MT. CARMEL TRACK INVITATIONAL : Robles Overtaken at the Finish in 1,600 Meters

Woodbridge High School’s Amy Robles was looking forward to a nice stroll to the finish line of the 1,600-meter race during the Sundevil Invitational at Mt. Carmel High School Saturday.

Robles had been cruising along in first place from the outset, and along the back stretch of the final lap took a 15-meter lead.

It wasn’t that Robles let that lead go to her head, but all of a sudden, some 40 meters to the finish, Fallbrook freshman Milena Glusac kicked and began to overtake her.

Glusac passed Robles and finished first at 5:17.48. Robles was second in 5:18.32.

“I didn’t even hear her,” Robles said.

“She was going so fast. She started her kick way before I started mine, and her kick was so much faster than my kick. There was no way I was going to catch her.”

Glusac originally was scratched from the race because she did not check in on time with the clerk of the course. However, after the Fallbrook coaches conferred with Dennis McClanahan, meet director, Glusac was cleared.

Robles was forced to run a race with which she was not all together comfortable. She would have preferred not setting the pace.

“I think I could have gone faster if someone was out in front of me,” she said.

Robles was the only Woodbridge athlete to place in the top three of any event. She also placed fifth in the 800 meters at 2:24.03. Charity Stowell of Mt. Carmel finished first at 2:18.75.

The top Orange County finisher in the meet was El Modena’s Mike Terry, who placed second in the 400 to Dorsey’s Lamont Warren (49.06) at 49.49.

Terry, whose specialty is the 800, ran shorter distances in the Sundevil. He also placed sixth in the 200 at 22.85. Brian Jenkins of Lynwood won in 22.01.

El Modena had one other second-place finisher--Kristina Dahlberg--in the 3,200 meters. She finished at 11:47.03, behind Jenny Kemp’s 11:40.06. Kemp is from San Marcos.

Esperanza’s Mark Parlin placed third in both the shotput (53-6 1/2) and discus (166-10). Fallbrook’s Brent Noon won both events (70-8 and 191-0).