Serratos Winner of Title Chase : Track and field: Canyons’ transfer from Northridge runs 9:25.5 in steeplechase at Bakersfield.

It took all of cross-country season and much of track, but Ramon Serratos of College of the Canyons is finally back in a racing frame of mind.

Serratos, a 1993 graduate of Duarte High, signed a letter of intent with Cal State Northridge, but it was discovered just prior to his freshman year that he was ineligible to compete at the NCAA Division I level.

Although he remained at Northridge for the 1993-94 school year, Serratos said he “really didn’t like the school that much” and enrolled at Canyons in the fall.

It turned out to be a wise decision by Serratos, who won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the Southern California track and field championships at Bakersfield College on Saturday night.

Glendale’s Isaac Turner, who timed 1:51.60 in the 800, was the other local winner in the meet which acts as a qualifier for the State championships at Bakersfield May 19-20.

The top four finishers in races measuring 800 meters or fewer qualified for the State meet, with the top six finishers in field events and races measuring more than 800 meters advancing.

Fifth-place finishers in races measuring 800 meters or fewer qualified for the State meet if their performances were faster than the fifth-place finishers in Friday’s Northern California championships.

Although Serratos’ winning time of 9 minutes 25.5 seconds was slower than the 9:18.5 personal best he ran in the previous week’s prelims, he said he ran just to win.

“I wasn’t worrying about time today,” he said. “I just wanted to win.”

Jose Arriaga of East L.A. and Adrian Baca and Jacques Sallberg, both of Glendale, pulled up behind Serratos with 800 meters remaining, but were unable to pass.

“I really wasn’t concerned when they came up on me,” Serratos said. “I have a lot of confidence in my last lap so I just concentrated on that second-to-last lap.”

Sallberg dropped off the lead pack with a lap to go, followed by Baca 150 meters later. Serratos broke away from Arriaga approaching the last water jump and put him away in the final 100.

“If someone had challenged me, I definitely had more there,” Serratos said. “But I didn’t want to run any harder than I had to with the State championships coming up. I wanted to save as much energy as possible. . . .”

Turner, a sophomore from Burbank High, didn’t come close to approaching his school-record time of 1:49.93 in the 800 despite winning by a wide margin.

Defending champion Amy Blackburn of Ventura placed second in the discus with a throw of 139 feet 9 inches.

Kris McLucas of Ventura was fifth in the 110 high hurdles (14.92) and the 400 intermediates (54.85) to qualify for the State meet, and anchored the Pirates to sixth (3:19.82) in the 1,600 relay.

George Daniels of Antelope Valley ran a leg on the 400 relay team that finished third in 41.03 and placed fourth in the 400 at 48.95.

Long Beach City won the women’s title with 142 points, but there were no final team men’s scores as the pole vault was being contested late Saturday night.