The Glendale College Track-and Field team finished another successful season by having five runners win all-American honors at the State Championships on May 18 and 19 in Santa Barbara.
Pilar Delgado, Ana Gjesdal, Ivan Alvarado, Chris Wells-Anders and Ani Bagumyan, won the honors by finishing in the top three in their individual events.
Delgado won all-American honors twice by finishing third in the 10,000 meters with a time of 38.09.72 on Friday, and in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:19.90 on Saturday. Gjesdal finished second in the 3,000 meters steeplechase with her second best time of 11:14, and a huge surprise was Bagumyan finished sixth at the Southern California Prelims, jumped to third in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:54.61.
For the men, Wells-Anders closed out the season finishing second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.26. Wells-Anders has the fastest time in the state at 1:48.8 earlier in the season. Alvarado finished his season by finishing third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a personal best time of 9:09.46.
The Women outscored the men by finished in 11th place with 26 points, and the men finished 19th with 16 points, something that has not happened in coach Eddie Lopez’s 15 years at GCC.
That was a pleasant surprise,” Lopez said. “They really ran well.”
Overall, the season included many surprises, none more than Alvarado. Alvarado tripled in the conference meet, and in the Southern California prelims running the 1,500 meters, the 800 meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
At the conference meet, he won the 1,500 meter in 4:00.8, was second in the 800 in 1:55.3, and had a conference best in the steeplechase with a time of 9:26.
Ivan [Alvarado] was really a workhorse for us this year, and had to work on a lot of things,” Lopez said. “And Chris [Well-Anders] was also. They both had quality doubles for us too.”
For the women, Bagumyan, Delgado, and Gjesdal all doubled in most of the meets also. At the conference meet, Gjesdal won the 1,500 meters in 4:45.26 and finished second in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:40.16.
In conference this season, the men came finished third in conference, and the women finished sixth. Overall, combined, they came in fourth in conference.
“That was good for us,” Lopez said. “We are usually third or fourth considering the numbers we have. Other teams have more, but we go for quality.”