Skieresz Looks Down the Lane

What’s next for University of Arizona distance runner Amy Skieresz?

The Wildcat sophomore and 1995 graduate of Agoura High couldn’t answer that after romping to the women’s title in the NCAA cross-country championships in Tucson on Nov. 25.

But she can now.

“She definitely wants to try and make the U.S. [World Championships] team in the 5,000 [meters],” Arizona Coach Dave Murray said. “Last year, she went to the Olympic trials with the attitude that, hey, it’s nice to be here, blah, blah, blah.

“But this year she’s going to have a definite goal of making some kind of U.S. team.”

Skieresz ran 16 minutes 22.99 seconds to place 11th in the 5,000 in the Olympic trials in June, but it was a disappointing end to a freshman track season. She clocked a school-record 15:45.59 in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in April, but was sidelined for several weeks with a case of bursitis near her left Achilles’ tendon.

Olympians Lynn Jennings (15:32.72) and Vickie Huber (15:34.94) of the United States and Kathy Butler (15:36.76) of Canada finished ahead of Skieresz at Mt. SAC, but her performance made her one of the favorites for the NCAA title.

Unfortunately, the injury forced her to miss the Pacific 10 Conference and NCAA championships. It also left her at less than her best at the Olympic trials in Atlanta, where she said her main goal was not to “make a complete fool of myself.”

An 11th-place finish gave Skieresz something to build on as she began training for a cross-country season that resulted in seven victories in seven races and an average winning margin of 30 seconds.

Skieresz won the NCAA championships by 16 seconds over runner-up Marie McMahon of Providence and her time of 17:04 over the 5,100-meter course broke her own course mark by 21 seconds.

All of the above has led to some big expectations for 1997.

“I definitely think that she is capable of running much faster that she did at Mt. SAC,” Murray said. “Based on her cross-country season, I think she’s capable of running 20 to 25 seconds faster under the right conditions.”