Mt. SAC Invitational - A History - 20 years ago - 1983

Jesus Gutierrez (Pasadena) raced to history's #3 Prep time ever in the 1983 Mt. SAC Invite - he cranked 14:49 in taking rival Jim Ortiz (Barstow) in the final quarter mile! - Joni Mooney (Vacaville) continued a super 1983 Fall with a 17:58 Team Sweeps race win! - Girls Individual Sweeps action has Maura Daly (Mission Viejo) in the center leading, with current USA Track & Field World Championship team member, smooth striding Sylvia Mosqueda (San Gabriel HS to the far right in the picture) the eventual Individual Sweeps winner at 18:13

Mt. SAC Invitational - 20 years ago - 1983

It was once again “book and cook” time on the hills of Mt. SAC 20 years back in 1983, with the two day meet blessed with some very hospitable weather during the Friday and Saturday sessions. With no state meet (but the Kinney National Cross-Country series a couple of years into its history), there was still a north/south tinge that put an edge on the action this weekend. Sweepstakes races were held both days of the meet cobmined the best teams and individuals, with Friday’s races for the Smaller School Boys and Girls (1099 or less in enrollment), with Saturday Div II (1100-1599) and Div I contests (1600 and above) for those size schools.

Friday’s action had El Camino (Oceanside) with a Boys’ Sweeps win with 70 points and 82:13 team time, with John Groulx (El Cam) and Adolfo Garcia (Escondido) (in another race) 15:44 for the day’s top clocking. San Marino, under Coach Phil Ryan, took the Girls’ Friday sweeps with a 103:12 team time, as Cheryl Oslinker (South Hills, West Covina) at 19:01 and Carol Doody (Webb, Claremont) 19:02 the day’s quickest.

Saturday’s action had some of the nation’s top stars! Jesus Gutierrez (Pasadena) returned from a seventh place at the Kinney National Championships in 1982, with Jimmy Ortiz (Barstow), 25th in that race, and back for the 83 season. Calvin Gaziano (Castro Valley) was the North’s big gun, with the brash NCS star joining Jesus and Ortiz with a 3200m best of right at 9:00 from the year before. The trio headlined the Individual sweeps, and it was a great race. Fallbrook’s Ted Goodlake led the group through the horseshoe loop first mile at 4:41, with Gutierrez and Ortiz pulling slightly away from Gaziano up the Switchback hill loop. Ortiz edged ahead of Gutierrez over the final mile, with a ten yard lead as the duo crested the final Reservoir Hill. Onto the straightaway Jim maintained his lead, but Gutierrez, a runner with a short stride with good knee lift and a powerful arm rhythm that reminded some of the Mihay Igloi (Hungarian Coach who trained a great group of Open runners locally and some prep stars) trained runners of just before that era, gathered for a strong final quarter mile. Gutierrez edged up and past the Barstow star down the airstrip, winning at 14:49-14:53, with Gaziano next at 15:01. Jesus’s mark was the #3 ever on the course, with Ortiz fourth, and Gaziano #12 on the all-time lists thus far, super running!

The Boys’ sweepstakes action had strong squads from Arroyo (El Monte), coached by current Mt. SAC Race Director Tim O’Rourke, Jesuit (Sacramento), with Walt Lange back at the helm two decades past, and Monte Vista (Spring Valley) from San Diego. Arroyo, with Mike Perez, took the race out, with Monte Vista stars Martin Sandoval and Ari Schrauder moving into the individual lead during the second mile, and they would finish 1-2 at 15:21 and 15:36. Jesuit steadily moved up during the race, led by the soph twin duo of Mark (15:43) and Eric (15:49) Mastalir (who would make some real headlines before they were done at the prep level), with the Sac Joaquin school the winners with 70 points (79:48), with Arroyo 95 (80:24), and Monte Vista 104 (79:57). The Team Course Record was 78:08 set by Helix from 1977, with Jesuit appearing to have a shot at that super standard before the twin Mastalirs left the team!

Girls Team Sweeps action featured a re-match between Joni Mooney (Vacaville) and Chantal Plante (Arroyo Grande), with the Northern star winning by a second at the Stanford Invite a few weeks previous. On this day Joni showed her strength on the hills, moving on the “poop-out” steep grade just prior to two miles to a definite lead, and stretching that to a 17:58-18:21 win over Plante by the end. Joni’s time was the #11 All-Time ever on the course (with it used consistently for Section Finals action a month later by Southern Section stars over the years), and the #2 time ever by a non-Southern Section athlete. Tustin continued to cook as a team, racing to a 95:20 team time in winning the Team Sweeps event (19:04 average) for Coach Tom Coffey. Sylvia Mosqueda (San Gabriel), amazingly still running today, and a representative of the United States at the recent Paris World Championships in Track and Field, won the Individual Sweeps event with a fine 18:13 clocking. El Dorado (Placentia), coached by Don Chadez, currently the Corona HS Athletic Director, was a 96:57 Team Time in winning the Individual Sweeps event, with Marcia Escobosa (18:54) leading frosh star Julie Cooper (19:08).

Later that Fall Sylvia Mosqueda (3rd region) would qualify for the Kinney National Finals, with Chantal Plante (5th) also making the Western team. Jesus Gutierrez and Jim Ortiz surprisingly did not qualify for the National Meet, with Calvin Gaziano a fine second in the region to Oregon’s Tracy Garrison, with a 10th at the National Finals in San Diego.