LONG WINDED

Josh Spiker’s track and field season ended with a sixth-place finish in a stellar 3,200-meter race in the Golden West Invitational at American River College on Saturday, but the Ventura High junior wasn’t complaining.

Not after winning the 3,200 in the state championships at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento on June 5 and setting school records of 4:12.19 in the 1,600 and 8:56.66 in the 3,200 this year.

“Overall, I was happy with my season,” said Spiker, who helped Ventura, competing in Division II, win its first Southern Section track and field title. “I just wish I had run better at Golden West.”

Spiker, who edged senior Blaine Bussey of Taft and junior Oliver Jackson of Royal as The Times’ Valley / Ventura County boys’ track and field athlete of the year, ran the second-fastest time of his career in the Golden West meet with a 9:01.53 clocking.

But the first five finishers broke 9:00, led by the nation-leading 8:51.83 effort of senior Franklyn Sanchez of Lynn, Mass.

“I felt great and my breathing was fine,” Spiker said about the race. “But mentally, I hit a wall. . . . There were no excuses, but I just didn’t have the spark to go for it. I remember thinking before the race that I wanted to be so tired afterward that I couldn’t walk, but I wasn’t like that.”

It wasn’t surprising Spiker was lacking his usual competitive fire.

The state championships was the biggest meet of the season for him and it capped a five-week stretch in which he ran a series of particularly fast races.

Spiker started that stretch by winning the 3,200 in a then-school record and state-leading time of 9:08.48 in the Ventura County championships at Royal High on April 30.

He won the 1,600 in a then state-leading time of 4:12.19 and the 3,200 in 9:22.83 in the Channel League final at Santa Barbara City College on May 7 before winning his heats of the 1,600 and 3,200 in the Southern Section Division II preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College on May 15.

He won the 1,600 in 4:12.92 and finished second in the 3,200 in another school record of 9:04.04 in the section championships at Cerritos College the following week.

Junior Augie Escobar of Villa Park, who beat Spiker by 4/10ths of a second in the Division II final, won the Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos on May 28 in a then nation-leading time of 8:56.23, but Spiker was thrilled with his 8:56.66 effort that gave him his first sub-nine-minute clocking and moved him to sixth on the all-time region list.

Spiker trailed Escobar and senior Marcus Chandler of San Diego Serra entering the homestretch of the state final, but he passed Escobar with about 40 meters remaining and edged ahead of Chandler with 10 meters left to win in 9:02.00.

Spiker’s time wasn’t as fast as the previous week, but the victory left him with an immense feeling of accomplishment.

“Right after [that race] was probably the greatest feeling I’ve ever had,” Spiker said. “It felt good to finally break nine in the Masters Meet, but winning state was just an incredible feeling.”