Morceli Posts National Mark in 5,000 Meters

It was a typical scene in sprint-happy America.

The men’s mile relay had just ended in the Northridge Invitational track and field meet at Cal State Northridge on Saturday, and all but 150 or so die-hard spectators began to head home with the women’s and men’s 5,000 meters remaining.

But the final event, the men’s 5,000, was worth the wait as Nourredine Morceli of Riverside City College set a national junior college record of 13 minutes 41.30 seconds.

Morceli, a 20-year-old sophomore from Tenes, Algeria, broke Kenyan Julius Kariuki’s record by the slimmest of margins. Kariuki, the 1988 Olympic champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, ran a hand-timed 13:41.4 for Riverside on April 8, 1988.

“I’m very happy to get the record, because I just missed it before,” said Morceli, who ran 13:44.8 at Cal Poly Pomona two weeks ago. “I was worried because the early pace was slow, but things turned out all right.”

Morceli, who needed to average 66.1 seconds for each 440-yard segment to break the record, appeared to have blown his opportunity before the race was even one-third over. After a 71.6 opening lap, he came through the three-quarter mark in 3:26.0, eight seconds behind pace.

“I was hoping the rabbit could take the lead for the first mile,” said Morceli, who clocked 4:32.4 for the first mile and 8:56.5 at two miles. “But after a couple of laps, it was up to me.”

Breaking away from the pack after three laps, Morceli clocked between 65.7 and 66.6 for the next eight laps. His 12th circuit of 61.5 brought him through three miles in 13:16.7, and he ran the remaining 188 yards in 24.6 seconds.

He covered the last lap in 58.7 and the final 880 in 2:05.1.

“I felt great,” said Morceli, who ran 3:55.83 to finish second in the mile in the Times Indoor Games. “But it is a little bit more difficult to run fast by yourself.”

Darcy Arreola, who is redshirting at Northridge this season, suffered a rare defeat in the 1,500 meters on her home track but seemed satisfied with her season-opening performance.

Running for the Nike Coast track club, Arreola finished second in the 1,500 (4:20.44) before winning the 800 (2:07.24).

Gladees Prieur, a rival of Arreola’s from her days at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, won the 1,500 in 4:19.54.

Hampered by a blood disorder and a series of injuries in the past two seasons, Prieur of Track West surged past Arreola in the homestretch.

Arreola led through the 880 mark in 2:20 and tried to put Prieur away with 200 meters to go but could not.

“I don’t like to lose, but I was happy with the race,” Arreola said. “This is the fastest I’ve ever run in my first race of the season, so I’m pleased with that. . . . I was very happy with the 800 time.”

Tony Young of the Long Beach Track Club pulled away from teammate Vaughan Kastor and Sasha Vujic of Northridge in the last 500 meters to win the men’s 1,500.

Young, the former NCAA Division II All-American at Cal State Los Angeles, ran 3:48.27, ahead of former Northridge standout Kastor (3:51.55) and Vujic (3:51.75).

Vujic was looking to meet the Division II qualifying standard of 3:50.00, but the fast early pace (57 seconds for the first 440, 2:00 at the 880 mark), sapped his energy over the last half of the race.

In other events, Ade Olukoju of Nigeria and Azusa Pacific won the shotput (59 feet 0 3/4 inches) and discus (196-9) and was second in the hammer (182-3). UCLA’s Janeene Vickers won the women’s 400 in 54.81 and also ran a leg for the Lady Bruins’ victorious 400-meter relay team, which timed 44.9.

Although many of Northridge’s top athletes bypassed the meet to concentrate on Saturday’s Fresno invitational, Lolita Pile won the triple jump at 40-9 1/2.