HIGH SCHOOL TRACK ALEMANY RELAYS : Shorter Route Finds a Friend in Skieresz : Agoura: Sophomore wins the 1,500 in a personal-best time, then decides to forgo 3,200-meter races.

Any chance that Amy Skieresz of Agoura High would concentrate on the 3,200 meters during the 1993 track season evaporated in only 4 minutes 36.23 seconds Saturday in the Alemany Relays at Cal State Northridge.

That’s how long it took the Charger sophomore to win the girls’ 1,500 meters in a personal-best time which is also the fastest outdoor high school clocking in the nation this year.

“I was leaning toward the 1,600 this season and now I definitely am,� Skieresz said. “That’s the race I enjoy the most.�

Skieresz, who finished third in the 1,600 meters in last year’s state championships, shared the early pace-setting duties with senior Erica Sumi of Long Beach Wilson before breaking away with 500 meters remaining.

“We wanted her to run a very even pace,� Agoura Coach Bill Duley said. “We thought she was capable of running 4:35 and she just about did that.�

Skieresz and Sumi timed 72.3 seconds at the 400-meter mark and 2:25.4 at the 800 before Skieresz came through 1,200 meters in 3:39.6.

Skieresz, whose previous best in the 1,500 was 4:40.0, also anchored Agoura to a runaway victory in the girls’ distance-medley relay as the Chargers clocked 12:22.73, another national-leading time.

Junior Kay Nekota led off with a 3:49.1 leg in the 1,320, and she was followed by junior Carrie Malnekoff (63.9 in the 440), senior Kristie Camp (2:22.7 in the 880) and Skieresz (5:07.0 in the mile).

Hart, the three-time defending state Division I boys’ cross-country champion, made a clean sweep of the middle- and long-distance races as senior Paul De La Cerda timed 1:56.77 in the 800, sophomore Brett Strahan ran 4:03.76 in the 1,500, and senior Keith Grossman clocked 8:49.44 in the 3,000.

De La Cerda and Royal senior Bill Neff (1:57.58) battled shoulder to shoulder around the final turn in the 800 before De La Cerda pulled away in the homestretch.

Martin Hilke of Crescenta Valley cleared 6 feet 7 inches to win the boys’ high jump, and Ty Gaines of Palmdale won the boys’ triple jump with a personal best of 47-7.

Andre DeSaussure of Taft nipped Tony Serpas of Birmingham in the boys’ 200, 22.35 seconds to to 22.36, and Jesse Stern of Harvard-Westlake won the pole vault at 14-0.