Skieresz Will Be Missing in Action

Sophomore Amy Skieresz of the University of Arizona will be notably absent from the women’s 5,000 meters during the invitational distance portion of the Mt. San Antonio College Relays tonight.

Skieresz, a 1995 graduate of Agoura High, ran a then school-record time of 15 minutes 45.59 seconds to finish fourth at Mt. SAC last year, but she will be competing in a four-team meet against Washington State, Indianapolis and host Oregon today.

“Mt. SAC is a great place to run, but we still think she can get an [NCAA championship] qualifying time in Oregon,” Arizona Coach Dave Murray said about Skieresz, 1996 NCAA cross-country champion.

Skieresz will follow her 5,000-meter race in Oregon with her first competitive 10,000 at the Penn Relays on Thursday.

“I think it’s a natural event for her,” Murray said.

“I think she’ll do very well in it.”

Time to heal: Senior Margarito Casillas of Arizona, the 1992 state Division I cross-country champion for Hoover High, is using this season as his redshirt track year after undergoing surgery in February for compartment syndrome.

Casillas missed the 1996 cross-country season because of recurrent pain in his calf muscles that appeared to have been caused by compartment syndrome, a phenomena which occurs when the flow of blood to the calves is restricted due to the muscle swelling up against its surrounding sheath during exercise.

To alleviate the problem, surgical cuts are made in the sheaths, which allow the muscles to expand during exercise without restricting the blood flow to them.