Costello gets second in thrilling 10,000 final

SBCC's Tiffany Costello earned second place in the 10,000-meter final on Saturday in the Southern Cal Women's Track & Field Prelims at Cerritos College. The 10,000 was the only final of the day.

Costello led for the second half of the race as the lead pack dwindled from seven to two runners. Miranda Daschian, the state cross country champion and WSC 1500 winner, rallied in the last 150 meters to pass Costello and win by 1.6 seconds. Daschian was clocked in 37:11.07 and Costello ran 37:12.68, the No. 2 time in SBCC history.

They finished nearly 23 seconds ahead of the third-place runner, Toni Lopez of Santa Ana.

"Tiffany very nearly broke away from Miranda twice in the final mile but Daschian clawed her way back in the final 150m despite a 75-second last lap by Costello," said Vaquero coach Scott Fickerson. "Her 2nd-place finish qualifies her for the state meet. I'm extremely proud of how Tiffany raced out there today.

"She improved her personal best by nearly three minutes. She took over the race lead with 12 laps remaining and steadily pushed the pace, dropping all the runners but one. She did everything she could to win but just fell 1 second short. Tiffany raced so courageously. It was the most exciting race I've seen in a long while."

 Costello, a sopho more from Coto de Caza, will race in the 5000 at next Saturday's So Cal Championships, which will be held at Cerritos College at noon. She broke a 31-year-old school record earlier this year with a 17:34.37 clocking in the 5000.

 Alana Ochoa qualified for the So Cal Finals with personal bests in two field events. She was fourth in the discus (41.52m) and ninth in the hammer (40.90).

 Yuliana Garibay qualified in the 3000 steeplechase with a 21-second personal best. She ran 12:06.26 for the No. 6 time in SBCC history. Carolin Bothe was 10th in the 800 and turned in the second-fastest time of her career (2:21.35) but missed qualifying by one spot.

 Andrea Mueller didn't qualify in the 100 hurdles, high jump or long jump but she had previously qualified for the heptathlon state finals with her fifth-place showing in the Southern Cal Championships.

"We figured if Andrea qualified in all three events, it would be great," said Fickerson. "But if she didn't qualify in any, it would probably be even better for her heptathlon. Now we can focus on getting her ready for her best event, where she happens to be being pretty good at seven events."