Robeson, Glusac Bounce Back at Sundevil Meet : High school track: Runners put their problems of last season behind them with strong performances.

There were plenty of gray clouds above Poway High during Saturday’s Sundevil Invitational, but on the track, Mt. Carmel senior Greg Robeson and Fallbrook junior Milena Glusac could find no gloom.

By winning the 800 meters with a quick early-season time of 1 minute 55.68 seconds, Robeson was able to finally put to rest his junior season, when he suffered three leg injuries.

And Glusac set a meet record in the 3,200 meters (10:53.65), escaping the concern she harbored since finishing 30th out of 32 at December’s Kinney National Cross-Country championships. Glusac was favored to win that meet.

Of the two, it was Robeson who was most looking to escape the past. But not all of the past.

Robeson ran a personal-best 1:53.89 during his sophomore season, went on to win the Section title in that event and eventually placed sixth at the state championships--a performance he knew he could better as a junior.

But it wasn’t that easy. Robeson began the 1991 season with a stress fracture in his left foot, a leftover from Mt. Carmel’s soccer season.

There was more to come. A month into track, Robeson sprained some tendons in his right ankle. Finally, a week before the state meet, he dislocated his right kneecap. All of which conspired to keep the 1990 Section champion in the 800 meters from maintaining his standing.

So Robeson had to wait until his senior year, and this time there were no other sports interfering.

“I didn’t play soccer this year,” Robeson said. “I just trained right on through. I feel as good as I did my sophomore year. And I get confidence off the fact that I’m not injured.”

It didn’t hurt his confidence that in winning Saturday’s 800 meters, Robeson beat last year’s Section champion, Isaac Sanchez of Castle Park.

“I felt pretty strong the whole way,” Robeson said. “But I decided to hold off until the last straight-away.”

Sanchez, who set the pace early, didn’t have enough left to keep up with Robeson’s kick and faded to second at 1:57.19.

“I’d like to win the state meet this year,” Robeson said. “I’m training hard, and I think I can do it if I just keep focused.”

Glusac doesn’t speak openly about goals, but there is little doubt she too is looking for a state championship. She ran the 1,600 and 3,200 there last season, placing third in the 1,600 (4:51.29) and second in the 3,200 (10:33.57). She won both races Saturday. Her 1,600-meter time was 4:58.9.

Afterward, she talked about her disappointment at the cross-country championships, where she faded into the background suffering from cramps brought on by glycogen deprivation.

“I just had to realize that maybe it was for the best,” Glusac said. “Because down the line I’ll know how to avoid that. Luckily it happened at the Kinney, and not something like the Olympics where I would have to wait around four years for another chance.”

Allison Dring, a Mt. Carmel senior who is considered among the best long sprinters in the nation, easily won the 400 meters with a time of 56.01.

Afterward, Dring said she is trying to relieve the pressure of being among the nation’s elite.

“I have absolutely no goals,” she said when asked about state championship aspirations. “I’m trying to get back to where I was as a freshman, when everything took me by surprise.”

Dring almost was taken by surprise running down the home stretch during the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay.

Earlier in the leg she made up some 20 yards on San Pasqual freshman Marcie Marcus, who nearly held off Dring with a wicked kick down the final sprint. Mt. Carmel’s quartet placed first at 4:00.47. How close was it at the finish? San Pasqual was given the exact same time.

Track Notes

In the boys’ 3,200, Helix’s Daniel Das Neves, a 19-year-old junior from Brazil, ran a seasonal national best of 9:04.02. Das Neves is the returning state champion in the event. . . . Gentry Bradley of Downey Pius X showed up San Diego Section sprinters in the 100 and 200 meters. Bradley easily beat Southwest’s Riley Washington in each. Washington, a senior who has accepted a football scholarship to Nebraska, is the state’s fastest returning sprinter, having run a 10.59 last season. But in the 100, Bradley clocked a 10.89 to Washington’s 10.93. In the 200, Bradley ran a wind-aided (and hand-timed) 21.4 to Washington’s 21.6.