California Track & Running News Jan-Mar 2013, VOLUME 39 NUMBER 2 | Page 28

CTRN-JanFebMar2013-_Layout 1 1/17/13 6:29 AM Page 28

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The 2013 SCA MUT Series, with
five added ultra events, offers
a unique variety of running
courses and challenges for
athletes ranging from the
trails on Catalina Island to the
unpredictable High Desert.
You can read about the
2012 SCA MUT Series at
http://scausatf.blogspot.com
/2013/01/2012-sca-mountainultra-trail-report.html

masters championship title in 16:20.5. Olds
formerly helmed the fearsome Fluffy Bunny TC,
but has now been recruited to the formidable Cal
Coast TC, which dominated the Southern California
running scene in 2012. Jon Megeff (M49), the 2011
5K masters champion, finished second in 16:36.7,
proving his team, Club Ed Running, is still a force to
be reckoned with. In third was Cal Coast TC’s Gregory Keyes (M45), running 17:15.9.
The women’s masters division witnessed a familiar configuration of elite runners, with Grace
Padilla (F41) of Nike Team Run LA continuing her
successful masters career by winning the 5K championship title in 18:13.7, followed by Tania Fischer
(F46) of The Janes Elite Racing, in a time of 18:36.8.

In third place was Cindy Abrami (F44) of the Santa
Barbara Athletic Association, running 18:45.2.
With the assistance of event organizer Brennan Linder, USATF Southern California worked to
make the Santa Monica 5000 a textbook example
of how a USATF championships race should be
presented. Race pre-registration discounts were
offered to USATF members, and VIP treatment
was available to USATF members at the race expo.
USATF volunteers Jim Spear, Tim Petersen, and
Stephen Terry were stationed at the USATF-certified mile markers to call times for runners and to
act as course monitors. USATF official Jim Hanley
was on hand to officiate the race start and to certify
potential new 5K records.

28 ct&rn • Jan–Mar 2013

Sub-4:00 Mile
at the 2012 SCA USATF Road Mile Champs
By Wayne Joness
The third time proved to be the charm at the 2012
USATF Southern California Road Mile Championships when AJ Acosta (M26) rocketed across
the finish line in 3:58.98, delivering a blistering finish to the excitement and applause of runners and
spectators who had hoped to witness a sub-4:00
mile. Second-place finisher Jon Rankin (M30) just
missed the sub-4:00 mark, running 4:00.43. Despite the strong competition and record turnout
in other divisions, Acosta was the only runner to
set a new course record at the championships,
held on Sun., Aug. 26 at the El Toro Airfield. In fact,
both Acosta’s and Rankin’s times beat the previous open men’s course record of 4:01.02 run by
Christian Hesch (M32) in 2011.
For the youth runners, each USATF youth age
division competed in its own race, making for an
hour of exciting youth competition. The Sub-Bantam division was won by Melina Gonzalez (F7,
6:56.81) and Noah Lindo (M8, 6:07.76). Bantam division winners were Brianna Valles (F10, 5:46.81)
and Coney Jackson (M10, 5:35.24). Gonzalez and
Valles were among a number of USATF members
representing the McFarland Track Club, who made
the long trip to Irvine to compete and showed the
depth of talent in the Central California association.
In the Midget division, first-place gold medals
were awarded to Chloe Arriaga (F11, 5:22.17) and
Raymon Ornelas (M11, 5:13.10). In the Youth division, Bianca Alonzo (F14, 5:08.02) and Hugo Nova
(M13, 4:43.36) claimed the titles. Intermediate division honors were claimed by Laura Guidolin (F15,
5:00.97) and Anthony Palazzo (M15, 4:37.82). Wrapping up the hour of youth competition was the
Young division, with top spots going to Sara
Kebede (F17, 5:25.03) and Michael Pincchini (M17,
4:28.43).
Youth participation grew in 2012, with the
Equalizers posting 4,342 points in the Youth club
competition, besting the South Orange County
Wildcats’ 4,141 and the Chino Hills Flash’s 3,999.
The spectators were truly impressed with the
outstanding performances of the youth athletes,
so open competitors had quite a high bar to meet.
Head on over to www.caltrack.com to read all
about it. n