Maybe it's the guardian angel pin she received two years ago from her best friend and wears at every race. Maybe it's the bow in her hair she has worn in every race since high school.

Maybe it's that when the coach tells her to run 10 miles, she runs 11. Maybe it's her natural talent.

Whatever the secret is, it has enabled UA sophomore Amy Skieresz to dominate cross country competition and has made her a heavy favorite to win the NCAA Championships today at Dell Urich Golf Course in Tucson.

Last year, in her first two collegiate meets, the Jammin' Invitational and Illinois Invitational, she took second place.

After that, Skieresz (pronounced "skiers") took first place at the Mountain West Classic, Arizona State Invitational, Pacific 10 Championships and District VIII Championships. She finished second at the NCAA Championships in Ames, Iowa, the best finish ev er for a UA woman runner. She was named an All-America and the Pac-10 cross country athlete of the year.

Her freshman year set up the next one nicely, and this season, Skieresz has left everyone else watching her back.

She has taken first in every meet this year and did it in impressive fashion. In the first meet of the year, the Jammin' Invitational, she was 44 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. She also outdistanced the competition at the Mountain West Classi c, recording the second fastest time there ever.

Along the way this season she became the second female runner ever to win the Pac-10 Championships two years in a row. In her last meet, she cruised by everyone at the District VIII Championships, beating the second place finisher by 47 seconds.

Dating back to last year, she has won 10 of her last 11 races and has never finished lower than second place in her career.

Still, Skieresz is a little surprised at her success.

"It is going a lot better than I expected," she said. "I didn't think that things would be going this well, but I am happy that they are."

Every time she steps up to the starting line, it is safe to assume that everyone is gunning for her, wanting to be known as the runner that ruined her perfect season.

"It's a lot of pressure," Skieresz said. "I get pretty nervous - Coach (Dave Murray) would tell you that. I worry about everyone in the race.

"Usually when I get nervous I talk a lot more. That's what the team tells me. Usually when people get nervous they get quiet, but I tend to get excited. It's not even nervousness. I just get excited about the race and try to get everybody excited."

Regardless of what happens at the championships, Skieresz, who also competes in distance events during track season, said she has not put much thought into what she would like to do the rest of her career here.

"Last year I got injured in track," she said. "It kind of made me reevaluate things. I don't set goals too far because you don't know what can happen. Last year I was ready for the Olympic Trials and Nationals and then I got injured. Everything got cut sh ort."

Before an injury forced her out of the Pac-10 and national championships in track last season, she had set a school record in the 5,000-meters with a time of 15 minutes, 45.59 seconds, good enough for an NCAA automatic-qualifying time and a spot at the Ol ympic Trials in Atlanta, where she placed 11th in the 5,000m.

"I was in really bad shape because I was injured and hadn't run too much before that," she said.

"I had dreamed of that since I was little. To line up on the starting line with people like Mary Decker and Lynn Jennings is pretty incredible. It's kind of like playing basketball and going up against Michael Jordan."

Murray said he sees her as one of the next big American stars and a potential favorite in the 2000 or 2004 Olympics.

Before anyone puts her on the medal stand, though, Skieresz will have to survive this week.

"It's hard," she said. "It's been a bad week. Just stuff with school, it all seems to come at once. I had a paper due and it's the last thing you want to do. You just have to get through it."

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