Tireless Raider Exhausts the Field

BAKERSFIELD — Somehow, the scene didn’t seem right.

Eleazar Hernandez of Moorpark College had just completed a superb distance triple in the Southern California track and field championships at Bakersfield Memorial Stadium by winning the men’s 5,000 meters in 14:49.42 on Saturday night and yet the sophomore was handing cups of water to his vanquished competitors after the race.

After placing second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase earlier in the day with a personal best of 9:22.86 and winning the 10,000 in a career best of 30:42.46 on May 3, logic dictated that Hernandez should have been dead on his feet, yet he spoke excitedly of tripling again in the state championships at Fresno City College next Friday and Saturday.

“The 10,000 is Friday and that’s the race I’ll concentrate on,” Hernandez said. “After that, I’ll do whatever I can in the steeplechase and 5,000 [on Saturday]. I’ll concentrate on the steeplechase and 5,000 after the 10,000 and just give it my best shot. If I finish last, it’s no big deal.”

It’s hard to imagine that happening after watching Hernandez account for 28 points and lead Moorpark to a third-place total of 69, the Raiders’ highest finish ever. Mt. San Antonio placed first with 154 points and Bakersfield was second with 101 1/2.

Riverside’s Neil Smart, who defeated Hernandez in the steeplechase, was expected to challenge him again in the 5,000, but Hernandez broke away shortly before the 3,200-meter mark.

“I didn’t make any big surge,” Hernandez said. “I was just trying to keep my pace. That’s all I was concentrating on.”

His splits proved that. He clocked 4:44 for the first 1,600, 4:45 for the second and 4:46 for the third before running the final 200 in 34 seconds.

Sophomore Josh Canales was Moorpark’s other top scorer, accounting for 15 points.

Canales placed second in the Southern California decathlon championships at Santa Barbara City College on April 1-2 and he added a third-place throw of 187-4 in the javelin Saturday.

Emmy Vargas of Valley was the only other winner from the region, sweeping the women’s shotput and discus with school records of 43-7 1/2 and 133-6.

Vargas was only a 33-foot shotputter during her senior season at Monroe High in 1995, but she has blossomed under the tutelage of Monarch weight-events coach Scott West.

“He has taken her to a whole new level,” Valley Coach Kevin Galbraith said. “She’s just really starting to get it and she’s going to keep developing.”

Charles Lee of Valley, Jamaal Chase of Ventura, Grace Smart of Glendale and Satin Lewis of Antelope Valley turned in some of the other top performances by local athletes Saturday.

Lee, the 1995 City Section champion in the 200 for Cleveland High, placed second in that event with a personal best of 20.80 and finished third in the 100 in 10.51.

Chase placed second in the men’s long jump and triple jump with marks of 23-6 1/2 and 49-9 3/4.

Smart placed second in the 200 in 24.77 and fourth in the 100 at 12.15.

Lewis placed fourth in the 100 high hurdles and the 400 lows with times of 14.93 and 1:03.33.

Pasadena’s Phil Gonzalez, who won the men’s 1,500 in 3:52.45, was another victor with connections to the region. He graduated from Crescenta Valley High in 1995.