Arreola Cruises to 1,500-Meter Victory in a Slow 4:18.04

It was the slowest time she’s run at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays as a collegian, but Darcy Arreola of the Nike Coast Track Club didn’t seem to mind after winning the women’s invitational 1,500 meters Sunday.

The No. 10-ranked 1,500 runner in the nation last season, Arreola’s victory wasn’t surprising, but the manner in which she won was.

Arreola led from start to finish to record a season best of 4 minutes 18.04 seconds, as the rest of field battled for second place in the first kilometer of the race.

At 400 meters (67.4 seconds), Arreola held a five-meter lead on the pack. At 800 (2:18.9), her margin had doubled to 10 meters and it wasn’t until 600 meters remained that Bridget Smyth of the University of Arizona set out in pursuit.

“I was panicking, I was wondering where they were,” said Arreola, who is red-shirting at Cal State Northridge this season. “At first I thought I might have been running too fast, but I know pace and it felt slow.”

Smyth tried to take the lead with 250 meters left, but Arreola pulled away, running the final lap in 66.5 seconds.

“At that stage in the race, I didn’t want to let anyone by,” said Arreola, who finished second (4:15.39) at Mt. SAC in 1988 and third (4:17.35) last year. “But I was surprised she was the only one who came up on me.”

Holly Howell of Simon Fraser ran a strong last lap to finish second in 4:20.69.

“Before the race, I was thinking, I have to run at least 4:15,” said Arreola, who has a personal best of 4:14.15. “But that was before I saw the (windy) conditions. I’m really happy with the win.”

The time qualified Arreola for The Athletics Congress Championships at Cerritos College in June.

Lolita Pile of Northridge qualified for the TAC meet as well, bounding a wind-aided 41 feet, 5 1/4 inches to place third in the women’s invitational triple jump. Sabrina Williams of Nike Coast won with a wind-aided 42-4.

Tonya Conner, Pile’s teammate, jumped a wind-aided 39-8 1/2 to place sixth.

Northridge freshman Charlotte Vines continued her hot sprinting, winning the second heat of the university-open division in a wind-aided 11.77 seconds.

In late results from Saturday night’s distance carnival, Heather Young of Northridge qualified for the NCAA Division II championships in the women’s 10,000 meters, finishing 21st in 35:01.9, and teammate Kelly Tremmel placed 34th in 36:28.8 to post a provisional qualifying time.

Young’s time moved her from sixth to fourth on the all-time Northridge list. As Heather Brookes--she has since married former Cal State Los Angeles standout Tony Young--she ran 35:53.94 in 1988.