Walsh Hurdles Into Spotlight With 2 Victories

He’s been the second half of a quality hurdling duo for Ventura College all season, but Noah Walsh thrust himself into the spotlight Saturday in the Western State Conference track and field championships at Bakersfield College.

Walsh, a sophomore from Ventura High, won the 110-meter high hurdles and the 400 intermediates after a tender hamstring sidelined teammate Kris McLucas, the defending state champion in the intermediates.

McLucas had been a slight favorite in the high hurdles and a heavy one in the intermediates, but Walsh posted victorious times of 15.05 in the former and 52.75 in the latter.

Walsh edged Bernard Ellis of West L.A. by one-hundredth of a second in the highs.

“That’s the way,” Ventura Coach Tuck Mason bellowed from the stands. “I told you, the barn door was open.”

The race for first wasn’t as close in the intermediates as Walsh lowered his personal best by more than a second.

The mark gave him a victory margin of nearly 2 1/2 seconds over teammate Eric Stewart and was actually .08 seconds faster than McLucas’ season best.

“It was a little bit of a letdown when Kris couldn’t run, because I always look forward to racing him,” Walsh said. “He’s been beating me all season, but you always want to race the best people.”

Although McLucas did not run he already had posted a qualifying time in the intermediates for the Southern California preliminaries May 4.

“We just didn’t want to take any chances with him,” Mason said. “He’ll run the intermediates and maybe a relay leg or two next week.”

Led by Walsh, Ventura finished third in the team standings with 88 1/2 points. Bakersfield, paced by triple winner Jeremy Staat, totaled 263 points to romp to its fifth title in six years.

Moorpark had defeated the Renegades in a triangular meet this season, but the Raiders were a distant second with 171 1/2 points.

Moorpark swept the vertical jumps as Andy Szlagyi cleared 6 feet 10 inches in the high jump and Jeff Beam made 16 feet in the pole vault, but Bakersfield had too much depth for the Raiders.

That became evident midway through the meet when the Renegades outscored Moorpark, 64-11, over a four-event stretch to take a 188-96 lead.

Valley, paced by Charles Lee’s victorious times of 10.73 in the 100 and 21.17 in the 200, placed sixth with 68 1/2 points.

Bakersfield also won the women’s meet, totaling 212 points to runner-up Santa Monica’s 127. Ventura was third with 109 1/2.

Ventura’s Dolores Tuimoloau won the shotput at 47-2 1/4 and the discus at 134-6.

Kosha Boyd, a teammate of Tuimoloau’s at Channel Islands High, won the 400 in 59.15 and ran a leg on Ventura’s victorious 400 relay team that clocked 50.62.