Skieresz on Course for First Meeting With Mortensen

Arizona sophomore Amy Skieresz won her third consecutive race of the cross-country season last Saturday with a course-record performance in the Maine Invitational.

The 1995 graduate of Agoura High clocked 16 minutes 33.1 seconds over the 5,000-meter distance to win by 46 seconds.

Skieresz will go for victory No. 4 on Saturday when Arizona hosts the Pre-NCAA Championship meet at Dell Urich Golf Course in Tucson.

The meet is expected to mark the first collegiate race between Skieresz and UCLA freshman Kim Mortensen, who graduated from Thousand Oaks High in June.

Mortensen set a national high school record of 9:48.59 in the 3,200 meters in May and has won her first three collegiate races, including the Stanford Invitational on Oct. 5.

Game face: No wonder Maegan Thomas has picked up the nickname “Smiley.”

Since she graduated from Agoura High, where she was named to The Times’ All-Valley team, Thomas has made a name--and a nickname--for herself as a freshman on the Humboldt State women’s volleyball team.

Thomas has 79 blocks and is on pace for 112, which would break the school single-season record of 101, held by Humboldt Coach Tina Raddish.

“She’s pretty cool about it,” said Thomas, a 6-foot middle blocker. “She just says if I get too close, I might see the end of the bench.”

Thomas said she received her moniker because she always smiles, even during conditioning. The name became official when a stranger walked up to her on the street at the Hawaii-Hilo tournament and said, “Hey, Smiley.”

Thomas, uh, smiled.

“I looked at my coach and said, ‘Did you tell him to say that?’

“The nickname pretty much stuck after that.”

Bad break: Former Royal High setter Heidi Ferguson will take a medical redshirt season this year at Hawaii-Hilo.

Last year’s Marmonte League most valuable player, Ferguson, a freshman, suffered a stress fracture in her lower right leg. She will still have four years of eligibility.

Passing fancy: Idaho senior quarterback Ryan Fien, a former Royal High and UCLA player, is averaging 369.2 yards of offense per game, second in NCAA Division I-A. He is 15th in passing efficiency at 147.99.