Sorensen Runs Down the Rabbits : Track: Winner of 1,500- meter race sets personal best after warming to a blistering pace.

VAN NUYS — It’s probably safe to say that as long as Jim Sorensen of the Brooks Track Club continues to run at a national-class level, he’ll continue to run in the Asics Twilight Distance Classic at Birmingham High.

Last year, Sorensen broke 3 minutes 41 seconds for the first time in his career to finish third in the 1,500 meters.

Friday night he did even better than that, dipping under 3:40 for the first time with a 3:39.81 clocking.

Sorensen’s only goal entering the race was to win, but he took advantage of some quality pace-setting to lower his personal best by 1.1 seconds.

Sasha Vujic, a former Cal State Northridge standout, was the designated rabbit, and he towed the field through 400 meters in 57.4 seconds and through 800 in 1:57.2.

Vujic pulled off the track shortly thereafter, and Irishman Shane Healey of the Mizuno Track Club took over.

Healey led at 1,200 meters in 2:56.3, but Sorensen surged into the lead midway down the backstretch and gradually widened his advantage to the finish.

“I felt a little tired during the first part of the race,” Sorensen said. “The fast early pace had me a little fatigued, but I was able to push through that. Sometimes you aren’t able to, and when that happens things can get rough.”

Behind Sorensen, four others broke 3:42 as Healey finished second in 3:40.36, followed by Gordon Johnson (3:41.02) of Genesis Training, Jamey Harris (3:41.03) of the Reebok Aggies and Balazs Tolgyesi (3:41.78) of Nebraska.

In contrast to the men’s race, the early pace in the women’s 1,500 was relatively slow as ageless Ruth Wysocki led from start to finish to win in 4:12.1.

Wysocki, the 1984 Olympic trials champion, came through 400 meters in 70.5, 800 in 2:17.2 and 1,200 in 3:22.3.

Sarah Thorsett of Nike North was running off her shoulder at that point, but the 38-year-old Wysocki powered away in the final 300.

Wysocki’s time narrowly missed her national-leading clocking of 4:11.75. Thorsett placed second in 4:15.15 with Lesley Noll-Mayne of Asics Track West third in 4:17.24.

In other notable events, Alisa Hill of the Foot Locker Athletic Club won the women’s 800 in 2:02.29; Trina Painter of New Balance took the women’s 5,000 in 16:01.29; and former Palmdale High standout Erick McBride won the men’s 800 in 1:49.18.

Regina Jacobs of Mizuno, the 1995 world indoor champion in the 1,500 meters, was the headline performer in the women’s 800, but it was Hill who went wire to wire for the victory.

Jacobs, a 1981 graduate of the Argyll Academy (now Campbell Hall High), pulled up alongside Hill with 200 meters to go, but she dropped off the pace quickly thereafter and eventually finished sixth in 2:10.8.

Darcy Arreola of Nike Coast, the 1991 NCAA champion in the 1,500 for Cal State Northridge, was second in 2:05.37.