Mustafa, Roberto Emerge as the Class of Competition in WSC Championships

Isaiah Mustafa of Moorpark and Auria Roberto of Glendale crammed a month’s worth of competition into one meet Saturday night in the Western State Conference track and field championships at Bakersfield College.

But neither Mustafa nor Roberto could overcome the field-event depth of the Bakersfield men or sprint strength of the Santa Monica women in the battle for the team titles.

Bakersfield won its third title in four years with 176 points. Defending champion Moorpark (147) was second, followed by Glendale (132 1/2) and Santa Monica (112).

The Santa Monica women won their second consecutive title with 167 points. Runner-up Glendale had 116. Ventura was third with 80 1/2 points, followed by Moorpark with 67 and Bakersfield at 52.

Mustafa, runner-up in the state decathlon a year ago, had a hand in 43 points.

He cleared 6 feet 6 inches to win the high jump. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound sophomore finished third in the 100 (11.09), 200 (22.21), 110 high hurdles (15.14) and long jump (22-11) and was sixth in the triple jump (43-4). Mustafa also ran a leg on the Raiders’ 1,600-meter relay team which was third in 3:21.41.

Had it not been for a dropped baton in the 400 relay, Mustafa might have qualified for Saturday’s Southern California preliminaries in an eighth event. The top six in each event advanced.

“We needed points and I had to sacrifice myself for the team.” Mustafa said. “After the 200, I felt dizzy and delirious. I just had to forget about it and push harder.”

Roberto, who won the 5,000 meters in 18 minutes 36.5 seconds in the first day of the two-day meet April 22, accounted for 35 points.

The freshman from Belmont High recorded victories in the 800 (2:23.60) and 1,500 (4:51.06), and finished fourth in the 3,000 (10:53.40). Roberto, along with Anna Hernandez and Margarita Renteria, led 1-2-3 Glendale sweeps in the 800 and 1,500.

Roberto ran with the leaders in the 3,000 before being overtaken by Ventura’s Josefina Sanchez and Valerie Aceves with 600 meters to go.

Isaac Turner of Glendale won the 800 meters in 1:54.31 and anchored the 1,600 relay team of Henny Branford, Charles Smith and Mike Campos to victory.

Robert Landtiser of Canyons won the 400 intermediate hurdles in 53.54 and finished .21 seconds behind Glendale’s Drue Powell (14.81) in the 110 high hurdles. Moorpark’s Sean McKeown won the shotput by nearly three feet with a heave of 51-4 1/4 and was second in the hammer at 152-9.