SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Track & Field

Metro Conference report

South Bay League track finals double the excitement

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, May 8, 2003 -- While South Bay League track and field athletes may have been largely overshadowed by their Mesa League rivals this season, the smaller schools circuit will get an opportunity to showcase its talent in a standalone championship meet Friday at Castle Park High School, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

The Mesa League track and field finals are the following Friday, May 16, at Sweetwater High School, starting at 4:30 p.m. with selected field events.

Both league finals will feature varsity and junior varsity competition.

LaQuisha Rodgers and J.R. Smith, both of Castle Park, are among contenders for South Bay League Athlete of the Meet honors along with Mar Vista distance king Troy Swier.

Smith entered the week ranked first among athletes in the 10 conference varsity schools in the boys long jump and third in the triple jump (first in the South Bay League). Smith’s best long jump of the season at 21 feet, 6 inches ranked in a tie for 12th best in the San Diego Section (third among Division II schools) entering last Friday’s Orange Glen Invitational. His top triple jump at 43-6 stood sixth best in the section and led all Division II athletes.

Rodgers is the South Bay League’s speedster, owning the top reported 200-meter hand time of 26.0 seconds this season ahead of teammate Tasha Johnson (26.3). The two teammates flip-flopped place-finishes in Tuesday’s league prelims at Castle Park, with Johnson posting the top time in the shorter sprint distance ahead of Rodgers.

All Swier has done this season is post the top times in the section in both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs. He captured the 1600 run at last week’s Orange Glen Invitational in 4:17.99 (just off his 4:17.92 best this season) while finishing second in the longer distance (9:26.50) to Helix distance star Babey Wagnew (9:21.66). Swier’s best in the 3200 this season is 9:15.69.

Rodgers, Smith and Swier all turned in top qualifying marks in their respective specialty events in Tuesday’s league prelims at Castle Park. Other top marks were turned in by Mar Vista’s Art Araiza and Tyrone Daniels, both of whom won their heats in the boys 300 intermediate hurdles. Mar Vista also received strong performances from sprinters Brenda Pineiro and Vincent Jones. Castle Park’s Joe Hernandez set a personal record in recording the top prelim time of 15.9 in the 110 high hurdles.

Athletes to watch
•Southwest’s Fred Smith finished the regular season ranked second in the conference in the boys shot put (52-3) and discus (161-10). Smith set his top discus mark in finishing sixth at last Friday’s Orange Glen Invitational.

•Castle Park owns the best regular season clocking in the girls 4x100 relay (third best in the conference).

•Mar Vista’s Mahta Yemane took over the Metro lead in the boys high jump with a winning height of 6-3 at Orange Glen. He is also a top contender in the 800 meters.

•Marian Catholic had the league’s top regular season time in the boys 4x100 relay (44.14) and girls 4x400 relay (4:21.07).

•Southwest won this year’s girls South Bay League dual meet title while Mar Vista and Hilltop shared the boys dual meet title. The league title was the first in Metro competition for Mar Vista since 1983 (the Mariners captured the 1991 Harbor League title). “It’s very satisfying for me, especially for the guys who have been here four years, to see them step it up,” Mar Vista coach Jim Coates said.

Metro Conference Boys Top Marks
(Through May 2)
Running Events/(electronic times)
100: Craig Jackson (Eastlake) 10.9; D’Undre Byrd (Eastlake) 10.9. Note: Byrd 23.27 in 200.
400: Joe Gaines (Bonita Vista) 50.92; Joe Wynn (Sweetwater) 51.40. Section lead: DaSean Cunningham (University City) 47.58
800: Javier Diaz (Sweetwater) 1:59.24; Ryan Becijos (Bonita Vista) 2:00.82; Robert Isais (Sweetwater) 2:02.45; Troy Swier (Mar Vista) 2:03.0. Section lead: Dan Driscoll (Monte Vista) 1:56.73
1600: Troy Swier (Mar Vista) 4:17.92 (first section); Ryan Becijos (Bonita Vista) 4:19.05 (second section); Edgar Llanez (Sweetwater) 4:30.22
3200: Troy Swier (Mar Vista) 9:15.69 (first section); Ryan Becijos (Bonita Vista) 9:40.64; Ivan Villareal (Chula Vista) 9:53.82; Hector Arreola (Sweetwater) 10:02.34; Zamora (Bonita Vista) 10:02.80; Edgar Llanez (Sweetwater) 10:04.56.
110HH: Daniel Chang (Bonita Vista) 15.17. Justin Hillery (Bonita Vista) 15.39; Jazz Trice (Eastlake) 15.6; Derek Gunter (Chula Vista) 15.66; Sherwin Brooks (Sweetwater) 15.88; Julio Torres (Chula Vista) 15.96; B.J. Roberson (Hilltop) 16.38. Section lead: Bryon Barmer (Helix) 14.39
300IH: Justin Hillery (Bonita Vista) 39.46 (fourth section); Alfonso Hernandez (Sweetwater) 41.45; Daniel Chang (Bonita Vista) 41.65; Rudy Salazar (Castle Park) 42.39; Julio Torres (Chula Vista) 42.40; Sherwin Brooks (Sweetwater) 42.45; Ryan Groth (Bonita Vista) 42.47. Section lead: Brandon Bornes (RBV) 38.36
4x100 relay: Eastlake 43.83; Bonita Vista 43.95; Marian Catholic 44.14; Sweetwater 44.58; Chula Vista 44.99. Section lead: Helix 41.81
4x400 relay: Bonita Vista 3:24.67 (third section); Sweetwater 3:35.44. Section lead: University City 3:19.12

Field Events
High jump: Mahta Yemane (Mar Vista) 6-3; Keith Spencer (Eastlake) 6-2; Julian Smith (Chula Vista) 6-0; Chris Wessel (Hilltop) 6-0. Section lead: Desmond Burt (Serra) 6-6.
Pole vault: Steve Nemecek (Chula Vista) 13-6; Joe Ziomek (Eastlake) 13-6; Fernando Romero (SuHi) 13-6; Shawn West (Eastlake) 13-0; Isaac Mirelez (Sweetwater) 12-8; Abraham Martinez (Sweetwater) 12-8; Nick Nelson (Eastlake) 12-6. Section lead: Billy Mathies (Rancho Bernardo) 15-8
Long jump: Gene Smith (Castle Park) 21-6; Jordan Rosure (Sweetwater) 21-5.75; Stefan Foster (Montgomery) 20-10; Sherwin Brooks (Sweetwater) 20-8; Devon Cosby (Eastlake) 20-8. Section lead: D. Westbrooks (Morse) 24-6
Triple jump: Jordan Rosure (Sweetwater) 45-7.5 (third section); Sherwin Brooks (Sweetwater) 43-6.5 (fifth section); Gene Smith (Castle Park) 43-6; Devon Cosby (Eastlake) 42-6; Craig Jackson (Eastlake) 41-5; Stefan Foster (Montgomery) 41-2. Section lead: Joey Hauser (Vista) 48-4
Shot put: Russ Foster (Bonita Vista) 56-11 (fourth section); Fred Smith (Southwest) 52-3; Marcus Martin (Bonita Vista) 47-3; Donald Groves (Sweetwater) 47-0; Don Bonahoom (Eastlake) 46-8; Roger Toledo (Sweetwater) 46-0. Section lead: Jared Bray (Mission Bay) 61-10.75
Discus: Don Bonahoom (Eastlake) 165-6 (fourth section); Fred Smith (Southwest) 161-10; Russ Foster (Bonita Vista) 152-1; Roger Toledo (Sweetwater) 149-1; Kevin Baer (Eastlake) 145-0; Steve Nemecek (Chula Vista) 144-5; . Section lead: Nick Allotta (Rancho Bernardo) 182-10

Metro Conference Girls Top Marks
(Through May 1)
Running Events/(electronic times)
100: Marla Mason (Chula Vista) 12.87; Niki O’Neal (Chula Vista) 12.94. Section lead: Sparkle Anderson (Serra) 11.98
200: Jackie Mandy (Chula Vista) 26.20; Marla Mason (Chula Vista) 26.91. Section lead: Jasmine Winfield (Oceanside) 25.24
400: Jackie Mandy (Chula Vista) 58.58 (fifth section); Virginia Madero (Chula Vista) 1:00.72. Section lead: Shakara Lott (University City) 55.31
1600: Kristen Gonzalez (Bonita Vista) 5:19.55; Yenissa Kaeg (Montgomery) 5:27; Tiffany Caddell (Bonita Vista) 5:30.99. Section lead: Dani Shuster (Torrey Pines) 4:54.95
3200: Tiffany Caddell (Bonita Vista) 11:57.8. Section lead: Claire Rethmeier (San Pasqual) 10:27.60
100 HH: Maggie Torres (Bonita Vista) 16.27; Kayleigh Knudson (Bonita Vista) 16.82; Lisa Malchow (Eastlake) 17.03; Crystal Shields (Bonita Vista) 17.71. Section lead: Laiah Blue (Granite Hills) 14.70
300 LH: Kayleigh Knudson (Bonita Vista) 49.33; Johanna Suasa (Chula Vista) 50.7. Section lead: Jessica Eggleston (El Camino) 45.0
4x100 relay: Chula Vista 50.37; Eastlake 51.57; Castle Park 51.93; Bonita Vista 52.05. Section lead: Morse 48.65
4x400 relay: Marian Catholic 4:21.07; Eastlake 4:21.19. Section lead: Poway 4:04.4

Field Events
High jump: Crystal Shields (Bonita Vista) 5-2; Esha McDowell (Eastlake) 5-2; Negron (Southwest) 5-2; Noble (Southwest) 5-2. Section lead: Lindsay Whetstine (Mt. Carmel) 5-4
Pole vault: Mariana Pastrana (Eastlake) 9-6; Megan Wilkinson (Eastlake) 9-6. Section lead: Ama Navidi (Rancho Bernardo) 12-1
Long jump: Jackie Mandy (Chula Vista) 17-2.25; Melanie Hannibal (Bonita Vista) 16-6.25; Allison Kwan (Bonita Vista) 16-4.75; Esha McDowell (Eastlake) 15-8. Section lead: Sparkle Anderson (Serra) 19-0.5
Triple jump: Esha McDowell (Eastlake) 33-7; Laurenda Davis (Sweetwater) 33-3; Allison Kwan (Bonita Vista) 33-0.25; Johanna Suasa (Chula Vista) 33-0; Tiara Rae (Eastlake) 32-8.5; Lok (Southwest) 32-7. Section lead: Sparkle Anderson (Serra) 40-4.5
Shot put: Solie Gonzalez (Eastlake) 38-3; Amber Duka (Eastlake) 34-7; Gaby Garcia (Chula Vista) 34-2. Section lead: Whitney DeWeese (RBV) 39-6.5
Discus: Shannon Young (Eastlake) 118-3; Solie Gonzalez (Eastlake) 104-10; Stacy Martinovich (Eastlake) 103-8. Section lead: Whitney DeWeese (RBV) 140-10

Note: Based on reported results