TRACK: Woodside's Waschura Finishes Fifth in Historic State Final

Chris Waschura’s mind-set all year was to save his best for last. Boy, did he ever.

The Woodside High star reeled off the race of his young career in what amounted to a dazzling 1,600-meter final at the California Interscholastic Federation Track and Field Championships on Saturday night at Buchanan High in Clovis.

Waschura finished in 4 minutes, 8.29 seconds – a time that would have crowned him as the state champion in five of the previous 10 years, and never left him with less than a third-place medal in that span. But on this night, the field was so amazingly fast that Waschura placed fifth.

Not that he was complaining.

“Man, it was incredible – one of the deepest, most talented races in California state history,” said Waschura, the Central Coast Section champion in the 1,600 and 800. “Just to be part of it is pretty incredible.”

Jantzen Oshier of Trabuco Hills blitzed the field by winning in 4:00.83 – the best time in the country this year by over two seconds, and a mark that is the second-best in state meet history. Loyola’s Elias Gedyon – the defending champion – was second in 4:04.04, a time that would have been the winning mark in 14 of the previous 15 years.

After Waschura qualified third on Friday in 4:10.44 – just five one-hundredths of a second behind co-leaders Oshier and Gedyon -- he entered the final confident he had an even better time in him, and he hoped that extra oomph would propel him atop the podium.

Waschura didn’t come close to that lofty goal, but the two-time state qualifier said his head was nonetheless spinning that he shattered his personal-best for the second straight day.

“It’s still kind of setting in that I ran a 4:08,” said Waschura, who entered the two-day state meet never having topped 4:13.18. “I would dream about running such a fast time.”

Rancho Cucamonga junior Luis Gutierez (4:06.51) and Matt Carpowich of Torrey Pines (4:07.21) took third and fourth, respectively.

Among non-seniors, Waschura finished second to Gutierez.

“I would’ve liked to be the first junior. Leaving that to another day is just fine,” said Waschura, who said he next heads to North Carolina for the junior nationals later in the month. “Coming home with a 4:08 is beyond my expectation. There’s definitely no disappointment.”