COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Jimenez Helps Glendale Relay Place Third

Less than an hour before the start of the women’s 4 x 800-meter relay at the Southern California Relays at East Los Angeles College on Thursday, Sophia Hill, the third leg on Glendale College’s team, hadn’t arrived at the stadium and Nicole Jimenez was getting worried.

“I was wondering if I was going to have to run two legs,” said Jimenez, the Western State Conference cross-country champion last fall.

Hill eventually arrived, but in any event one Jimenez leg was sufficient to spark Glendale to a third-place finish in 10 minutes 8.0 seconds. Jimenez ran a 2:23.4 opening leg to catapult the Vaqueros to a 15-meter lead. Terry Sandoval grabbed the lead for East L.A. on the second leg and the Huskies went on to win in 9:51.2. Mt. San Antonio was second in 9:55.9.

“Nicole was serious, she would have run twice if Sophia didn’t show up,” Glendale Coach Ed Lopez said about Jimenez, who has qualified for next month’s Southern California prelims at 5,000 meters.

Jimenez didn’t have to wait long for an opportunity to run again.

Thirty minutes later, she ran the first leg on Glendale’s 1,600-meter relay team, which placed fifth in 4:22.5.

Jimenez plans to run in the 1,500, the 3,000 and the 5,000 in the Western State Conference meet.

Most of Glendale’s athletes ran more than one event in preparation for the WSC championships to be held in two weeks in Bakersfield.

“We’re getting ready for the conference meet,” Lopez said. “We’re training through this meet and we’re going to rest next week.”

In other events, the 4 x 1,600 relay team of Fred Mirzaian, Joe Jung, Sal Garfias and Nick Lugo placed third in 18:12.0 behind Mt. San Antonio, which won in 17:21.7 and Orange Coast (17:49.1).

Jung, Lugo and Garfias came back in the distance medley to team with Phil Simpson, who ran 49.3 for his 400-meter leg, to finish fifth in 10:46.3. Mt. SAC won the race in 10:18.2 and Antelope Valley placed sixth in 10:55.6.

Greg Crosley placed Antelope Valley among the leaders with a 3:09 opening 1,200-meter leg, but the Marauders faded badly when Rick Starling dropped the baton during the ensuing 400-meter leg.

“We ran Crosley in the 1,200-meter leg to keep us in the race early,” Antelope Valley Coach Mark Covert said. “We thought we had a chance to finish among the top three, but that idea got blown when Rick dropped the baton.”

In the javelin competition held at Cal State Los Angeles, Glendale’s Rosa Dominguez placed second with a toss of 96 feet, 2 inches and also placed third in the shotput (36-9).

The Antelope Valley quartet of Steve Miller, Cona Billzone, Eric Young and Starling placed third in the second of two flights of the 400-meter relay with a time of 42.9 to place ninth.