SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Track & Field

Bonita Vista's Patrick Leopold set a personal record at 12-0 to place third in the boys Blue Division pole vault.

Metro athletes showcased at Mustang/Phair Co. Relays

By Phillip Brents
Posted April 28, 2005

Photo: Otay Ranch's Shauna Stevenson

The secret to success is organization. The second annual Mustang/Phair Company Track and Field Relays last Saturday at Otay Ranch High School actually finished ahead of its final event: the boys pole vault.
While vaulters were still competing, athletes were lined up receiving medals. Clean-up crews were soon to be dispatched throughout the stadium.

“We had 50 volunteers. That’s what made it go so quick. My assistant coaches mentor everyone on what to do. They’re a tremendous help,” said Otay Ranch head coach Ian Cumming, who also doubled as tournament director.

Athletes from 19 schools competed in this year’s edition, with Steele Canyon winning team titles in both the boys and girls Blue Division (large schools) and Otay Ranch finishing first in the girls Silver Division and second in the boys Silver Division among the meet’s smaller schools. La Jolla won the boys Silver Division team title.

The event was highlighted by a number of school records turned in by the host Mustangs, among them a new record in the girls 4x100-meter relay. The Otay Ranch foursome of Kandy Wilmore, Charay Savage, Talisha Williams and Britney Bennett combined to time 50.34 seconds on the all-weather oval.

Last Saturday’s meet also featured national boys discus leader Darius Savage of Morse. Savage, whose best this season entering last Saturday’s meet had been 186 feet, 1 inch, easily won the event with a throw of 189-11 to improve on his national-leading mark.

Besides serving as a showcase for host Otay Ranch, last Saturday’s relays also provided a preview of the upcoming Metro Conference championship meet.

Eastlake finished second in the boys Blue Division (trailing Steele Canyon by two points) while Sweetwater was third. Bonita Vista finished one point behind second-place Morse in the girls Blue Division team standings.
Cumming said he was impressed by the talent assembled.

“Mesa League teams like Sweetwater and Eastlake are very strong on the boys side. Bonita Vista is also very good. On the girls side, Eastlake, Chula Vista and Bonita Vista are three very good teams. The other teams in the Mesa League have good talent in spots,” Cumming said in handicapping this year’s balance of power.

“In our league, the South Bay League, Hilltop doesn’t have the depth it used to have. Castle Park has a very good boys team. Marian Catholic has some very good girls. You don’t run a 4:09 in the mile relay not having some very talented people.”

The Mustangs, despite the lack of a senior class, showed they are a very talented group as well.
“We can compete with most of the schools in the large schools division. I’m real happy with how the leadership has come along on the team,” Cumming said. “We’re a year older and have matured a lot. We have very good talent. Our assistant coaches are incredible.”

Among individual leaders:

•Otay Ranch’s Savage was first in the girls 300 low hurdles (47.86) and first in the girls triple jump (34-10.25).
•Otay Ranch’s Bennett was first in the girls long jump (16-9), followed by Wilmore (16-6.5) in second place. Wilmore also placed third in the girls triple jump (33-0.5).

•Eastlake’s Esha McDowell won the girls triple jump (30-8-5) and placed runner-up in the girls high jump (5-0).
•Eastlake’s Bret Boone (41.25) and Bonita Vista’s Bersain Gutierrez (41.51) were first and second, respectively, in the Blue Division boys 300 hurdles.

•Eastlake has the top two individuals in the boys long jump with marks of 20-8 and 20-7.

•Eastlake’s Luc Ruiz won the boys pole vault on fewest misses at 12-0, followed by Bonita Vista’s Patrick Leopold in third place with a personal-best 12-0.

•Sweetwater’s Sam Suarez (47-0) and Donald Groves (46-0) were first and second in the boys shot put.
•Bonita Vista’s Crystal Shields won the girls high jump (5-3).

•Otay Ranch’s Ranee Woods (41.54) was second in the boys 300 intermediate hurdles.
•Hilltop’s B.J. Hunt was second in the boys discus throw (135-11).

•Bonita Vista’s Erika Blomdahl (53.02) was second in the girls 300 hurdles.

•Marian Catholic’s Danielle Alvarado (49.62) was second in the girls 300 hurdles.

•Chula Vista’s Gabby Garcia was second in the girls shot put (34-4.75).

•Eastlake’s Anthony Feaster was third in the boys triple jump (42-0.5).

In the invitational 1,500 boys race, Bonita Vista’s Eric Avila (4:01) was first in the Blue Division, followed by Chula Vista’s Roberto Hernandez (third, 4:08), Sweetwater’s Azael Gomez (fourth, 4:11), Eastlake’s Alex Oleata (fifth, 4:17) and Bonita Vista’s Chris Close (sixth, 4:22) while Otay Ranch’s Ricky Pimentel (4:19) and Ivan Dallet (4:25) were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Silver Division.

In the invitational 1,500 girls race, Chula Vista’s A. Larios (5:09), Eastlake’s Tania Andrade (5:17) and Sweetwater’s Karina Rios (5:22) swept the top three place-finishing positions in the Blue Division while Hilltop’s Selina Munoz (5:11) was first in the Silver Division, followed by Otay Ranch’s Estefania Fregoso (5:16) in second place.

In traditional girls relay events, Marian Catholic was first in the 4x400 (4:09.85) and third in the 4x100 (51.38), Otay Ranch was second in the 4x400 (4:25.70), Southwest was second in the 4x100 relay (52.46) and Chula Vista was third in the 4x100 relay (52.95).

In traditional boys relay events, Eastlake was first in the 4x400 relay (3:29.76), `Sweetwater was second in the 4x100 relay (44.35) and Otay Ranch was third in the 4x100 relay (44.88) and third in the 4x400 relay (3:43.04).
In non-traditional boys relay events:

•Eastlake was first in long jump relay, second in the shuttle hurdles and second in the sprint medley.

•Bonita Vista was first in the 4x800 relay and first in the distance medley.

•Otay Ranch was second in the boys shuttle hurdles, second in the 4x800 relay, second in the discus relay and third in the long jump relay.

•Sweetwater was second in the distance medley, second in the shot put relay and third in the long jump relay.
•Chula Vista was second in the 4x800 relay.

In non-traditional girls relay events:

•Marian Catholic was first in the sprint medley.

•Otay Ranch was first in the 4x800 relay, first in the shuttle hurdles, first in the long jump relay, second in the distance medley and third in the sprint medley.

•Bonita Vista was first in the shuttle hurdles, second in the distance medley, second in the shot put relay, second in the discus relay and third in the long jump relay.

•Hilltop was second in the 4x800 relay.

•Eastlake was third in the distance medley.

•Chula Vista was third in the discus relay.

Field event relays included three athletes from each school, with the best mark of each athlete from three ties tabulated in the final score.

Dual meet scoreboard
Otay Ranch took a big step closer to securing boys and girls dual meet championships this season in the South Bay League after defeating visiting Castle Park on Wednesday (107-26 girls and 101-34 boys).

The boys 1,600- and 3,200-meter boys races rated the most exciting on the day as Otay Ranch’s Ricky Pimentel and Castle Park’s Diego Martinez, Jorge Diaz and Edgar Martinez were all bunched together with 100 meters to go. The race-winner was not decided until the final 10 meters when Pimentel pulled out a 4:35 win over Martinez (4:36.3). Both runners recorded personal bests by more than five seconds. In the 3,200 meters, unheralded Enrique Silva (10:24) of Castle Park pulled out a dramatic victory against favored Matt Danielson, with Martinez edging Danielson for second at the end. The day’s iron man, Martinez was competing in his third race after setting personal marks in both the 800 (2:04) and 1,600 events.

In the girls 3,200 meters, Castle Park’s Julia Hernandez set a new school record with a time of 11:55, breaking her previous record of 11:52.

Sweetwater and Eastlake’s boys teams are scheduled to show down for the Mesa League dual meet title on May 4, starting at 3 p.m. at Eastlake High School.

League finals
•The Metro Conference prelims are scheduled May 10 at Otay Ranch High School, with the conference championship meet following May 13 at the same site. The prelim meet starts at 3 p.m. The conference finals start at 3:30 with selected field events and at 5 p.m. for running events. Admission to the conference championship meet is $4 for adults and $3 for students with ID.

•The conference’s junior varsity championships are scheduled May 12, also at Otay Ranch, starting at 3 p.m.

•The San Diego Section prelims are scheduled May 21 at Mt. Carmel High School, with the CIF finals to follow on May 28 at the same site.

•This year’s state championship meet is scheduled June 3-4 in Sacramento.