Dominant History-Making Winners in the FLCCC Series!
   
(l-to-r): California mega-star Bryan Dameworth (Agoura HS); Colorado star Melody Fairchild
ran into the history books; Liz Mueller; Another California legend, Louie Quintana (Arroyo Grande).

1989
      A popular Southern Californian was one winner this year, with a Midwestern dynamo destined for glory in this series, taking the other.
      Bryan Dameworth (Agoura, Ca) had been the first frosh qualifier a few years back to shock everyone, with only a shoe stepped off during the regional his soph year stopping him from being the first four-time qualifier for these National Championships. A tall, smooth striding runner, Dameworth was coached by his stepdad, Bill Duley, with the Agoura program turning out a ton of great runners over about a decade and a half! Bryan took the Boys’ race by 11 seconds over Andy Maris (White River HS, Buckley, Wa) 14:49.9-15:00.9. Junior Louie Quintana (Arroyo Grande, Ca) helped a 1-2-3 West sweep with a third place run of 15:10.0. Mike McWilliams (Grove City Area HS, Pa) was 4th, with Stuart Henderson (McDonald, Oh) 5th at 15:10.9. The West had probably the lowest point total thus far in the series with 21 to win with the Northeast 63, South 67, and Midwest 76 for totals.
The Girls’ contest had Melody Fairchild (Boulder, Colo), a small, powerful runner take the win over four time qualifier Megan Thompson (Hazelwood Central, Mo) 17:05.5-17:12.7, with the ultra-serious Fairchild to come back the next year for something very special in these championships. Carole Zajac (Baldwin Area, Pittsburgh, Pa) was third at 17:22.9, with Zajac going on to a fine collegiate career at Villanova, with two NCAA Cross Country and two Track titles over 10,000 meters for the Wildcats. Sarah Schwald, having moved from Colorado to Mead HS in Spokane, Washington by this time, waqs 4th at 17:35.3, with Celeste Susnis (Kankakee Valley, Wheatfield, In) last year’s champ 5th at 17:39.2. The Midwest totaled 34 points this year, with the Northeast 49, West 54, and South 86 in the scoring. Future American great runner Deena Drossin (Agoura, Ca), a teammate of winner Bryan Dameworth, was 13th on the Girls’ side at 18:14.3.

1990
     "In a zone,” was the way to describe one winner in 1990, with the most impressive individual performance in the history of the series welcoming viewers as the Kinney Series turned into a new decade with its twelfth annual competition.
Melody Fairchild (Boulder, Colo) was a piston-like slight star out of the Midwest region who was undefeated against high-schoolers for two years, and she had murdelized (if that is a word) the Midwest Regional CR (set by a collegian) by 32 seconds while winning by 80 seconds in that competition!! She had been second and first the two previous years, so she perhaps could concentrate on history here. Her race was run first at 10:00 a.m. on an especially warm morning, with the second place finisher, Jeannie Rothman (Westlake HS, Westlake Village, Ca) at 17:38.4 probably the slowest runner-up finish in the series, and Jeannie and others were of good quality in the field! Fairchild had one of those days that I hope we all have had the pleasure of observing, where one very good runner is able to separate themselves from the mundane effort to go for the win themselves against a good pack, and head out on onto a special chase into history. The pig-tailed dynamo rolled over the San Diego course to win by a minute in 16:39.3, which is short of the CR, but check the margin of victory, which was at just short of a minute, with no until Amber Trotter a decade later coming close to this domination! All there were aware of the electricity that poured off this young lady whose effort seemed totally the opposite of her mild general manner of the 5 foot two and a half inch star! Amanda White (Dulaney HS, Timonium, Md) was third at 17:40.7, with Amanda the daughter of long-time NFL linebacker Stan White and a top swimmer in addition to her running. Leanne Burke (Randolph, Mass) was 4th at 17:44.7, with Veronica Barajas (Channel Islands, Calif) 5th at 17:47.5.
The West nipped the Northeast 31-34, with the Midwest 66 and South 122 this date on the Girls’ scoring.
On the Boys’ side that 1989 it was another Californian, mid-state coastal star Louie Quintana (Arroyo Grande), a three-time qualifier here, undefeated thus far during the year, who romped to a 75 meter win at 15:07.3 over Jason Casiano (Portage, In) 15:17.2. Louie had run 4:07.20 for 1600 meters as a junior and won races as far away from home as Virginia during the Fall, as top prep teams started to do a bit more traveling far away from home for “in-season” races. Dave Hartman (Canyon, Canyon Country, Ca) was third at 15:21.0, with Hartman currently the Cross-Country and distance coach at Texas A&M. Alan Culpepper (Coronado, El Paso, Texas), currently a top Olympic level US Star, was fourth at 15:25.3, with Kevin Hogan (Longwood HS, NY) 5th at 15:25.7. The West totalled 41 points, with the Midwest 52, South 59, and Northeast 65 this date.

1991
       It was another year of the tiny dynamo on the Girls’ side in 1991, with a Midwesterner coming in and trouncing the competition on the Boys’ side this year.
       Liz Mueller (Waterford, Ct), all 5-02.75 inches and 96 pounds was a real mitey-mite, who was a 2:08 800 meter runner, and came out the winner of the Northeast Regional to dominate the national finals with a 20 second win over Amanda White (Dulaney HS, Timonium, Md) 17:21.0-17:43.3. Liz was a “different strokes” soul who amazingly (at her body size) going into women’s boxing later and achieving some real fame–one sensed a feisty side to the tiny New Englander, but boxing???????? Liz really did it (check out link!) - Kate Landau (Tri Valley Central, Grahamsville, NY), one of a great group of runners that came from the small New York high school of Coaches Missy and Joe Iatauro, was third at 17:54.0, with Heidi van Borkulo (Blanchet, Seattle, Wa) 4th at 17:55.8, and Jennifer Rhines (Liverpool, NY) 5th at 17:59.1. Rhines is still active as one of the top US Olympic level distance runners. Mueller led the Northeast to a low 21 point winning total, with the West 47, Midwest 64, and South 81 this year in scoring.
The Boys’ race in 1991 was the property of Corey Ihmels of Williston HS in North Dakota, with the midwesterner, who would attend Iowa State University with some success, a 15:03.6-15:18.7 winner over Jeff Wilson (Newbury Park, Ca). Brian Hesson (Caldwell, Oh) was third at 15:21.9, with Angel Martinez (San Gabriel, Ca) 15:29.3 and Margarito Casillas (Hoover, Glendale, Ca) 5th at 15:30.6. This year the West scored 30, with the Midwest 45, South 68, and Northeast 83.