Arcadia Invitational shows locals that there is still work to be done

From a local perspective, the overriding theme of the Arcadia Invitational this year will be that the area’s athletes will be going back to the drawing board.

It spoke volumes that Huntington Beach High’s Jack Wiseman, once intent on resting ahead of the CIF postseason meets, said he had a lot of work to do.

Fresh legs did not prove to be the missing ingredient for Wiseman. A combination of technique and timing plagued the Oilers’ junior, something that only additional reps can solve.

“I felt like I had a lot of power, a lot of height over all my bars,” Wiseman said. “It’s just when I was coming down on them, I kept kicking them with my heels or landing on it.

“I think it’s just a lot of timing practice, so maybe not necessarily taking too much off [from] my training. I’ll be basically putting more on and trying to control my speed and power down the runway because I think that’s what’s having me take off all these bars.”

Wiseman finished tied for ninth, only clearing the opening height of 6 feet, 3 inches. He said he will likely compete at both the Orange County Championships and the Mt. SAC Relays now.

In the throwing ring, a reigning state medalist did not fare any better. Costa Mesa’s Felicia Crenshaw saw her meet end unceremoniously after failing to make the finals of the girls’ discus throw.

The Mustangs senior sectored her first two throws, and she was unable to reach the final heat of the event after being forced to focus on posting a mark.

She finished 12th after her only legal throw went 135-5.

On the boys’ side, Newport Harbor’s Aidan Elbettar lived up to expectations. He fell one inch shy of his recently established personal record, finishing 11th with a mark of 54-8 in the boys’ shotput.

Sailors senior Spencer Blake placed 14th in the boys’ discus with a mark of 165-11.

The national stage of the Arcadia Invitational took the spotlight off of area athletes. In the pole vault, an area of strength locally in recent years, another produced the highlight of the meet.

Davis’ Sondre Guttormsen broke the state record for the boys’ pole vault, clearing the bar at 18-2½.

The record previously belonged to Santa Barbara San Marcos’ Brandon Richards, who had set the standard at 18-2 in 1985.

Marina junior Skyler Magula bowed out of the competition well before the fireworks occurred, but he had his chance to set a new personal best on Saturday. Magula, who posted a new lifetime best of 15-3 at the Trabuco Hills Invitational last week, cleared three bars, going out after three misses at 15-7.

“I’m at one of the shorter runs out of everybody out here,” Magula said of his approach to the pit. “I’ve got to work on the technique on the pole and getting back on it, getting inverted and past inverted.”

Corona del Mar’s Morgan Simon also got her first look at a meet like Arcadia. Simon’s pole vault coach Fritz Howser said that such a stage can get to an inexperienced vaulter.

“She’s never been here, so new to vaulting,” Howser said of Simon, who is in her second year of pole vaulting. “Tough day, but we’ll figure it out in the next few weeks and meets and jump higher another day.

“It was good because she got to come in at 11-1, which I think is a nice bar for her to enter in. She has the confidence now to enter at that bar in the future.”

*

BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Arcadia Invitational

At Arcadia High

*Denotes state record

HJ – 1. Cronk (Kentridge/WA) 6-9; 2. Allen (San Marcos) 6-7; 3. Tshiaba (Dorsey) 6-7J; 4. Krauss (Liberty) 6-5; 5. Fullow (Las Vegas) 6-5J; 9T. Wiseman (Huntington Beach) 6-3

PV – 1. Guttormsen (Davis) 18-2½*; 2. Zaffaroni (Escuela Superior Marinao Mor) 17-1; 3. Ference (Salpointe Catholic) 16-1; 4. Care (Boise) 16-1; 5. Valles (Canyon Country Canyon) 15-7; 13. S. Magula (Marina) 15-1

SP – 1. Viveros (Liberty) 61-7¾; 2. Aviles (Ventura) 59-5½; 3. Duensing (Esperanza) 59-3; 4. Navarro (Great Oak) 58-6; 5. Gould (Great Oak) 57-11½; 11. Aidan Elbettar (Newport Harbor) 54-8

DT – 1. Aviles (Ventura) 194-1; 2. Navarro (Great Oak) 184-8; 3. Moore (Liberty/NV) 184-8; 4. Johnson (Buchanan) 182-9; 5. Viveros (Liberty) 178-7; 14. Blake (Newport Harbor) 165-11

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Arcadia Invitational

At Arcadia High

PV – 1. Allen (Reed/NV) 13-1; 2. Talius (Eastlake/WA) 13-1J; 3. Rayburn (Platte Canyon/CO) 12-7; 4. Hanson (Desert Vista/AZ) 12-7; 5. Funk (Clovis West) 12-7; 13T. Simon (Corona del Mar) 11-7

DT – 1. Kelby (Lees Summit West/MO) 168-6; 2. Grotegeer (Wheatland) 166-5; 3. Bender (Liberty) 160-2; 4. Ramirez (West Ranch) 154-1; 5. Budwig (Fowler) 152-8; 12. F. Crenshaw (Costa Mesa) 135-5

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner