Depleted Teams Give Northridge the Run of the Track

Saturday’s double-dual track meet among Cal State Northridge, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Chapman looked competitive on paper. In reality it was a letdown.

The Cal Poly squad that competed at CSUN was a sparse one at best. The majority of the Mustangs’ top athletes competed at the Bruce Jenner meet Saturday in San Jose. Therefore, it was no surprise that the Northridge men and women easily defeated Cal Poly.

In the men’s meet, CSUN (7-2) defeated Cal Poly, 104-49, and Chapman, 131-8. In women’s scoring CSUN (8-1) beat Cal Poly, 73-52, and Chapman, 102-21.

Northridge Coach Don Strametz wasn’t taking Saturday’s meet too seriously, either. “Low key is the best way to describe it,” he said Friday. “We’re going to rest some of our people and many of the ones that do compete will run in off events.”

That’s why Dave Walsh, who qualified for the Division II championships last week in the 5,000 meters, doubled in the 800 and 1,500 meters, and Darcy Arreola, an 800- and 1,500-meter runner, ran the 800, 400 and a leg on the mile relay.

Despite the relaxed atmosphere, there were some noteworthy performances.

In the men’s meet, Walsh won the 1,500 with a 3:54.26 clocking, Chris Fisher won the 400 intermediate hurdles with a personal best of 53.76 and Doug Sullivan clocked 1:53.80 to win the 800. Anthony Mudy of Cal Poly jumped 6-10 to win the high jump.

Cal Poly’s Gladees Prieur highlighted the women’s action with a 4:26.45 win in the 1,500 meters. Lolita Pile led Northridge with victories in the 100 (12.29), 200 (26.12) and triple jump (39-3) and Arreola won the 800 with a 2:12.02 clocking.

Walsh’s 1,500 performance was a impressive solo effort. He opened up a five-yard lead on the field with a 63.3 first lap and lengthened his advantage to the finish. He clocked 2:03.2 at the 880 and 3:05.8 for 1,320 yards.

He appeared headed for a Division II qualifying mark (3:51.30) but slowed noticeably in the last 100 meters. His time of 3:54.26 was a season best even though his last lap was his slowest of the race, 65.66 seconds.

“I felt like I was ready to run 3:50,” the Canyon High graduate said later. “But my legs just gave out on me in the last 100 yards. My lungs felt fine but I couldn’t run any faster.

“It would’ve been nice to have someone pushing me.”

Chris Fisher could have said the same about the intermediates. The freshman from Notre Dame High led from start to finish and lowered his personal best by more than six-tenths of a second.

Unlike Walsh and Fisher, Sullivan had plenty of competition in the 800. He led the field along with teammate Will James through a 57.2 first lap.

Sullivan took the lead down the backstretch and passed 600 meters in 1:24.6 with James and Walsh in hot pursuit. But Sullivan pulled away in the final 200 meters to clock a season best of 1:53.80.

Richard Clark (1:54.82) of Cal Poly passed James (1:55.34) and Walsh (1:56.02) in the final 50 meters to place second.

Prieur’s victory in the 1,500 was her first of the year. The two-time defending Division II 1,500 champion had been plagued early in the season by a hormonal imbalance that had slowed her training.

Saturday was her first real test of the season, according to her coach, Lance Harter. “She’s starting to look like her old self again in workouts,” Harter said.

She clocked a 71.1 Saturday in the 440, a 2:23.9 in the 880 and a 3:35.8 in the 1,320. She ran the final 300 meters in 51 seconds for a season-best 4:26.45 and qualified easily for the Division II championships.