After Learning Lesson, Garcia Teaches One : Cross-country: Glendale College freshman turns tables on Montes in Mt. SAC Invitational.

Make no mistake about it.

Hugo Allan Garcia of Glendale College learned a lesson when Edgar Montes of Mt. San Antonio defeated him in the Irvine Invitational cross-country meet last week.

The 26-year-old freshman from Guatemala does not regard himself as a fast finisher, yet he tried--unsuccessfully--to slug it out with Montes in a kickers’ duel at Irvine Park.

He altered his strategy for the Mt. SAC Invitational on Friday, forcing the pace with a mile and a half remaining, and it worked to perfection.

Garcia won the men’s invitational four-mile race in 19 minutes 49 seconds after breaking away from Montes and the lead pack with 1 1/4 miles remaining.

“I planned to run hard up the hills today,” Garcia said. “But I thought they would be closer to me. When I saw I had 40 meters on them, I knew I could just concentrate on finishing well.”

Glendale, powered by Garcia’s win, finished fourth in the team standings with 125 points. Central Arizona, ranked No. 1 in the nation, placed first with 56 points and was followed by defending state champion Mt. SAC (82) and El Camino (100).

Although Garcia was happy to win, he was more satisfied with the way he ran.

“The race was important because I learned from last week,” he said. “It was not so important to win, but to not make the same mistake again. You can learn something from every race and I did today.”

Garcia’s explosive surge put away a quality field and stamped him as the favorite for the state championships at Mt. SAC on Nov. 17.

“He said he had a lot left,” Glendale Coach Eddie Lopez said. “I think he’s capable of running in the 19:20s by the state meet.

Montes, the runner-up in the 1,500 meters in the state track and field championships in May, placed second in 19:56, and Jimmy Rodriguez of Central Arizona was third in 20:07.

David Baptiste of Mt. SAC, the defending state champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finished fourth in 20:11.

Garcia blew the race open after sharing the lead at the mile (4:56) and two-mile (9:45) marks.

He had a seven-second lead at three miles (14:31) that he maintained to the finish.

Also scoring for Glendale were Obed Aguirre (15th in 20:43), Oscar Perez (33rd in 21:08), Fred Mirzaian (36th in 21:12) and Robert Lopez (40th in 21:18).

Moorpark placed three runners in the top nine to win the women’s small-college race with 57 points. College of the Sequoias placed second with 85 points and San Diego City was third with 98.

Tricia Mathiesen finished third in 19:16 over the three-mile course, and teammates Brid Power and Leticia Melgoza were eighth and ninth with identical times of 20:00.