South Coast Road Races : Bishop Is 10K’s First Finisher

Steve Bishop defeated a fellow West Covina resident, Matt Ebiner, Sunday to win Costa Mesa’s South Coast 10-kilometer run in 29 minutes 26 seconds.

Bishop, 28, a former Montana State runner, defeated Ebiner, 26, an assistant running coach at Mt. San Antonio College, for the second straight race. Ebiner finished second in 29:58.

It was the fourth time that Bishop and Ebiner have raced each other this year. Ebiner won the first two races.

Carrie Garritson, a 10-year-old from Fullerton, won the women’s 10K in 35:46. Suzi Morris (36:22) was second and Beth Milewski (36:50) was third.

“There wasn’t very much competition here,” Garritson said. “The only runner I was really worried about was Beth Milewski (a former Cal State Northridge competitor), but I didn’t see her at all. It was a pretty good race for me, but it wasn’t my fastest time.” Garritson’s best mark is 34:54.

In the 5K, Ralph Garibaldi of Newport Beach won in 14:52. Jamie Oman was second in 15:22 and Mike Fisher was third in 15:30.

The women’s 5K was won by Cindy Nagle in 17:13. Kathy Kanes was second in 17:25 and Harolene Walters was third in 18 minutes.

Bishop and Ebiner were among a group of runners battling for the early lead in the men’s 10K. But about two miles into the race, they took command, with Bishop using a strong finishing kick to win.

“I expected the race to go a lot faster,” Bishop said. ‘I just wanted to stay near the front for as long as I could, but the pace didn’t pick up, which suited me just fine. Then, at the two-mile mark, I started to feel that I could win this thing and my confidence began to grow. It narrowed down to me and Matt, and then I sprinted at the end to beat him back.”

Said Ebiner: “I thought I was going to go a lot faster than I did. I felt really good at the two-mile mark, but as the race wore on, I realized that he was stronger. I thought I would be able to run at least as fast as Steve did today, but I guess that wasn’t to be.”