SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Track & Field

Metro Conference report

Metro athletes take aim at state qualifying meet

By Phillip Brents
Posted May 28, 2003

Ever since the San Diego Section split its track and field championship meet into two divisions, the powers that be have searched for the right formula to squeeze in an extra meet into the existing framework that demands a single state qualifying meet.

One idea has been to compress the divisional prelims and finals into one week’s span, followed by the combined Masters meet the following weekend. While that may have produced the desired standalone meets, it may also have produced unnecessary fatigue.

Another idea has been to designate the final meet of the season to serve as both the divisional championship meet and state qualifying meet. The ideal of producing a true championship meet with clearly defined winners for each division gets lost in the running of combined fields but serves its purpose of extending the season an additional week.

This year’s format follows the latter train of thought.

Spectators who can follow the two meets being simultaneously run Saturday at Poway High School may deserve a gold medal in their own right.

Field events are scheduled to start at 11 a.m., followed by running events at 1 p.m.
The San Diego Section Masters meet will comprise the top nine athletes who qualified from last Saturday’s combined Division I and Division II prelims at Poway High. They will compete in a separate heat from the remaining athletes who qualified from their divisions. The top nine athletes from both the Division I and Division II prelims qualified to advance to Saturday’s championship meet, with the top nine athletes from the combined pool eligible to compete in the Masters meet.

Only the athletes in the Masters heats are eligible to contend for berths in the state meet that will take place the following week. The top three place-finishers in each event in the Masters division qualify for next Friday’s state prelims at Cerritos College.

Everyone in the combined meet, however, earns points for their respective schools in the race for team division titles. Division I and Division II individual titles will also be awarded based on the top marks of the day from both the Masters and non-Masters heats.

Eastlake junior Solie Gonzalez, Bonita Vista senior Russ Foster, Chula Vista senior Jackie Mandy and Mar Vista junior Troy Swier will all be returning to the Masters side of the meet in an attempt to erase some lingering what-could-have-been performances from last year. Gonzalez and Foster both finished fourth in the shot put as underclassmen to just miss the state cut while Swier and Mandy may have more for which to make amends. Swier entered last year’s Masters finals seeded first in the 1600-meter run and second in the 3200-meter run and finished fourth and sixth, respectively, while battling a respiratory problem. Mandy was seeded second in the girls 400-meter dash and finished fifth.

A year later, Mandy, Swier, Gonzalez and Foster all are competing in two events in the Masters state qualifying heats.

Could it be time to finally break through?

Mandy furthered her own personal cause starting in the Mesa League finals on May 16 at Sweetwater High School when she won three individual titles (200- and 400-meter dashes and long jump) to earn Female Co-Athlete of the Meet along with Bonita Vista senior Kristen Gonzalez (titles in the 880 and mile).

Mandy qualified to compete in the 200 and long jump at Masters. She had the third-best long jump in the Division I prelims at 16-9.75 and ranked seventh in the 200. Her best long jump on the season is 17-2.25. She won the Mesa League title with a jump of 16-7.

Mandy’s top event this season may have been the 400 where she ranked eighth in the section during regular season competition with a time of 58.58. However, she finished eighth in last week’s Division I prelims with a time of 59.63 and will run the event solely for team points in the CIF Division I heat.

Gonzalez and Foster will both compete in the shot put and discus. Gonzalez ranked second among Division I qualifiers in the shot put at 39-4.75 (to record her season best in the event) while Foster was fourth in the boys field at 51-3.25 (his regular season best of 56-11 ranked fifth in the section).

Swier will put his section-best qualifying marks of 4:14.15 in the boys 1600 and 9:25.47 in the boys 3200 on the line in Saturday’s Masters finals. His best marks in the regular season stood at 4:17.92 and 9:15.69, respectively. He doubled in winning both events at this year’s South Bay League championship meet en route to earning the Male Track Athlete of the Meet award.

Also bidding to make up for a near-miss at last year’s Masters meet will be Sweetwater senior Jordan Rosure, who recorded the third-best Division I qualifying triple jump of 44-6.75. He concluded the regular season ranked third in the section with a best jump of 45-11. He was fourth in the event (45-0.5) in last year’s Masters field.

Castle Park senior Gene Smith will be the Metro’s most prominent newcomer to the Masters meet after leading all Division II qualifiers with marks in the boys long jump (21-7.75) and triple jump (44-3.75). The triple jump mark moved him ahead of Escondido’s Mark Cordes (44-1) and University City’s Eric Nyberg (44-0) for the lead in the division. His best long jump of 21-9 ranked fifth best in the division.

Girls Masters qualifiers
Bonita Vista sophomore Crystal Shields took over the section lead with a clearance of 5 feet, 5 inches at the Mesa League championship meet May 16 at Sweetwater High School. She finished second in qualifying among Division I athletes at 5-1 last week to trail top qualifier Lindsay Whetstine, a sophomore from Mt. Carmel.

Shields will be joined by teammate Gonzalez, who turned in the seventh best Division I time of 5:12.50 in the 1600 meters — a season-best. Her best time in the event this season had stood at 5:19.55 entering the CIF prelims — though well behind section leaders Dani Schuster of Torrey Pines (4:54.95) and San Pasqual’s Claire Rethmeier (4:55.59).

Chula Vista’s 4x100 team is also entered in the Masters field.

Boys Masters qualifiers
Eastlake senior D’Undre Byrd, who won the Male Athlete of the Meet award at this year’s Mesa League championship meet, will compete in the 200 dash after posting the seventh-fastest prelim time — 22.45 — in last week’s Division I prelims.
Bonita Vista senior Joe Gaines qualified for the Masters heat in the 400 dash after turning in the fourth-best Division I prelim clocking of 50.82. The time improved on his best regular season clocking of 50.92.

The Metro will have three athletes in the 1600 Masters field. Joining Swier will be Bonita Vista junior Ryan Becijos and Sweetwater junior Edgar Llanez. Swier (4:17.92) and Becijos (4:19.05) ranked first and second during the regular season in the section in terms of best times in the event, followed by Llanez (4:30.22) much further down the line. Becijos (4:22.75) had the second-fastest qualifying time among Division I runners (behind El Camino freshman A.J. Acosta, 4:21.64) in last week’s prelim meet while Llanez was seventh with a season-best 4:26.34 time that moved him appreciably up the list toward the top 10 in the section.

Becijos tripled in winning the 880, mile and two-mile events in the Barons’ Mesa League title clinching victory at Eastlake High on May 8 and followed that with league championship performances in the mile and two-mile at the Mesa League finals eight days later.

Bonita Vista’s Justin Hillery is another legitimate state qualifying contender if he comes fully prepared on game day. He won this year’s Mesa League title in the 330-yard intermediate hurdles in 39.3 — a mark places him fourth in the section behind RBV’s Brandon Bornes (38.36), Carlsbad’s Kurt Hurley (38.90) and Orange Glen’s Chris Reina (39.01).

Three Metro pole vaulters qualified for this year’s Masters field: Eastlake junior Joe Ziomek, Sweetwater senior Fernando Romero and Chula Vista junior Steve Nemecek. Ziomek posted the fifth best qualifying height at 14-0 last week in the Division I field (to improve on his regular season best of 13-6) while both Romero and Nemecek cleared 13-8. Romero won the Mesa League title with a height of 14-0, with Ziomek finishing second at 13-6 and Nemecek third at 13-0. Nemecek had won the Mesa League title the previous year with a clearance of 13-0.

Romero’s season best is 14-0 while Nemecek’s is 13-6.

Sweetwater senior Jordan Rosure recorded the third-best Division I qualifying triple jump of 44-6.75. He concluded the regular season ranked third in the section with a best jump of 45-11. He was fourth in the event (45-0.5) at last year’s Masters meet.
Eastlake senior Don Bonahoom notched the second-best Division I discus throw last week at 163-11 — just off his season-best effort of 165-6 that ranked seventh-best in the section (fifth in the division).

Bonita Vista qualified in the 4x400 relay (second among Division I teams) while Eastlake qualified in the 4x100 relay (fifth among Division I teams).

Best of the rest
Chula Vista senior Niki O’Neal qualified in two events — the 100 and 200 sprints — for the Division I CIF field. Eastlake sophomore Esha McDowell will compete in the girls high jump to round out the Metro’s abbreviated Division I girls CIF field.

Competing in the boys Division I CIF heats will be Bonita Vista junior Daniel Chang (110 high hurdles) and Sweetwater senior Sherwin Brooks (triple jump). Bonita Vista also qualified for the 4x100 relay.

Castle Park junior Laqisha Rodgers, who earned the Female Track Athlete of the Meet in this year’s South Bay League finals, qualified for the Division II girls 100 and 200 meters with the fourth-best prelim marks in both events.

Marian Catholic qualified three athletes: Seniors Alex Ballesteros and Mickey Pimental (both in the boys 100) and freshman Shenice Howard (girls 400).

Mar Vista qualified with the sixth-best Division II prelim time in the boys 4x400 relay while Castle Park posted the eighth-best Division II prelim mark in the boys 4x100 relay.