Top Field Lined Up for July 4 Race

Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge, Gretchen Lohr-Cruz of Glendale, Nancy Bowman of Northridge and Sheila Van Leeuwen of Santa Clarita head the list of women’s entries in the Independence Day Classic 5,000-meter road race at Newhall Park in Santa Clarita on July 4.

Carmelo Rios of Puerto Rico and Samson Obwocha of Kenya will head the men’s field in the race, which starts at 9 a.m.

Arreola placed seventh in the 1,500 meters at The Athletics Congress championships in Houston two weeks ago and Lohr-Cruz finished second in the women’s division of the Los Angeles Marathon in March.

Bowman was a five-time Division II All-American in cross-country and track at CSUN from 1985-87, and Van Leeuwen is a former UCLA standout who has run 4 minutes, 16.24 seconds for 1,500 meters.

Rios, who ran at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, was a member of the 1984 Puerto Rican Olympic team in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Obwocha won consecutive NCAA Division II cross-country titles for East Texas State in 1985 and ’86.