Nitro runner bursts through - Argishti Beglaryan

[MosJan]

Nitro runner bursts through

Glendale boys' track and field runner's smart, tough 800-meter win at Arcadia Invitational is sixth best in nation this year, school record.

 

By MIRJAM SWANSON

 

ARCADIA -- Argishti Beglaryan said he had never worked so hard in his life.

Nor had he ever run so fast.

No one from Glendale High had, actually.

With his video-taping parents among the capacity crowd on hand to view the conclusion of the nation's largest high school-hosted event featuring athletes from 387 schools and 20 states, Beglaryan won the seeded 800-meter race Saturday at the Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High.

He did it in a personal-best and school record of 1 minute 53.83 seconds, also the sixth-fastest time by a high schooler in the nation this year.

But the electrifying result -- 1.8 seconds better than his previous PR and program best, did more than reestablised records.

It served as a bit of a statement, too. The more prestigious invitational 800, run immediately after the seeded version, produced a winning time that was just .14 of a second faster than Beglaryan's.

"He was disappointed he didn't get into the invitational, so he kind of made a statement about that," said Nitro Coach Edgar Torosyan, one of three Glendale coaches on hand, minus longtime Nitro mentor John Barnes, with whom Beglaryan had been bearing down workout-wise for the past three weeks.

Barnes was in Eagle Rock, attending an event at Occident College where he once starred, as Beglaryan made his familiar strut to the starting line, three lanes in.

Because he persuaded Barnes to OK his doing so, Beglaryan -- the 1999 Armenian 800 national champion -- pushed off the line clearly intent on getting to the front of the pack.

He did, making up the stagger by the 50-meter mark and getting as far in front of the jostling that kept him boxed in and in seventh place at the CIF Southern Sectoin Division I final last June.

"He's not big enough to elbow his way around and he's got so much speed and acceleration, someone's going to have to have a lot of speed to catch him from the back," Glendale assistant coach Mike Harzmann said.

Beglaryan stayed ahead for almost the entire first lap, for which he clocked a 54.9 -- on pace, because he and Barnes had scheduled a 55-second split at the halfway point.

For a few seconds at the end of the first go-around, the pack was upon Beglaryan, trying to sidle up to him and pass.

But Beglaryan stayed calm, in control and simply slid wide, so as not to inhibit his rhythm, before motoring ahead again at the 600-meter mark.

"When they tried to catch me I started to pick it up," Beglaryan said.

But by the time he was on the home stretch, after 1 1/2 laps and 1 1/2 minutes of excertion, Beglaryan had company again.

Rosemead's Mario Cobian ran shoulder-to-shoulder with Beglaryan for several paces off the final curve, threatening to take over the lead. Cobian had the momentum, and Beglaryan seemed to be straining.

"I was dying [at that point]," Beglaryan said.

But, somewhere, Beglaryan found another gear.

"Honestly, I did [think I had Beglaryan beaten]," Cobian said.

Beglaryan pulled ahead for the final 10 meters, finishing .07 ahead of both Cobian and Birmingham's Damian Rinaldi.

With a hard-fought victory to his credit, Beglaryan -- who plans next week to run in the Mount San Antonio College Invitaional -- staggered off completely winded.

"This is the hardest race I've ever run," Beglaryan said.

His coaches knew it. That only made them more proud.

If you do well in this meet, that's really saying something," Harzmann said.

Actually, even running in the invitational counts for a good deal.

CV sent eight relay teams to participate in the two-day meet. The Falcons' best finish came from the boys' distance medley team that raced in Saturday's open session. The squad of Chris Snyder, C.J. Howard, Ben Kessen and Rusty Whisman placed sixth with a time of 10:49.91.

Also in Friday's relays-only portion of the event, the St. Francis boys' 1,600 sprint medley team placed third, in 3:38.66.

 

Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times