Glendale Doesn’t Win or Place in No-Show

Bakersfield College won the men’s championship and Ventura took the women’s title in the Western State Conference cross-country finals at Hart Park on Tuesday when pre-meet favorite Glendale failed to show.

The Glendale men were expected to win their fourth consecutive WSC title and the Vaquero women were favored to win their second in the last three years, but men’s Coach Eddie Lopez and women’s Coach Gretchen Lohr thought the meet was Friday, according to sports information director Merry Shelburne.

“We all were under the impression that the meet was Friday,” Shelburne said. “Everyone is just sick about this.”

Neither Lopez nor Lohr could be reached for comment.

The first-place teams in the conference finals automatically qualified for the state championships in Fresno on Nov. 20.

Fortunately for Lopez and Lohr, both Glendale teams qualified for the state meet by finishing fourth in the Johnie O Invitational at Moorpark College on Oct. 30.

The top eight teams in the Johnie O meet automatically qualified for the state championships.

Kipp Ortenburger of Cuesta won the men’s race and Githa Hampson of Santa Monica took the women’s title.

Ortenburger, a former standout at Taft High, ran 19 minutes 40 seconds over the four-mile course and Hampson timed 18:15 over the women’s 5,000-meter distance.

Valerie Aceves paced Ventura with a third-place time of 18:43 as the Pirates placed five runners among the top 12 for 41 points.

Santa Monica was second with 54 points, followed by Cuesta (72) and Moorpark (78).