ROUNDUP : Glendale Runner Garcia Defeated in Irvine Meet

Glendale College cross-country runner Hugo Allan Garcia had taken wrong turns twice while leading a race this season.

On Friday at the Irvine Invitational, Garcia had someone to follow. But Mt. San Antonio’s Edgar Montes proved to be a rude guide.

Garcia and Montes shared the pace-setting chores for most of the race until Montes sprinted away in the final 100 meters.

Montes, the runner-up at 1,500 meters in the state junior college track and field championships last season, clocked 19 minutes 38 seconds over the four-mile course at Irvine Regional Park for a one-second victory over Garcia.

The defeat was Garcia’s first in four races this season. “He just waited too long,” Glendale Coach Ed Lopez said.

Jose Pina of Long Beach City was a distant third (19:54) and teammates Francis O’Neill and Oscar Gonzales placed fourth and fifth as the Vikings won the team title with 72 points.

El Camino was second with 74 and Mt. SAC placed third with 107. Glendale was sixth with 187 points. College of the Canyons and Antelope Valley finished 12th and 14th.

Moorpark’s Tricia Mathiesen (19:08) and Brid Power (19:58) placed eighth and 22nd in the women’s 3.26-mile race.

Karen Talamantes of Mt. SAC won the event in 18:08.

El Camino won the team title with 68 points. Mt. SAC was second with 97.