Moorpark Tries, but Finds Mission Utterly Impossible

Going into the Western State Conference track and field championships Saturday at College of the Canyons, the Moorpark College men’s team had a mission.

Besides the desire to end Bakersfield’s string of conference championships at three, the Raiders wanted to win as a going-away present for Coach Manny Trevino, who is retiring after 26 years at Moorpark.

The team’s distance runners volunteered to run three events--the 5,000 meters, the 10,000 and the 3,000 steeplechase--to hopefully unseat the Renegades, who had lost an early season dual meet to Moorpark, and give Trevino a seventh WSC title.

The squad, consisting of defending state 10,000 champion Eleazar Hernandez, Uzziel Gray, Sabino Beltran, Jesus Villavicencio and Pancho Pelayo, scored 69 of Moorpark’s 207 points in the three races, but Bakersfield prevailed with 228 points after a strong showing in the sprints.

“We didn’t score as much in the sprints, but we thought we might be able to score enough in the distances to offset that,” Trevino said.

“I couldn’t ask for more from the distance runners, they did their jobs.”

Hernandez captured the 5,000 in 14:59.60, followed by Gray in a personal-best 15:13.67. Julio Serratos of Glendale was third in 15:17.01, and the Renegades picked up five points from Adam Blanks’ fourth-place finish in 15:38.27. Beltran finished fifth in 15:41.65.

Prior to the race, Trevino had told the squad to run as a pack, which Gray took to heart.

“I was really focused on staying with the group,” Gray said. “Before, I would stay way in the back and then pick it up.”

Hernandez offered yet another reason for Gray’s performance.

“He told me on the fifth lap that his sister was here watching him race,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez, Serratos and Gray ran together until Hernandez started to pull away with five laps remaining. Gray dueled with Serratos from that point until he started to pull away in the last 75 meters.

Serratos captured the steeplechase earlier in the meet in 9:37.69, followed by Hernandez (9:47.48), Villavicencio (9:59.80) and Gray (10:08.46).

Serratos won the 10,000, held last week at Canyons, clocking 31:06.73. He was followed by Hernandez, Gray, Villavicencio and Beltran.

Charles Lee of seventh-place Valley won the 100 meters in 10.40 and the 200 in 20.84.

Bakersfield won the women’s title with 240 points, followed by Santa Barbara (91) and Moorpark (90).

Marisol Barajas of fourth-place Valley won the 5,000 in 18:18.65 and the 3,000 in 10:30.68. Grace Smart of eighth-place Glendale won the 200 in 25.23.