Spiker’s 4:06.3 in Golden West Mile Was a Milestone

The 24-year reign of Don Moses as the region record-holder in the boys’ mile came to an end on Saturday night when senior Josh Spiker of Ventura High clocked 4:06.3 to finish second in the Golden West Invitational track and field meet at American River College in Sacramento.

Moses ran a region record of 4:08.5 for Crescenta Valley in 1976. Spiker surpassed that mark with the best track race of his career while finishing second behind senior Don Sage of Elmhurst, Ill., who ran 4:04.2.

Spiker ran 8:56.66 in the 3,200 meters last year and came from behind in the homestretch to win the state title in 9:02.00, but the race Saturday was the most remarkable of his career because of the leg injury he overcame to get there.

“I was really excited,” Spiker said. “I heard my splits during the race so I knew we were running down there. But when I heard my time, I wasn’t even tired because I got so excited.”

Spiker, who has signed with Wisconsin, was one of the top cross-country runners in the nation last fall. But a stress fracture below his right knee ended his season after he won the Ventura County championships with a course-record effort at Lake Casitas in Ventura on Oct. 29.

The injury was expected to prevent him from running for 6-8 weeks, but Spiker was on crutches until mid-January. Although he was working out in a pool throughout the rehabilitation process, he didn’t start running until mid-March and didn’t run his first race until April 15, when he timed a surprisingly fast 4:12.9 leg on Ventura’s 6,400 relay team in the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut.

He won Ventura County titles in the 800 in 1:55.50 and 1,600 in 4:18.39 at Moorpark High on April 28, and took the 1,600 in 4:11.55 and the 3,200 in 9:15.31 in the Southern Section Division II finals at Cerritos College in Norwalk on May 20.

But he didn’t look as smooth or strong as the runner who clocked 14:42 over Mt. SAC’s 2.95-mile cross-country course in October.

He lowered his times to 4:10.32 in the 1,600 and 9:13.35 in the 3,200 in the Southern Section Masters Meet at Cerritos on May 26 before finishing second in the 3,200 in 9:05.36 in the state championships at Cerritos on June 3. But a 4:06.3 mile--which converts to a 1,600 in 4:04.9--seemed highly unlikely a week later.

Spiker clocked splits of 60.5 for 440 yards, 2:02.5 for 880 and 3:04.8 for 1,320 while running in the pack behind Sage at Golden West.

He was in fourth place entering the final homestretch, but sped past Noel Paulson of Turner, Ore., who ran 4:07.0, and Mason Ward of Cincinnati, who timed 4:07.2, to move to fourth in the nation this year and obliterate the former Ventura County record of 4:11.1 set by Scott Blackburn of Royal in 1975.

Bill Tokar, Ventura’s distance coach, was thrilled with Spiker’s performance, but said his most memorable moment came 40 minutes later when Spiker, Sage and four other competitors ran a 100.

“There were no clocks, no spectators, no starters,” Tokar said via e-mail. “Just a group of friends deciding who was the fastest for nothing more than the fun of it. Just like third grade again. Josh says he got Sage by a nose.”

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BY A MILE

When Josh Spiker of Ventura High ran 4:06.3 to finish second in the boys’ mile in the Golden West Invitational at American River College in Sacramento on Saturday, he broke the region record of 4:08.5 set by Don Moses of Crescenta Valley in 1976. The following is a list of the top 11 performers in the region.

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Time Individual School Year 4:06.3 Josh Spiker Ventura 2000 4:08.5 Don Moses Crescenta Valley 1976 4:08.9 John Musich Burbank 1974 4:09.32 Bryan Dameworth Agoura 1990 4:09.2 *Brent Tubb Cleveland 1970 4:09.4 Ron Bahara Hart 1978 4:10.0c Andy DiConti La Canada 1980 4:10.2 Jon Stormo Agoura 1978 4:10.48c Todd Lewis Burbank 1989 4:10.6 John MacDonald Hoover 1967 4:10.6 Farron Fields Granada Hills 1979

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Times in hundredths are fully automatic. To convert hand times to fully automatic, add .14. c--mark converted from 1,600 meters. *--junior. Others are seniors.