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San Diego Masters report

Helix's Deun White vies with UC's De'Sean Cunningham for lead in Masters flight boys 400-meter dash

After the results of last Saturday’s San Diego Section Masters meet at Poway High School where tabulated, it might be more appropriate to ask just who on the Helix High School track team did not qualify for this upcoming weekend’s state finals.

The two-time defending Grossmont South League champion Highlanders easily won the boys Division I team championship title, outscoring runner-up Rancho Bernardo 110 to 60 points. The Scotties qualified athletes for a dozen events and will send six individuals, plus one relay team, to Cerritos College in Norwalk for Friday’s state prelim meet. The state championship meet follows the next day at the same site.

At right: Helix freshman Dax Danns speeds toward seventh-place overall finish in boys 400-meter dash.

Helix’s three-time defending South League championship girls team will also contribute the services of sophomore April Montgomery to this weekend’s state meet.
The Highlanders qualified for a total of 11 events at this weekend’s state meet.

“Our goal from the season’s beginning has been to win the state meet. Along the way there have been individual goals to break the school record in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays,” Helix coach Ray Mounts said.

Seniors Derrell Hutsona (100 meters, long jump), Reggie Bush (100 meters, 200 meters) and Deun White (200 meters, 400 meters) and juniors Bryon Barmer (110 and 300 hurdles), Babey Wagnew (3200 meters) and Frankie Green (triple jump) all qualified among the top three individuals in their respective events in last Saturday’s Masters heats to earn trips to this weekend’s state finals.

Bush, White, Barmer and freshman Dax Danns comprise the legs of Helix’ state qualifying  4x400 relay team.

Hutsona (100 meters), White (200 meters), Barmer (110 hurdles) and Wagnew (3200 meters) won Masters titles in their specialty events. In the combined Masters/CIF finals meet that had many spectators scratching their heads in wonderment for a defined winner, Hutsona (100 meters), White (200 and 400 meters), Barmer (110 hurdles) and Wagnew (3200 meters) also emerged as Division I champions for the 2003 season, with the Highlanders also winning the 4x400 relay title.

School records fell by the wayside in the meet for the victorious Highlanders. Barmer set new school record marks in both hurdles events — timing 14.29 and 38.27 to eclipse old marks of 14.53 and 39.24, respectively. The old 1600 relay standard of 3:18.6 had stood since 1968 — it now stands at 3:16.23.

Montgomery finished second in the girls 800 meters in a school record time 2:13.98 — knocking off nearly four seconds from the existing school record and nearly six seconds off her seed time in the event.

“I knew she was ready for a 2:15 but the 2:13 blew me away,” Mounts said. “She is a competitor and always tells she will do her best. I think she really wanted to qualify and went after it.  New school record!”

Bush won three bronze medals at last year’s state finals (including third-place individual place-finishes in both the 100 and 200 meters) but finished second to a pair of teammates at last Saturday’s Masters finals. Hutsona (10.83) edged Bush (10.84) by 0.01 second in the 100 meters while Bush (21.80) finished second to White (21.63) in the 200 meters.

Hutsona had set a new school record of 24 feet, 8.75 inches in the long jump in the league championship meet. Mounts said the sprint race has helped to increase his speed down the runway in the long jump. The old long jump record, set in 1986 by Hutsona’s coach, Larry Todd, had stood at 23-9.5.

Wagnew won his Masters title in the 3200 event in 9:19.52 while White’s Division I CIF-winning mark in the 400 was 47.56. Wagnew finished 14th in the state in last year’s 3200 meters as a sophomore.

If Helix had one disaster on the day, it came in the meet-opening 4x100 relay in which the Highlanders had designs on conceivably winning a state title. Rounding the final turn, Helix appeared positioned for an easy victory in the event but Bush could not control the handoff on his anchor leg and the baton fell onto the track to dash the Scotties’ chance of advancing to the state meet.

Helix finished third in the event last year after winning the state title the previous season.
“(The) baton hit the ground and we were all shocked,” Mounts said.

The Helix coach quickly added that he was pleased with how all the members of the 4x100 relay team responded in their individual events. “I think that in all the events we ran, plus the 4x100, we have the top marks in the section this season. Everything else went as we had hoped,” Mounts said.

Also qualifying for Friday’s state prelims are Mt. Miguel senior Travis Picou (boys 200 meters), El Capitan junior Cassie Atkinson (girls 800 meters), Granite Hills’ Laiah Blue (girls 100 hurdles) and Corey Dart (boys 300 hurdles) and  Monte Vista freshmen Janie James (girls 400 meters) and Daniella Thu (girls discus).

Picou made it a sweep for Grossmont South League in the 200 meters with his third-place finish of 21.99 behind the Helix tandem of White and Bush.

Atkinson (2:14.40), Blue (15.19), James (56.69) and Thu (123-5) all finished third in their Masters flight events.

Dart, a senior, placed fourth in the 300 intermediate hurdles but met the an automatic qualifying standard with a time of 38.40.

In a meet that annually awards its heartbreak, East County athletes were not immune.

Monte Vista senior Dan Driscoll, who led the section in the boys 800 meters, finished fourth in 1:56.37 behind Vista senior Miguel Villareal (1:55.48), Scripps Ranch senior Dan Blomgren (1:55.49) and San Diego senior Oswaldo Alvarez (1:56.21). Driscoll had set the pace all season with a regular season best time of 1:56.73

CIF/Masters Notepad
Mt. Miguel’s Picou also placed sixth in the boys long jump (21-5.5) while Monte Vista’s James was 10th in the girls 200 meters (25.90). Granite Hills’ Blue, a junior, was fifth in the girls 300 hurdles (45.99) while Dart was eighth in the boys 110 high hurdles (15.35). Monte Vista’s Thu was 13th in the girls shot put (34-5.75).

Also for Helix, Danns placed seventh in the boys 400 meters while junior Garrick Frew was seventh in the boys 1600 meters (4:25.74). Junior Taryn Jones finished 11th overall in the girls 100 meters (12.55), sophomore Jamie Marliere was 12th in the girls 3200 meters (11:52.41) and junior Evon Willingham was ninth in the girls triple jump (34-1.25) and 15th in the girls long jump (15-8.75). Seniors Ryan Simone (51-4.25) and Devin Descenzo (47-8.75) finished seventh and 12th, respectively, in the boys shot put.

The Highlanders posted the fourth-best time overall in the girls 4x400 relay in 4:00.67 and the fifth-best time in the girls 4x100 relay at 48.56.

“I also thought our 4x400 girls ran well they just did not do the job at prelims; I would like to think that they would have been in the thick of it in the A heat.  As it was, they were third in D-1,” Mounts said.

Mt. Miguel’s Alisha McCoung (58.98) and Denisha Bryant (59.08) were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the girls 400 meters. Monte Vista junior Holli Mayer was sixth in the girls 800 meters (2:20.68).

Best of the rest
Santana junior Erin Price was eighth in the girls 3200 meters (11:33.22). El Capitan senior Lyric Teigen was ninth in the girls 300 hurdles (47.41). Steele Canyon sophomore Jasmine Williams was fifth in the girls high jump (5-0) and 14th in the girls 200 meters (26.63). Grossmont sophomore Randee Meek was 15th in the girls 1600 meters (5:25.33).

Valhalla’s Leslie Noiseaux (5-0) and Sade Campbell (4-10) tied for fifth and 10th, respectively, in the girls high jump, while teammate Leslie Rychel was 10th in the girls long jump (16-0.75).

Mt. Miguel senior Durran Moore (50.48) was ninth in the boys 400 meters while Santana senior Terrance Jones (50.77) finished 11th in the same event. West Hills senior Michael Bell was 15th in the boys 3200 meters (10:11.92) while Wolf Pack teammate Ross Halleland (with the seventh best seed time at 9:51.55) was a scratch.

Granite Hills sophomore Matt Loustalet was seventh in the boys 300 intermediate hurdles (39.35) and 11th in the boys 110 high hurdles (15.60). El Cajon Valley freshman Chris Jackson (41.55) was 13th in the boys intermediate hurdles.

In girls field events, West Hills senior Samantha Singley was fifth in the girls discus (119-6) while Grossmont senior Yvonne Shammas was eighth in the girls triple jump (35-6.5).

 In boys field events, West Hills junior Mike Edmondson was 10th in the high jump (5-10) while Grossmont junior Frederick Bills was 11th (5-10) in a jump-off. Grossmont senior Charlie Montgomery placed 11th in the pole vault at 13-0 while Steele Canyon sophomore Ryan Pringle was 17th with a vault of 12-0. El Capitan senior Thomas Pittman was 11th in the triple jump (42-4) while senior teammate Cody Gocke placed ninth in the boys shot put (141-7).

Steele Canyon sophomore Carolyn Wick was 12th in the girls pole vault while sophomore teammate Chantel Little was 13th in the girls triple jump (32-6.75). El Cajon Valley junior Danielle Foster was 14th in the girls pole vault while senior teammate Ferrari Funches was 14th in the girls triple jump (32-5.5) and Braves sophomore Michelle Thompson (30-11.75) was 13th in the girls discus (107-1) and 18th in the girls shot put.

Santana’s Jordan Franey (95-2) and Maria DeBarrows (95-0) were 17th and 18th, respectively, in the girls discus.

In relay events, El Capitan (4:02.63) finished sixth in the girls 4x400, followed by Monte Vista (4:04.71), while Mt. Miguel (43.43) and Steele Canyon (43.84) placed eighth and 10th, respectively, in the boys 4x100 race. Granite Hills (3:23.12) and El Capitan (3:28.92) finished fourth and 11th, respectively, in the boys 4x400 race.