SOUTHERN SECTION MASTERS : Barreda Paces Himself This Time--and Wins : Track: Loyola runner relies on a strong finishing kick to come from behind and capture his second straight 1,600 title.

A tactical error cost Jason Barreda the Mission League 1,600-meter title. But the Loyola High senior didn’t make the same mistake in the Southern Section finals May 21 at Veterans Stadium.

Barreda won the Division III title in 4 minutes 20.97 seconds, pulling away with a 61-second final 400 to win the event for the second year in a row. He is only the second Loyola athlete to repeat as Southern Section champion.

Jonathan Lee of Bishop Montgomery, who had defeated Barreda in the Mission League meet, was second in 4:22.25 and Dave Mitchell of Morro Bay was third in 4:22.99.

“I knew I had made a mistake in league finals and had run a tactically poor race. This time I ran the perfect race,” Barreda said.

In the Mission League finals, Barreda attempted to lead from the start but was overtaken by Lee on the final straightaway of the May 6 race. On Saturday, Barreda stayed in the pack before moving into second heading into the bell lap. He swept by Mitchell with half a lap remaining.

“The pace was slow and I didn’t worry about the time,” Barreda said. “I knew I had one of the stronger kicks and all I had to do was be within two seconds of the lead with 300 meters to go.”

Barreda, who is being recruited by UCLA and California, also finished fifth in the 3,200 meters in 9:40.94 to help Loyola to second in the team standings with 59 points behind Morningside, which won its third consecutive title with 78 points.

Matt Pentecost of Loyola finished second in the discus with a throw of 158 feet 11 inches and third in the shotput with a heave of 49-9. Vince Cogan and Brian Duff were third in the 400 (49.08) and 800 (1:55.79), respectively.

Cogan anchored the 1,600-meter relay team of Duff, Ed Opucku and Damon Hamilton to third in 3:22.62. Duff and Cogan also combined with Hamilton and Francisco Paredes to finish third in the 400-meter relay in 42.96. Paredes bounded 44-8 to finish second in the triple jump and Loyola’s Dan Baumeister also cleared 13-6 for fifth in the pole vault.

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Ronnie Williams, formerly of Dorsey, anchored the Long Beach City College men’s 1,600-meter relay team to a school-record 3:06.81 with a 45.9 anchor in the State junior college championships at Cerritos College. Williams was also fourth in the 400 in 47.52 to help the Vikings tie Riverside for the team title with 100 points and earn a share of their 11th state championship in 16 years.

Auria Roberto of Glendale, last year’s City runner-up at 3,200 meters for Belmont High, shaved nearly four seconds off her school record in the 5,000 to take fifth in 17:52.58 and came back to take sixth in the 1,500 in 4:45.10.

Lynette Christian of West Los Angeles, a three-time City long jump champion for Dorsey, finished third in her specialty with a leap of 19-1 and fifth in the 100 in 12.17.

Ivo Rodriguez of Trade Tech was second in the 10,000 in 29:57.49 in a race won by Riverside’s Wilhelm Gidabuday in a meet-record 29:39.31 and also finished fifth in the 5,000 in 14:30.76. Brian Clark of Santa Monica, a state finalist in the long jump for Fremont last year, was fifth at 23-4.