge record holder in the women’s javelin is optimistic about the future.

Although Dunn had surgery to repair damaged ligaments in her left--throwing--elbow this week after having her right knee operated on last month, she plans to compete through at least the 2000 season.

“I wouldn’t have had [the elbow surgery] if I didn’t plan to go through 2000,” Dunn said. “The debate was whether I wanted to put my life on hold for the next five years to focus on the javelin and the answer is yes. I enjoy competing that much and my coach and I think I can do some big things in the upcoming years.”

Dunn increased the Northridge record to 176 feet 4 inches during her final season at CSUN and finished sixth in the NCAA championships and 10th in the USA Track & Field championships.

At 22, she is one of the top young throwers in the United States.

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Kristina Mataafa of Cal State Northridge will represent American Samoa in the World University Games in Fukuoka, Japan, Aug. 28-Sept. 3.

Mataafa, who is eligible to represent Samoa because her parents were born there, has not competed since finishing ninth in the discus in the NCAA championships in early June. A full-time job also has limited her training this summer, but she is looking forward to competing in the meet.

“I’m just going to go over there and see what I can do,” she said. “It should be a good experience.”

Mataafa’s personal bests of 167-1 in the discus and 47-9 1/4 in the shotput rank second and fourth on the all-time Northridge list.

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With the signing of Nordhoff High’s Javier Ramirez and Agoura’s John Greene, the Cal State Northridge men’s cross-country program could be on the road back to respectability.

The Matadors fielded several top-10 teams at the NCAA Division II level in the 1970s and ‘80s but fell on lean times after moving to Division I in 1990.

A lack of scholarship money for distance runners played a big part in Northridge’s demise, but the student-fee referendum passed earlier this year has given Coach Don Strametz the funds needed to pursue runners such as Ramirez--second in the 1994 State Division III cross-country championships--and Greene--third in the State Division II finals.

“It’ll be nice to have a men’s cross-country program again,” Strametz said.

“I just haven’t had much money for distance runners in the past few years.”

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Distance runners Amy Skieresz and Antonio Arce, June graduates of Agoura and Palmdale highs, and 400 runner Kadrina Coffee, who will begin her sophomore year at Palmdale next month, have been named to USA Today’s 1995 high school All-American track and field team.

The Arizona-bound Skieresz placed second in the 3,200 in the State championships in June and her personal best of 10 minutes 16.42 seconds ranks third on the yearly national list.

Arce’s season best of 9:04.13 in the 3,200 ranks 12th on the boys’ national list, but his victory in the prestigious Golden West Invitational earned him All-American recognition.

Coffee overcame an asthma attack in May to finish second in the USA Track & Field Junior (ages 14-19) championships in June with a personal best of 53.96.