Kick Gives Obwocha Victory in 5,000

Alan Dehlinger figured that his only chance to win the Independence Day Classic 5,000-meter road race in Santa Clarita on Tuesday was to push the early pace and break away from his pursuers before the final 400 meters.

“I knew it was going to be hot, so I decided to force the pace after the first half-mile,” Dehlinger, 28, of Reno said. “I decided that I would push the pace early and every time someone tried to pass me, I would push it again. I wanted to make them play my game.”

Samson Obwocha, a Kenyan native from Van Nuys, beat Dehlinger at his own game, however, surging away from Dehlinger in the final 100 meters to win in 14 minutes, 25 seconds.

Obwocha’s time broke Mark Luevano’s course record of 14:36 set in 1986, as did Dehlinger’s 14:27.

Obwocha, who has personal bests of 1:48 in the 800 meters and 3:36 in the 1,500, correctly reasoned that if he remained in the lead pack, his superior speed would prove decisive in the final stages of the race if it came down to a kick--which it did.

“I knew I had it won when we got to the track,” said the 34-year-old Obwocha, the NCAA Division II cross-country champion for East Texas State in 1985 and ’86. “I figured it would be very hard to beat me if it came down to the last 400.”

It was estimated that 600 runners took part in the race run in 90-degree temperatures.

Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge didn’t need a kick to win the women’s division, breaking away from her opponents after the first mile and winning in 16:50, a time that cut 18 seconds off Marie Rollins’ 1986 course record of 17:08.

Arreola, the 1988 and ’89 NCAA Division II champion in the 3,000, completed the first mile in 5:30 and picked up the pace thereafter, clocking 16:21 at three miles.

“I wanted to run harder,” said Arreola, who will compete in the 3,000 in the Olympic Sports Festival in Oklahoma City later this month. “But I didn’t see the two-mile mark and I wasn’t really sure how far into the race I was until we hit the track. . . . Even then, I held back until I was sure that was the finish line.”

Gretchen Lohr-Cruz of Glendale (17:37) and defending champion Nancy Bowman of Northridge (17:38) rounded out the top three.

After starting near Newhall Memorial Park, the race wound along surface streets before finishing on the Hart High track.

Mark Souza, who ran a personal-best 8:31.29 in a 3,000-meter steeplechase last year, led for the first half-mile before Dehlinger took the lead. After a mile Souza (4:37) led an eight-man pack that included Obwocha, Puerto Rican Olympian Carmelo Rios and former UCLA standout Richie Brownsberger.

At two miles, the lead group had dwindled to Dehlinger, Obwocha and Rios, and 500 yards later Obwocha made a mild surge on an uphill portion of the course that dropped Rios, who finished third in 14:38.

“It wasn’t a hard surge,” said Rios, who has run 8:28.89 in the steeplechase. “But it caught me by surprise. I wasn’t concentrating at the time, and once they opened that gap it was too late.”

Dehlinger surged several more times before reaching the track--and the final 350 yards of the race--but he was unable shake Obwocha, who has run 8:14.17 in the steeplechase.

“I felt good,” Dehlinger said. “But I figured I had to have a 10-meter lead with 200 to go to make it close.”

Instead, Obwocha shifted into overdrive with 100 meters left and won going away.

“I enjoy running from behind,” said Obwocha, who was born and raised in Kisii, Kenya, before moving to the United States in 1982. “I feel more confident running from behind. I have a lot of confidence in my kick.”

That much was obvious Tuesday.