Distance

Charles Rich Tom McLean did something that he's rarely had to do over the course of his splendid four-year career. The Flintridge Prep boys' distance runner briefly looked over his right shoulder to see where his closest competitor was entering the final 100 meters of the 1,600 event. That forced McLean to turn on the afterburners. McLean had just enough energy to win the race with a personal-best mark of 4 minutes 27.82 seconds in the Prep League final at Claremont-McKenna College's Fritz B. Burns Stadium on Friday night.

LA CRESCENTA — As per usual, distance events were the bread and butter for the Crescenta Valley High girls’ and boys’ track and field teams, but they weren’t enough to overcome archrival Arcadia. The Falcons boys’ squad was edged by the Apaches, 65-62, while the CV girls were done in by Arcadia’s field prowess in a 77-50 loss at Wednesday’s Pacific League dual meet at Crescenta Valley High. “It was very close,” said Falcons Coach Mark Evans of the boys’ race.

With depth and a promising freshmen class, there's plenty of optimism surrounding the Glendale Community College men's and women's track and field teams. The Vaqueros, who will begin their season Feb. 16 at the Pomona-Pitzer All Comers Meet, figure to use their depth to contend for individual Western State Conferences titles with an eye toward challenging for the conference team championships. “We feel like we have the talent to do some damage, from conference to state,” said Glendale college Coach Eddie Lopez, who guided the men's and women's cross-country squads to second-place finishes at state in November.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE - Angel Rodriguez had never experienced pitching nine innings in his career. On Friday night, the Glendale Angelenos starter found out what it's like to accomplish the feat. Unfortunately for Rodriguez, his effort fell just short, as he surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the ninth in Glendale's 3-2 loss against the Long Beach Legends in an independent summer collegiate game at Stengel Field. "I wanted the ball in the ninth, and I felt stronger than any point before," said Rodriguez, who struck out five in a 120-pitch performance.

GLENDALE — They've reached the pantheon of their track and field careers in their first years as upperclassmen. Claire Collison and James Kostelnik proved they are among the top distance runners in Southern California. The duo earned their stripes when they recently competed at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet. Now, the talented athletes plan to show the entire state what they can offer. Collison and Kostelnik are set to partake in the 89th annual CIF State Meet, which will be held today and Saturday at Sacramento City College's Hughes Stadium.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Glendale Community College officials are gearing up to offer a new training program in green technology education after receiving a $100,000 state grant to develop an online curriculum. Administrators will use the funds to craft online distance-learning courses that will help students prepare for jobs related to renewable energy technology as part of the state’s pilot program to put more people to work in what is expected to be a growing industry, interim President/Supt.

The Crescenta Valley High boys' and girls' track and field teams kicked off their league schedule with a dual-team meet with Muir, but could not pull out their first league wins of the season. Despite posting superb marks individually, the Falcons failed to capture enough points, as the boys were defeated 69-58, while the girls fell 75-54. "Our kids ran well," Crescenta Valley coach Mark Evans said. "We ran some good times, plus they competed well and that's always important."

Singer and songwriter Mikki Brisk has been using music as a creative outlet and a place to turn to during rough periods for as long as she can remember. Growing up in a sometimes unhappy environment, Brisk turned to music for comfort. As a child, she would hum tunes she remembered hearing on the radio and would make up her own words. When she was old enough to understand the lyrics written by others, Brisk was able to relate to the song and realize others went through similar situations.