Ventura’s Spiker Wins Surf City 5K Going Away

Josh Spiker wanted to participate in one last running event before leaving for the University of Wisconsin next month.

So the 18-year-old Ventura High graduate drove down from Ventura with his father, Ron, and won the Surf City 5K in Huntington Beach Tuesday in a personal-best 14 minutes 42 seconds.

“Me and my dad did this two years ago and we liked it, so we decided to do it again for fun,� Spiker said.

“I had my last track race two weeks ago and I wanted to do another track race, but we couldn’t find any, so my coach just said ‘Do whatever you want.’ �

A stress fracture kept Spiker from running for more than four months. But he came back for the spring track season and finished second in state in the 3,200, then clocked a 4:06.3 in the mile to place second at the Golden West Invitational. Spiker capped his season two weeks ago with a third-place finish in the mile (4:07.76) at the National Scholastic Outdoor Track and Field Championships. “I’m only doing about 20 miles a week right now, so this race felt a lot longer than the mile,� said Spiker, who plans to redshirt in both track and cross-country at Wisconsin next season.

Estancia graduate Johann Appell, who finished fourth in the 1,500 meters for Long Beach State at the Big West Conference outdoor championships last spring, placed second in 14:51 and defending champion Dave Schumacher of Huntington Beach was third in 14:55. Donna Mills of Irvine won the women’s division in 17:25 and Susan Reilly of Pasadena was second in 17:39.

In the residents’ 5K, Jose Luis Bariga finished first in 16:43 and Matthew Wells was second in 16:52. Christine Riel won the women’s division in 17:39.