SD Prep Sports

SD Prep Sports: Track & Field

Mesa League report

Titans, Barons take it down to the final jump

Eastlake girls, Bonita Vista boys win league titles in dual meet showdown

By Phillip Brents

CHULA VISTA, May 8, 2003 -- They stood. They watched. When it was all over, they cheered and they cried.

"It's hard to be ecstatic and disappointed at the same time," said Eastlake High boys track and field coach Alan Duke following the Titans’ climactic Mesa League dual meet title showdown against visiting eastside rival Bonita Vista.

Just moments earlier, the veteran coach — who is set to retire at the end of the calendar year — was given one last championship present after the Eastlake girls team pulled off a 64-63 title-clinching victory in the final event of the day as an estimated 200 athletes, spectators and coaches lined the triple jump pit to witness the dramatic outcome.
After receiving hugs and handshakes in celebration, Duke turned to console several teary-eyed Baron athletes, congratulating them on an otherwise exemplary season.

The emotional roller coaster ride was completed when Bonita Vista girls coach Ian Cumming addressed the Eastlake team in a show of sportsmanship after the meet.

The down-to-the-wire championship backdrop only seemed appropriate considering the two coaching legends involved.

Cumming -- in his 31st season as a coach -- is moving on to Otay Ranch High School to open the Sweetwater district's newest school in July; Duke is closing out 35 years of coaching track and field and football after announcing his retirement as a teacher and head of the Eastlake physical education department that will become effective next winter.

Duke was the first teacher hired at Eastlake High 11 years ago.

"Another coaching legend bites the dust," Duke quipped after the emotionally-draining meet against the Barons.

Duke became the Titans’ first football coach after coaching the sport at Sweetwater and Castle Park high schools. He played at San Diego State University under legendary coach Don Coryell before embarking on his own 30-year coaching career in the sport.

His 25th year as a track coach ended with him being mobbed by the victorious Eastlake girls team as athletes finally dispersed from the Stan Canaris Stadium.

“It’s like a roller coaster as a coach,” said Duke, a master of cliches. “You have the good, the bad and sometimes the ugly. We felt it would be a close meet. As a coaching staff, we were running all over the place. I’m exhausted.”

Both squads entered the high profile encounter with championship aspirations. Bonita Vista carried an unblemished 3-0 league record into the matchup in both boys and girls competition while Eastlake was undefeated in girls duals and owned just one loss in boys competition.

A sweep by either team would guarantee a league championship (a tri-championship in boys duals if the Titans won both ends of the duel to share the title with Bonita Vista and Sweetwater).

The outcome of both meets came down to the closing events while favoring the visitors.

Bonita Vista wrapped up the boys dual meet title with a 71-56 win after fending off the hosts in the final two events of the day.

The girls meet was tied 59-59 heading into the final event: the triple jump. The winner of the final event would give the title to her respective team.

Bonita Vista led the event by 4-1/2 inches heading into the final three jumps for the four remaining contestants: Eastlake's Esha McDowell and Tiara Rae and Bonita Vista's Allison Kwan and Melanie Hannibal.

Kwan entered the meet as the defending Mesa League champion in the event while Rae won last year's South Bay League title before the Titans made the move up to the higher enrollment Mesa League ranks.

In Cumming's 10 years with the Barons, the BV girls had never won a league track and field title despite writing the manual on winning cross country championships. That elusive championship finally seemed within grasp -- or in this case, within the carefully measured space of jumping shoes landing in the soft sand.

Eastlake's McDowell elicited a roar on her first finals jump.

34-4.

Cumming's streak of runner-up track finishes would continue. Perhaps destiny has another calling for him at Otay Ranch.

"We've probably had one of the best programs over the last 10 years as far as consistency but have never won a title. We seem to be within five points every year, with the final score determining a winner usually coming down to the final event, the triple jump. With these two teams, I would expect it to come down to the final event again," Cumming had said in a phone interview earlier in the week while handicapping the matchup.

He was indeed a prophet.

McDowell's initial finals jump stood up as the winning mark, with Hannival (33-10) and Kwan (32-10) unable to pass her. Rae finished with a best finals effort of 32-6 to finish fourth.

The Titans had set the winning triple jump in motion by coming from behind to win the preceding event -- the mile relay -- after the Barons had held the lead at the halfway point.

Eastlake won the final running event of the day in 4:16.85. Bonita Vista finished in 4:28.68.

The meet had started ominously for the Barons, who had the misfortune of a dropped baton on the final lap after holding the lead. (The hosts also had a fumbled baton but received a more fortunate bounce.)

Pain and suffering deformed the faces of athletes from both schools throughout the afternoon into evening as teammates consoled those in obvious emotional distress.

Through it all, the Titans four-and-a-half year league unbeaten streak continued.

"The hard thing is that so many good things were happening. It's hard to name everyone," Duke said while speaking to the Eastlake squad following the meet. "When you get to a championship meet like this, it seems so many people step up. Those people are going to have to step up a little more on Tuesday for the league prelims, and step up a little more on Friday if they make it to the finals. A few of you are going to have to step it up a little more for CIF and, if you get that far, in the top nine at Masters to get to the state meet in Cerritos."

The Titans' victory was also buoyed by a sweep in the discus as Shannon Young (118-6), Stacy Martinovich (109-1) and A. Duka (99-8) bettered their Baron challengers. Eastlake took the top two scoring positions in the shot put behind Solie Gonzalez (36-4.5) and Duka (32-1).

Overall, the Titans recorded first-place finishes in eight of the 15 events.

The league track title was the fourth in a row for outgoing girls coach John McFadden. "We had a good nucleus of girls coming back. They held up where we needed them."

McFadden has coached 18 years, winning two football league titles at Eastlake and a dozen track titles with both the Titans and Hilltop.

McFadden's time at Hilltop coincided with Cumming's 18-year tenure there.

Despite the tearful loss, Bonita Vista finished with a number of standout performances that featured individual efforts that pushed personal performance to the edge.

Kristen Gonzalez won both the 800 run (2:25.94) and mile run (5:30.4) while finishing second to teammate Tiffany Caddell (12:17.99) in the two-mile event. Other individual event winners for the Barons included Maggie Torres (100 high hurdles, 15.66), Julie Buettner (400 dash, 1:05.11), Crystal Shields (high jump, 5-0) and Kayleigh Knudson (300 low hurdles, 49.19).

The Titans received winning marks from Janelle Daniel in the sprints, timing 12.8 in the 100 dash and 26.6 in the 200 dash. Rae won the long jump (15-4) while Eastlake opened the meet with a victory in the 4x100 relay in 53.81.

In winning the boys meet, the Barons had to push themselves to the wall as well.

Bonita Vista took first-place efforts in eight of the 15 scored events, with Ryan Becijos tripling in winning the mile (4:46.8), 800 (2:03.66) and two-mile (10:26.47), Russ Foster winning the shot put (56-1.75), Joe Gaines winning the 400 (51.06) and Daniel Chang (15.37) and Justin Hillery (40.12) capturing both distances in the hurdles. The Barons' 4x400 relay team -- ranked third in the section -- closed the meet with a winning time of 3:30.06.

The track title was the first for second-year head coach Melanie Holmes, a product of Hilltop's glory years. She coached this meet opposite her father, now an Eastlake assistant, who has won 40 coaching championships in 20 years.

D'Undre Byrd won both the 100 and 200 for the Titans, timing 10.85 and 22.22, respectively. The Titans also took the 4x100 relay by clocking 43.1. Devon Cosby also doubled for Eastlake by winning the long jump (21-2.5) and triple jump (42-6) while Don Bonahoom (162-7) captured top individual honors in the discus.

The Barons and Titans return to the track for the Mesa League prelims Tuesday at Sweetwater High School. The finals are Friday with the top two place-finishers in each event, plus those who meet pre-determined standards, advancing to the CIF prelims May 24 at Poway High School.

Mesa League Finals recap

The spotlight May 8 dual encounter served as an appropriate spring board for the two eastside rivals as they dominated the Mesa League championship meet May 16 at Sweetwater High School by winning 20 league titles between them. The Barons left Gail Devers Stadium with 12 titles while the Titans earned eight, including four in both boys and girls competition.

D’Undre Byrd led Eastlake by capturing championships in both the 100-meter dash (11.0) and 220-yard dash (22.4) while teammate Don Bonahoom won the discus throw (160-9) to highlight individual performances in the boys meet. The Titan 4x100 relay team also emerged victorious. Bonahoom entered the meet with the section’s seventh-best discus throw.

Eastlake dominated the girls field competition by claiming league titles in four of the six events. Mariana Pastrana won the pole vault by matching her season best effort of 9-6 while Solie Gonzalez (shot put, 37-3), Shannon Young (discus, 108-1.25) and Rae (triple jump, 34-2) all repeated as league champions (in making the successful jump from the South Bay League to Mesa League competition this year).

McDowell placed second in both the high jump (5-2) and triple jump (33-8).

The top two place-finishers in each event from the Mesa League championship s, plus those who met pre-determined standards, advanced to the CIF divisional prelims May 24 at Poway High School. The division finals are scheduled the following week with that meet also serving as a qualifying meet for the state finals June 6-7 in Cerritos.

Gonzalez finished fourth at last year’s section Masters meet (the top three place-finishers advance the state finals) to just miss qualifying for the state meet.

Boys Top Marks
Running Events
100: D’Undre Byrd (Eastlake) 11.0.
220: D’Undre Byrd (Eastlake) 22.4.
440: Joe Gaines (Bonita Vista) 52.1.
880: Javier Diaz (Sweetwater) 2:01.7.
Mile: Ryan Becijos (Bonita Vista) 4:32.6.
2-mile: Ryan Becijos (Bonita Vista) 10:20.4.
110HH: Derek Gunter (Chula Vista) 15.1.
300IH: Justin Hillery (Bonita Vista) 39.3.
440 relay: Eastlake 44.7.
Mile relay: Bonita Vista 3:31.9.

Field Events
High jump: Julian Smith (Chula Vista) 6-2.
Pole vault: Fernando Romero (SuHi) 14-0.
Long jump: Jordan Rosure (Sweetwater) 21-8.
Triple jump: Jordan Rosure (Sweetwater) 45-11.
Shot put: Russ Foster (Bonita Vista) 53-9.75.
Discus: Don Bonahoom (Eastlake) 160-9.

Girls Top Marks
Running Events
100: Niki O’Neal (Chula Vista) 12.5.
220: Jackie Mandy (Chula Vista) 26.0.
440: Jackie Mandy (Chula Vista) 1:02.5.
880: Kristen Gonzalez (Bonita Vista) 2:27.4.
Mile: Kristen Gonzalez (Bonita Vista) 5:27.2.
2-mile: Tiffany Caddell (Bonita Vista) 12:03.4.
100 HH: Kayleigh Knudson (Bonita Vista) 16.1.
300 LH: Kayleigh Knudson (Bonita Vista) 49.9.
440 relay: Chula Vista 50.6.
Mile relay: Bonita Vista 4:27.2.

Field Events
High jump: Crystal Shields (Bonita Vista) 5-5.
Pole vault: Mariana Pastrana (Eastlake) 9-6.
Long jump: Jackie Mandy (Chula Vista) 16-7.
Triple jump: Tiara Rae (Eastlake) 34-2.
Shot put: Solie Gonzalez (Eastlake) 37-3.
Discus: Shannon Young (Eastlake) 108-1.25