IAN ALSEN - GRANADA HILLS

There is an obvious omission in the ranking of City’s top 10 All-Time runners. One of the City’s greatest, Granada Hill’s IAN ALSEN, is NOT on the list. A brief history of Ian Alsen:

He has the best time ever recorded on the Pierce 3-mile course, 14:23, in a dual meet against Van Nuys on November 19th, 1987. YES . . . 14:23. That’s almost 10 seconds faster than anyone else in the history of the Pierce course. Ian and his coach Bob Aguello had been training for this moment, a run at the course record, all year. They focused on this race because Ian’s eligibility for post season was in doubt. But if this performance seems a lark that is hardly the case. Ian’s running prowess is legendary. Three weeks later on December 5th Ian won the Kinney Western Region qualifier (now known as Footlocker) on the Woodward 5k course in 15:02. He was the favorite to win the national race but opted out in favor of running in the City final and the chance to usurp City champions Belmont. He won the City individual title but his team lost the team championship in a heart breaker to Belmont scoring a tie that was ultimately decided on Belmont’s 6th runner. The following spring he had one of the greatest performances by any City runner, winning a double at Arcadia with an 8:59.54 3,200m and a 4:09.67 1,600m, the fastest times in the nation at the time.

Ian Alsen first garnered attention his sophomore year in spring 1986 when he competed at State in the 1,600m. He had placed 4th at City the week before in 4:22.59 but made it to State when one of the top 3 City runners chose not to run State. He set a PR in the prelims in 4:21.98 but did not qualify for the State Final.

That fall in his junior year he kicked-off the season with a 2nd place finish at Bell-Jeff to course record-holder Richard Erbes of Glendale, posting a time of 14:43.3 . At Mt. SAC the next month he placed 5th in the Individual Sweepstakes in a respectable 15:30. In November in a duel meet at Pierce he ran 15:09; a time that would hold up as the top time that year. At the 1987 City Finals he placed 2nd in 15:21 to TEFERE GEBRE’s (Belmont) 15:10. City did not compete in the 1st State XC meet. held in December that year.

The following track season Ian focused on the 3,200m where he won the Mid-Valley Championships on May 7th, 1987 in 9:25.2 and the City Championship on May 30th, 1987 in 9:18.02. He competed in the 3,200m at State and placed a disappointing 16th place in 9:33.1. Belmont’s Tefere Gebre, Ian’s nemesis from the prior XC season, placed 4th at State in a City best 9:08.39..

To start off his 1987 senior XC season Ian won 4 consecutive races starting with the Reebok Fall Classic in Redondo Beach on August 29th which he won in 15:49.. He followed with a win at Bell-Jeff on September 26th in 14:27, the 2nd best time on the course at the time (Ian currently ranks 12th overall on the course). On October 8th, in a league meet against Taft and Hamilton, he won in 14:49; the 6th best time on Pierce and only the 3rd person to run that fast. The final win in the streak was at the LA County Cross-Country Championships at the College of the Canyons where he posted the top time on the day 15:42.. His streak of wins was broken at Mt. Sac on October 24th where he placed 4th in a disappointing time of 15:38.. But that was a prelude to the greatest performance ever on the Pierce 3-mile course, his 14:23 on November 19th in a dual meet against Van Nuys.

Ian’s post-season performances at Pierce were noteworthy. He won the City championship in 1987 in a time of 15:04.3 and took second in 1986 in 15:21.0. But his most impressive Pierce performances were in dual meets that didn’t meet our standard for inclusions in these rankings.