Garcia Picks Up Pace and Some Wins Too : After Steady Improvement, Glendale Runner Enters Mt. SAC Invitational as a Co-Favorite

Had Hugo Allan Garcia come from a hotbed of distance running--East Africa, Great Britain or Mexico, for example--his arrival at Glendale College this fall might have caused more of a stir.

Because he hailed from Guatemala, however, he was somewhat of an unknown commodity.

Sure, he represented his homeland in the 5,000 meters in the 1987 World Championships in Rome, but what had he done since?

Not much, until this cross-country season.

After four wins--and two course records--in five races, Garcia enters today’s Mt. San Antonio College Invitational in Walnut as one of the favorites along with Mt. SAC sophomores David Baptiste and Edgar Montes.

Baptiste, a native of Great Britain, won the state junior college title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in May and clocked 8 minutes 42 seconds in that event last summer. Montes handed Garcia his first loss of the season in the Irvine Invitational last week as both runners ran 19:38 over the four-mile course at Irvine Regional Park.

Noureddine Morceli of Algeria and Riverside, this year’s world leader in the 1,500 meters (3:32.60), was expected to run at Mt. SAC, but Tiger Coach Ted Banks said Wednesday that Morceli will not compete in cross-country for the school this season.

Morceli’s absence probably will make for a more competitive race, however.

“(Hugo) just waited too long,” Glendale Coach Eddie Lopez said of Garcia’s loss to Montes, the runner-up in the 1,500 in the state championships. “He tried to outkick him at the very end of the race and got outleaned.”

Lopez said that Garcia’s propensity to run with the pack and sprint away from opponents in the final 400 meters--rather than put them away early--might be his only weakness, but it is understandable considering his past.

After all, a runner hasn’t much of a chance to force the pace when he runs against the likes of world record-holders Said Aouita (1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 meters) of Morocco or Arturo Barrios (10,000) of Mexico.

Garcia, 26, ran against Barrios in the 5,000 in the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, and against Aouita in a 5,000 qualifying heat in the world championships that year.

“I look up to both of them very much,” the soft-spoken Garcia said. “They are both very good, elite world-class runners. At home, everyone knows Barrios. He is a hero.”

Growing up in Guatemala City, Garcia did not idolize runners. He competed in soccer, gymnastics and diving.

“Soccer was my favorite sport when I was young,” said Garcia. “But once I started running, I enjoyed it very much.”

Introduced to track and field by physical education teachers in 1981, Garcia was far from an age-group phenom.

During his first season, at age 17, he ran a modest 2:12 in the 800 meters, and although he improved to 2:01 in the 800 and 4:18 in the 1,500 a year later, he still had not caused anyone to take notice.

He improved steadily in the next five years, however, finishing sixth in the 10,000 (personal best of 29:26) and ninth in the 5,000 in the 1987 Pan American Games.

He failed to qualify for the finals of the 5,000 in the world championships a month later but lowered his personal best to 14:08.72 to finish 15th in a heat.

“That was a very good year for me,” Garcia said. “I kept on improving my times. . . . I was set to run the marathon in Seoul.”

Seoul was the site of the 1988 Olympics, in which Garcia had hoped to run his first competitive marathon in less than 2 hours 20 minutes.

“I had run 1:21:00 for 27 kilometers,” he said. “So my coaches thought I was capable of breaking that time there.”

He never got the chance: A knee injury struck him down three months before the Games.

Garcia had moved to the United States in 1987 to live with his mother and a sister, but after returning home to train in the mountains near Guatemala City, he strained tendons in his left knee.

“I ran too many miles,” Garcia said. “I was running 100 miles a week at 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) altitude and I did too much.”

The injury not only ended Garcia’s Olympic dream, it forced him to miss 10 months of running.

Garcia began to work full time upon returning to the States and gradually increased his training mileage.

By the start of last summer, he was running 50 to 60 miles a week and looking forward to competing for Pasadena City or Glendale.

“His sister (Carla) had run for Pasadena a few years ago,” Lopez said. “But he decided to come to Glendale. I think the fact that (former Muir High and Pasadena City standout runner) Robert Nelson transferred here had a lot to do with that. His addition gave us a pretty strong team.”

With Garcia leading the way, Glendale has won three of five meets, but it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for the 5-foot-5, 121-pound Garcia.

At the Moorpark Invitational on Sept. 7, wrong-way Hugo went straight ahead when he should have turned left, and at the Mira Costa Invitational a week later he turned right when he should have gone straight ahead.

He corrected himself in time to win both races, however.

“He just got a little confused,” Lopez said. “He hasn’t had any problems the last three weeks.”

Unfortunately for Lopez, Glendale will not be at full strength for today’s race, which includes Central Arizona, the nation’s top-ranked junior college team; defending state champion Mt. SAC; Long Beach City and El Camino.

Rick Provenzano will not run for the Vaqueros because of an injury and teammates Obed Aguirre and Oscar Perez also might miss the meet because of physical ailments.

“We’d like to run everyone this week,” Lopez said, “but the end of the season is what counts. I’m more worried about the Southern Cal regionals and the state meet than I am about this week.”

Garcia has a philosophy similar to his coach’s.

“I just want to run well this season and improve my times in track,” he said. “I’d like to break 30 minutes in the 10,000 meters again and get under 14 in the 5,000.”