Vujic Pays Off at Length for CSUN in Track Finals

When Sasha Vujic signed a letter of intent last summer with Cal State Northridge, he was the least touted of the Matadors’ three incoming distance runners.

But Don Strametz, the CSUN coach, believed that the Burroughs High graduate would ultimately be the best of a group that included Jeff Gilkey of Arroyo High in El Monte and Mike Glaze of Notre Dame.

Gilkey and Glaze had better credentials than Vujic, who came to CSUN with a best of 9 minutes, 14.74 seconds in the 3,200 meters, but Strametz was confident that things would be different this season.

And they have been.

Glaze has stopped running altogether while Gilkey has had a solid if unspectacular freshman season. Vujic, meanwhile, has made an assault on the all-time Northridge freshman list in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 meters.

Running in his first 10,000 on a track, Vujic set a freshman school record of 30:44.38 Friday to place second in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Vujic’s effort not only lowered the previous best of 30:58.84 set by former Chatsworth High standout Lance Packer in 1978, but it gave the Matadors some badly needed momentum heading into the final day of the meet.

“That was a big boost in the arm,” Strametz said. “That puts us back in the hunt.”

Although Northridge was only fourth after the first day with 28 points, the Matadors are expected to score big in the sprints, hurdles and decathlon today.

San Luis Obispo was the first-day leader with 61 points, followed by Cal State L. A. (54) and Cal Poly Pomona (32).

San Luis Obispo, the eight-time defending champion, led the women’s division with 77 points, followed by Pomona (43), Northridge (28), Cal State Bakersfield (24) and Chapman (8).

Prior to the 10,000, the final men’s event, it had not been a prosperous day for Northridge.

San Luis Obispo had swept the first five places in the pole vault, three-time defending champion Cal State Los Angeles had the top four finishers in the long jump, and both schools were expected to score well in the 10,000.

But San Luis Obispo’s distance runners turned in disappointing performances and Cal State L. A. suffered a setback when Martin Sandoval was disqualified--for shoving during the race--after finishing third in 30:45.83.

Although he ran well, Vujic does not expect to run another 10,000 in the near future.

“Now I know why I never run that race,” he said. “For the first 19 laps, you feel like you’re going so slow, and then, suddenly, it gets real fast in the last six laps.”

Two other Northridge freshmen performed well.

Garrett Noel, formerly of Crespi, improved his freshman school record to 210 feet, 4 inches to place third in the javelin. Former Alemany standout Lisa Gill placed second in the long jump with a wind-aided mark of 19-0 3/4 and was second in the heptathlon after the first day with 3,031 points.

Lolita Pile, the defending CCAA champion in the triple jump, won the long jump title with a 19-2 effort.

Pile will compete today in the triple jump and 200 and Darcy Arreola will attempt to defend her titles in the 800 and 1,500 meters.

Tyrone Jeffries is expected to be the workhorse for the CSUN men.

Jeffries will compete in the 100, 200, 110-meter high hurdles, and run legs on both relays.