New Race, Old Tactics for Rivals

Chances are slim that Eleazar Hernandez of Moorpark College or Miguel Galindo of Ventura will do anything to surprise each other today in the junior college cross-country state championships at Woodward Park in Fresno.

After racing one another five times this season, there’s little they don’t know about each other’s tactics.

Hernandez, runner-up in last year’s state meet, knows that Galindo will try to stay with him for the first 3 3/4 miles of the four-mile race before outkicking him at the end, like he did in the Western State Conference championships on Nov. 12.

Galindo, a freshman from Oxnard High, can expect Hernandez to push the pace between 2 3/4 and 3 1/2 miles in an effort to break the race open. He used that tactic to win his first six races of the season, but he was unable to shake Galindo in the WSC finals.

“When [Eleazar] runs well, he buries kids at that point,” Moorpark Coach Manny Trevino said. “They usually can’t hang with him, but Miguel did last week.”

Hernandez could be doubly motivated today because he finished second last year after an official directed him off the course, causing him to run an extra 100 yards in a race he lost by less than 50 yards.

In addition, Moorpark is expected to battle Pasadena City and El Camino for the team title.

Pasadena, paced by former Crescenta Valley High standout Phil Gonzalez, has beaten Moorpark twice this season. But the Lancers last week were tied by El Camino in the South Coast Conference championships.

In the women’s meet, Marisol Barajas of Mission and Mt. San Antonio are heavily favored to win the individual and team titles.

Barajas, a freshman from Van Nuys High, is 6-0 against junior college competition this season. She won the Johnie O Invitational, the unofficial Southern California championships, by 21 seconds on Nov. 2 and she had a 28-second margin of victory in the WSC meet.

Mission could finish among the top three women’s teams.