HIGH SCHOOL CROSS-COUNTRY / NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Arms Betray Camarillo’s Hernandez

SAN DIEGO —  In the previous two cross-country meets, his legs had felt dead during the final stages of the race. Saturday, it was Eleazar Hernandez’s arms that couldn’t propel him any faster in the Foot Locker national championships at Morley Field.

The Camarillo High senior was one of five runners in contention for the title with 800 meters remaining, but as he began his ascent on the final hill, his arms lacked the snap that usually drives him up hills as fast as anyone.

“When I hit that hill, my arms were just really tired,” Hernandez said. “I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Nonetheless, Hernandez held on to place fifth with a time of 15 minutes 9.5 seconds over a course that was 60-70 yards short of 5,000 meters.

Antonio Arce of Palmdale passed three runners in the final 200 meters to finish seventh in 15:11.8.

“I had a really good kick, but I just didn’t feel as good as I had hoped,” Arce said. “With all the turns and the surging going on, I couldn’t get comfortable. I just never got into a good rhythm.”

Arce, Hernandez and Brett Strahan of Hart, who placed third, fourth and fifth in the West regional in Fresno on Dec. 3, held down the 15th-17th positions during a 4:47 opening mile but became spread out after that.

Hernandez was in fifth at the two-mile mark (9:50) with Arce 10th at 9:53 and Strahan 20th and tiring.

Shortly thereafter, Hernandez joined Matt Downin of the Pinkerton Academy in Hampstead, N.H.; John Mortimer of Londonderry, N.H.; Brandon Leslie of Gallup, N.M.; and Tim Broe of East Peoria, Ill., in the lead pack. Those five ran together until the final hill.

Leslie opened a five-meter lead on Mortimer and Downin near the top of the hill, but the New Hampshire duo passed him on the descent.

The self-described best friends raced stride for stride for the next 500 meters before Downin pulled away in the final 100 to clock 14:58.3. Mortimer was second in 15:03.1 with Leslie third at 15:06.8.

Strahan finished 26th in 15:45.3.

Amy Skieresz of Agoura and Elaine Canchola of Nordhoff were both shooting for top-10 finishes in the girls’ race but fell short of their goal.

Skieresz finished 14th in 17:43.6 and freshman Canchola placed 19th in 17:57.9.

Santa Rosa sophomore Julia Stamps was a runaway winner in 16:41.9.

Skieresz went out conservatively in hopes of working her way up through the pack as she had in 1992 when she finished third, but she never got higher than 12th.

“I could see a group of girls ahead of me (at two miles),” Skieresz said. “But I couldn’t quite catch them. My legs just felt very flat.”

Canchola, the runner-up in the West regional, was among the top 10 runners after the first mile, but she dropped to 17th at two miles before finishing 19th.