Glendale Outrun in Final Mile : Cross-country: Riverside runners finish in top four places.

The Glendale College men’s cross-country team implemented Coach Eddie Lopez’s pre-race strategy in the State junior college championships at Fresno’s Woodward Park on Saturday, but came up short in its bid for the team title.

The Vaqueros got off to a good start in the first mile--as Lopez had instructed them to do--but couldn’t overcome a 1-2-3-4 finish by Riverside or a strong final mile by Mt. San Antonio College’s runners.

As a result, Glendale finished third with 109 points.

Riverside, led by winner Wilhelm Gidabuday, totaled 87 points to take its second title in four years with Mt. SAC finishing at 89.

Moorpark was 10th with 340 points and Antelope Valley placed 14th at 404.

“We were right there at three miles, but the Mt. SAC guys really ran well in the last mile,” Lopez said. “They made up a lot of places in the last mile.”

Glendale was led by Jacques Sallberg, who finished eighth with a time of 20 minutes 17 seconds over the four-mile course.

The Vaqueros’ other scoring runners were Nacho Delgado (16th in 20:25), Jose Padilla (21st in 20:31), Adrian Baca (27th in 20:39) and Dio Almendariz (39th in 20:57).

Jeff Wilson of Moorpark was the area’s top finisher, placing sixth in 19:57.

Wilson hoped to stick with the lead pack for the first three miles before trying to break away, but when Gidabuday and teammates Cosmos Nguku, Abderrazak Merchoud and Cruz Gallegos came through the first mile in 4:30, he had to back off the pace.

Antelope Valley was led by Manuel Perales, who placed 11th in 20:20.

Ventura, led by Josephina Sanchez, finished 10th with 272 points in the women’s meet. College of the Canyons and Antelope Valley tied for 13th with 359.

San Diego Mesa won its first state title with 85 points, followed by El Camino (92) and defending champion Irvine Valley (158).

Sanchez placed 12th with a time of 19:04 over the 5,000-meter course.

Glendale’s Tanya Janet finished 19th in 19:14 with Canyons’ Heidi Tisovic 25th in 19:26.