Godina Gives L.A. Invitational a Booster Shot : Preps: Although it’s no showdown, Mission Viejo’s Gleason takes second in seeded mile.

Two sets of highly regarded Orange County high school athletes were scheduled to compete against each other for the first time at Saturday’s L.A. Invitational Track and Field Meet at the Sports Arena.

One set satisfied the curiosity, the other is still anyone’s guess.

Mission Viejo’s Mark Gleason and Danny Lee of El Toro were the two best cross-country runners in Orange County last fall, but never had an opportunity to compete on the same course at the same time. Gleason and Lee were supposed to meet in the final boys’ event on the schedule, the seeded mile, but Lee didn’t show.

Gleason, however, put on a show, leading the race until the final 1 1/2 laps, then finishing second in 4:24.21. Jon Stevens from Fresno Mission San Jose won the race in 4:21.08.

“My strategy was to not get humiliated,” Gleason said. “I just didn’t know what to expect. I looked at the entry for this and all nine other guys I was like, ‘Oh, he can beat me, he can beat me. Oh, they all can beat me.’ ”

Gleason said he didn’t notice Lee wasn’t there until he got to the starting line. “It’s going to be fun when we finally run together,” Gleason said.

The other interesting matchup, though not as much of a competitive dual as Gleason and Lee, was Mission Viejo senior Ashley Bethel and her freshman sister, Dana. The sisters competed together in the long jump and also raced in separate heats in girls’ 50-meter hurdles.

“I’ve been looking forward to this forever, since my freshman year,” Ashley Bethel said. “I love having her at school and on the track.”

Ashley Bethel, who qualified for the state finals in four events last season, finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 17-3 3/4, fifth in the 50-meter hurdles with a time of 7.88 seconds. And she and Dana were part of Mission Viejo’s 10th-place finish in the 4 X 160 relay (1:19.6).

Ashley Bethel, whose personal best in the long jump is 19-7, said she would give herself a C-minus grade for the day.

“I need to work on my starts, long jump, hurdles,” she said. “Even running I didn’t do all that great today, so everything needs work.”

Dana Bethel, who’ll turn 15 on Wednesday, didn’t get a qualifying mark in the long jump, but did win her heat in the 50-meter hurdles with a time of 7.90, which was sixth overall. She said she was nervous before the morning long jump event, and didn’t particularly care for the wooden runway.

“I was just really nervous, it was my first event of the day and it felt really weird jumping on that wood long jump,” she said.

Jenny Kenyon of Newbury Park finished first in the long jump with a distance of 18-0, and Long Beach Poly’s Detra King won the 50-meter hurdles in 7.67.