Mt. SAC Invitational - A History - 25 years ago - 1978 - "A Magical Year"

Legends in their time - Jeff Nelson (Burbank) who holds the still standing Prep National Two Mile Record - 14:32 at Mt. SAC in 1978 - Vickie Cook (Alemany, Mission Hills) won the Team Sweeps event at the 1978 Meet at 12:02

Mt. SAC Invitational 25 years ago - 1978

The Mt. SAC Invitational in Walnut, California is a very unique situation. With a Community College staff that has been very supportive of the harrier sport for the last half a century, and college physical setting very conducive to the hill and dale sport, there is a background to the actual running course that is really, really lengthy. From the days of Hilmer Lodge, and down through the tenure of folks like Don Ruh, John Norton, meet involvees such as Dave Casper, Jim Polite, Ernie Gregoire, and more recently Tim O’Rourke, Doug Todd, Mike Goff, Brian Yokoyama (we are sure we have left out some important folks, sorry), there is no facility that has had more thought and effort go into and the result has been the Championship set up that will be used by a ton of folks this coming weekend and over the next month in area Championship action. The agriculture background to the end of the Community College used for the course has given a bit of space given over to the cross-country racing facility that most schools simply do not have. The hard work of the above and others, including the Mt. SAC Track and Cross-Country teams, who put on more high quality competitions in the fall and spring than any other program in the State, have refined the course and competitions to where a very challenging course is matched with championship level quality of presentation. The “switchbacks,” “poop-out,” and “reservoir” hill segments are burned into the psyche of every young runner at least in the Southern Section, with the racing experience there leaving a lasting effect on every runner who has the chance to run over it. For spectators it is a delight, with athletes racing by one spot five different times during the roughly three mile event, with the chance to see them at the start, a half-mile, mile, mile and three-quarters, and two and three-quarter miles. There is the measure of the obvious track distances in the spring season for “bests” with area runners having no more common measure of understanding about their fall activity than, “what is your best at Mt. SAC?”

To go back 25 years to the Mt. SAC Championship meet is to go back to one race that, interestingly, in many folks’ mind, was the greatest ever there. By 1978 the area had been running three miles for the Boys’ for a couple of years, with athletes who were seniors having been brought up with the distance beyond roughly two miles during their careers, with folks able to really “let it all out” over that lengthy distance. The young ladies were still at roughly two miles in their competitions, with a super group here for the 1978 meet.

Jeff Nelson (Burbank) was a part of one of the nation’s top distance programs in those days at his school. Coaches Dave Kemp, Frank Kellam and group had through the 1960's and 1970's year after year turned out amazing groups of runners with barefoot 4:14 miler Rick Romero in the early 60's leading the charge that culminated in the 1978-79 school year with perhaps the best distance runner ever in Southern California annals, Jeff Nelson. No more lasting tribute to Nelson’s success is his still standing National Prep Two Mile Record of 8:36.3 (worth 8:33 something for 3200m) set May 5th of his 1979 senior track and field season. The Franken family used to run a “Pepsi” or some other such Invitational Track Meet on a Sunday in May at UCLA each year in mid-May, with that setting a great one for preps hoping to tackle a good time against open competition while “unattached.” Typically, preps such as Nelson could cruise on a Friday evening in area track qualifying action, then head to UCLA on Sunday and race against Open level competition “unattached.” Polly Plumer (University, Irvine) set the still standing Prep National Mile Record of 4:35.24 in such a setting. Anyway, Nelson was taken out in 4:16 during the 8:36 effort, and closed at 4:20 for his National Record, which crushed the previous prep best of 8:40.9 by Craig Virgin (Lebanon, Illinois), and Gerry Lindgren (Washington) and his 8:40.0 from indoors in 1964 in San Francisco (which Mr. Lindgren another prep distance running story in itself-he ran a 13:44 5000m (three 4:25's back to back with another half lap) in 1964 outdoors! Nelson had won state two mile his junior 1978 year in track, coming back from injury to win over Rod Berry (Redwood, Larkspur) with both 8:59.3. During the summer prior to his senior year Coach Kemp related to me that Jeff and teammate Lin Whattcott (who ran 9:01.9 in the track season of 1979) built from 100 miles per week up to 140 miles per week in the middle of the summer, then built back down to 100 miles per week near the end of that 1978 summer, creating amazing strength and power.

Anyway, the 1978 Mt. SAC Invitational brought together Mt. Nelson and a super group of prep distance runners. Folks did not travel much in those days, and when South Eugene, Oregon, showed up for the Men’s Sweeps race it was amazing. South had an amazing history with a string of runners and brothers coming through the school during the 70's under Coaches Harry Johnson and John Gillespie (who is currently back at South after a time at the University of Oregon). Johnson was such a good Coach that Nike took Harry straight from the prep level to run the Track West Club, a group of Nike elite runners that included the best in the nation for a number of years. Anyway, South had set a National Distance Medley Relay record in 1977 of 10:01.6 for yards, with Bill McChesney anchoring in 4:11.0 and a National Four Mile Relay record of 17:06.6 (4:16.9-4:19.7-4:11.8 and 4:18.2) that broke their own 17:11.8 best from 1975. Anyway, these folks from Oregon had it “goin’ on” and they came down to run at Mt. SAC in 1978 at the Cross-Country Meet. South was led by Jeff Hess, who had run 4:12.5 for a mile and 8:27.0 for 3000m (and 9:08.9 for the 3000m steeplechase). Today it is not rare for teams to travel, but in the late 1970's it just did not happen. Bill Delaney, former Orange HS star, and a coach in Utah, started the flood of folks from out of state to the Arcadia Invite Track Meet a few years later, and Palos Verdes started the idea of California prep CC teams heading “cross-country” when they traveled to New York and jolted the rest of the prep distance running world when the Girls easily took the Eastern States Championship race at the Manhattan College CC Invite a decade or so later, but in the 1970‘s there was not much inter-state competition. South came to run this Saturday morning in Walnut and it was amazing!!

Other super runners would grace the Boys’ competition this day–Paul Medvin (University, LA) would run 4:05.3 the spring of 1979 in track, with Chuck Assuma (Eisenhower, Rialto) 8:52.4 for a full two miles that same spring (turns out was senior - John Lunt of Colton corrected us here stating the Assuma twins left him to the rear a few times and quite well remembered their grades - join the crowd John, those brothers were something else!!), Steve Strangio (9:04.8 track season 1979 2 miles) leading a super Mission San Jose of Fremont crew!

The Saturday morning race was run under very cool, almost foggy conditions, with the race unlike any seen over the three mile distance in the area ever before. Nelson had been taking down some good course records along the way already (Crescenta Valley Park 15:05 on a much used facility for the Kenny Staub Invite), with the other quality folks along for the Mt. SAC Sweeps contest assuring a strong early pace. I remember people flooding up the switchbacks, already chasing the leader Nelson after a mile, seemingly rocketing up the steep hills at 5:00 mile pace, the Oregon group in distinctive white and purple uniforms, and Nelson out in front, continuing to pull away from the super field as the leader. The blue and white clad Nelson, who ran way up on his toes, and seemed to be a bit off-balance to one side as he loped along, sailed along ahead to a staggering 26 second win in the event, finishing in 14:32, with Paul Medvin next at 14:58 (the old CR was 14:56 by John Gerhardt of Costa Mesa that same year). The team contest was a fierce one, with South emerging the winners 91 (78:23 15:41 average) to Mission San Jose’s 125 (78:54 15:47 average). Jeff Hess had led South in 4th at 15:15, with Pat Allen (who would run 8:34.1 for 3000m the next spring) 10th at 15:28 for South. Steve Strangio led MSJ with his 8th at 15:24, with teammate Rich Read next at 15:28. Up front, Chuck Assuma (Eisenhower, Rialto) was third at 15:02. The 14:32 was absolutely stunning, a time so far under 5:00 mile pace over the Mt. SAC hills it kind of opened up folks’ eyes as to what was possible for prep three-miling, with the distance relatively new. The South Eugene group obviously destroyed anything that had ever been achieved by a team previously with their 15:41 average for five, again, there kind of setting a standard for excellence early on at the new distance. I remember the South runners all looked like they were in their early 20's, shorter and stockier than the California preps at the meet, as if some form of evolution in the mist and trees of the Northwest had created a different type of runner. All I know is that 1978 Cross-Country race kind of raised some levels of thinking about our sport after that time. In some ways there has never been anything like it since! Ken Ernst (El Dorado, Placentia), who we gave the wrong first name to in our last edition, took the Boys Individual Sweeps at 15:04 over Mike Melendez (Norco) 15:06, with Art Diaz (Redondo) 15:09 in another race during the day for a top time.

The Young ladies at Mt. SAC in those days used to run just over two miles, with a great group gathered for the 1978 meet, with their portion of the meet on Fridays. The Southern Section had just held Championship level competition for the Girls for the last couple of years as of 1978, with the sport still developing in numbers of schools with teams and size of squads, with no one seeming to gripe about the Friday Girls and Saturday Boys schedules. Michelle Bush (Rolling Hills HS), back in the days when Palos Verdes had three schools (they eventually combined Miraleste, Palos Verdes, and Rolling Hills into one before just in the last two years reopening PV), was the headliner this day, with an impressive 11:15 run in Race “E,” the Individual Sweeps, easily the fastest of the day in a win over Kelly Wells (Quartz Hill) 12:07. Vickie Cook (Alemany, Mission Hills) was another headliner in those days, with the San Fernando Valley lass an age-group legend, and National Prep Cross-Country Finalist (three finishes among top six during her prep career in that competition). Cook took the Team Sweeps race at 12:02 just ahead of Annabella Villanueva (Fountain Valley) 12:03. Bush would run a 4:50.1 mile the next spring track season, with Cook, only a frosh a 4:51.6 mile, and Villanueva a 10:41.7 2 mile. An amazing Edison (Huntington Beach) Girls’ squad, a group of age-groupers who arrived at the prep level, were an impressive Team Sweeps winners in 1978, totalling 82 points (64:04 team time), led by one of the Kirkhorn’s (I remember Andrea and Alicia) 10th at 12:30, and Sharon Hulse (11th at 12:34). The Edison girls kind of set a Girls’ standard for potentially the quality of a team that could be gathered at the prep level, with again, the sport only a couple of years of organized competition at the prep level in that period.

1978 was a super Fall. The 1978 Mt. SAC Invite was an outstanding one!!