Daily Pilot Boys’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Rededicated Tsu impressed himself, others

The way in which people carry themselves can say a lot about them.

Kyle Tsu, a recent graduate of Marina High, is proud of the man he has become in the past year. He stands tall, and he has the wide, toothy smile to complete that confident appearance.

If one looks closely, they can see that Tsu has a chipped front tooth. Remembering the moment, Tsu flashes back to a day in the third grade. He was playing basketball. As a rebound bounces over the end line, Tsu launches himself out of bounds in an attempt to keep the play alive.

He successfully extends the play, but it results in him flying into a fence. Tsu has no regrets about the incident. Whenever he looks into a mirror, he says it is a firm reminder of the hustle he brings to everything he does.

His coaches had a difference of opinion when it came to his hustle for most of his first three years. Naturally gifted with his strong frame, they wanted to see more commitment from Tsu in the weight room and with his technique.

“His first three years, he was a little bit hit-or-miss,” Vikings throws coach Mike Giron said. “I can’t complain about this year. He only missed a handful of practices at all this year, and that was because he was getting recruited so he had to go to some recruiting visit.”

There was untapped potential, and one look at the numbers of returning throwers had Giron feeling ambitious. He told Tsu he had the tools to be one of the best throwers in the state, certainly enough to reach the final stage.

Tsu’s demeanor now is a far cry from what it was at the beginning of the season. Culture shock came when he went from being just one of the names scheduled to compete to the person that the crowds had come to see.

It was all new to him – the phones, the cameras, the reporters, and even the pursuit of college coaches. He was shy and soft-spoken in his interviews, but he knew that it had a root cause. The circus had been set into motion because of his renewed dedication.

“You could see at the beginning of the year when I first took a first-place medal, I was a really nervous speaker,” Tsu said. “Now that I’ve grown into this better person of myself, it’s a really good feeling that I’m able to grow and adapt.”

As soon as football season had ended, Tsu and teammate Jake Arnold were begging their coach to let them get started with their training for track and field in the spring. Arnold’s run to the CIF State Finals in shot put as a junior had injected the duo with excitement about what their senior year might bring.

For Tsu, the season began with a victory in the Winter State Championships. It really took off when he produced his first 60-foot throw with a heave of 61 feet, 4 inches at the Trabuco Hills Invitational.

“When I hit that 60 and I saw everyone’s reaction, I just knew that 60-foot shot put just made me one of the best throwers,” Tsu said. “I remember striving for that goal and being more and more hungry just to hit further [personal records], further marks.”

Tsu would not allow himself to become complacent or be satisfied. Even as the favorite, he played mind games with himself. He had to make himself believe that he was the underdog as a means of giving himself a target to shoot for.

Unleashing these elite marks on a consistent basis became the new hurdle. After a two-week lull in which he was awestruck by the national stage of the Arcadia Invitational, Tsu returned to his top form, never to waver again.

The UC Irvine signee finished the season with eight consecutive meets of 60-foot throws. During that stretch, he claimed titles at the Mt. SAC Relays, the Orange County Championships, the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Finals, and the Masters Meet.

In light of making it to the state meet and placing fourth for a podium finish, Tsu said that he has learned to love performing in front of big crowds.

“When the crowd claps or cheers for me, I feel like the support of them just makes me want to make sure that I satisfy whatever they want to see,” Tsu said. “If they want to see a 60-foot throw, I’m going to make sure that I throw that for them.”

Tsu now possesses the Marina school records for shot put (63-10, third in state) and the discus (176-8, 11^th in state). Both records were previously set by Arnold last season.

“His second-best event was discus, and he finished the season with the 11th-best throw in all the state,” Giron said of Tsu. “If that is your second-best event, then you have something special.

“He was the definition of work ethic. He was a great example for our kids. Obviously, me and [Marina head coach] Carlos Castellanos are going to miss his amazing talent, but more than anything, just his work ethic this year.”

The following is the rest of this year’s Daily Pilot Boys’ Track and Field Dream Team.

Coach of the Year

Mike Giron

Marina Throws Coach

When Giron attended Los Amigos High (1995-1998), his coach was renowned throwing guru Steve Bolton. Nearly 15 years later, Giron reunited with Bolton as his understudy with the Lobos’ program. He coached with his mentor for three seasons, and then he started helping out intermittently at Marina. With limited contact, he helped Jake Arnold, then a junior, reach the CIF State Championship finals in shot put last year. This season was Giron’s first full-time run with the Vikings, and Marina celebrated a banner year. The school records for shot put and discus were broken by Kyle Tsu, who signed with UC Irvine. Arnold inked his future throwing career with UC Riverside.

The senior duo flourished under the tutelage of Giron, who urged them to break free of their comfort zone. Once Tsu converted from the stand-still position to the spin, his 60-foot throws started to come. Tsu and Arnold went on to have magical senior years, as both reached the state finals in shot put. Arnold also qualified for the state meet in the discus.

“Trust the process, little by little we’ll get better, and if you just hit the weight room hard and work on your technique, things will come,” Giron said of the lessons he learned from Bolton.

“You have to get the athletes to believe in that. Luckily for Kyle, we had Jake last year. He got hurt this year, but he made it to state last year. He was a good example of if you trust the process, you will be there.”

*

Jake Arnold

Throws, Marina, Senior

After he advanced to the state final in shot put as a junior, no one was about to project a regression from Arnold in his senior year. Everything did not go as planned, however, and the UC Riverside signee missed more than two months of training. He broke the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in early January, and he was not released from the doctor’s care until mid-April. Arnold finally resumed his full range of motion at the Arcadia Invitational, with only a month of the season remaining before CIF. The injury prevented him from challenging his personal record, but he steadied himself to routinely put up marks in the mid-50s (feet), which got him back to the state finals in shot put. Arnold was one of two locals to qualify for the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet in multiple events. He parlayed that feat into a dual-state berth by slinging a lifetime best of 174 feet, 9 inches in the discus at Masters.

*

Alex Escalera

Pole Vault, Sage Hill, Senior

It is tough to see the body fail someone with the talent to otherwise compete with the best in the state. The state finals is really where the Lightning senior belonged this year, but a sprained ankle to his take-off leg in practice took away his explosion. Escalera was forced to limit his jumps at the Masters Meet, leaving himself no warmup bars before the state-qualifying height, and he wound up with a no-height result. Put the disappointing ending aside, and Escalera still had a strong senior year. He repeated as the CIF Southern Section Division 4 champion in boys’ pole vault with a mark of 15 feet, 8 inches. He set a new career-best of 16 feet, 1 inch in an Academy League meet. Escalera was the winner of the Beach Cities Invitational. He plans to compete for the Washington State Cougars in college.

*

Ryan Fegan

Pole Vault, Newport Harbor, Senior

Fegan showed superior strength and ability to lead Orange County’s boys in pole vaulting this season. He was the only California athlete to defeat state champion Tate Curran (Redondo Union) at any meet this year. He did so with a personal-best clearance of 16 feet, 6 inches at the Mt. SAC Relays. Bad luck, or great privilege, made Fegan’s great performance a runner-up showing. Undisputed national leader Armand Duplantis (Lafayette, La.) vanquished any hope of an upset with his entry bar, winning the Mt. SAC Relays competition with a mark of 18 feet, 3 inches. Like others in the area, injuries hampered the Sailors senior. He was bothered by a hamstring strain following Mt. SAC, which limited his reps all the way to the state meet. Fegan finished the year with a podium finish, placing fourth with a mark of 15 feet, 10 inches in the state finals. He added wins at the Eagle Invitational, the Mt. Carmel Invite, and the Irvine Invitational.

*

Michael Magula

Pole Vault, Marina, Senior

Magula helped form a fabulous four for the area in pole vault – along with Alex Escalera, Ryan Fegan, and Orange County champion Michael Chadwick of Edison. The Vikings senior deserves the area’s most-improved designation, as he had only one clearance of 14 feet entering the spring. He conquered the bar at 15 feet on 12 separate occasions this season, improving by a full two feet with his lifetime best clearance of 16 feet at the Masters Meet, where he placed second. Magula, a first-time state meet qualifier and state finalist, will compete at Golden West College, where he will continue to work with his father and coach, Kevin Magula. Other local prep standouts that will be with the Rustlers next season include Jett Gordon (Marina) and Fegan.

*

Cole Smith

Throws, Newport Harbor, Senior

For the first half of the season, Smith looked like the best that the CIF Southern Section had to offer. He swept the shot put and discus titles at the Irvine Invitational, the Triton Invitational, the Cal Track/Ruby Tuesday Invitational, and the Trabuco Hills Invitational, all in succession. After being named the Field Athlete of the Meet at Trabuco Hills, Smith succumbed to an illness, and he never seemed to regain his strength. He had eclipsed 60 feet two weeks in a row, but Smith’s best shot put effort for the remainder of the season was 55-2 1/2 at the Orange County Championships. He battled to qualify for the Masters Meet in both of his events. The TCU signee set a personal record of 61 feet, 8 inches in shot put (at the Trabuco Hills Invite), and he recorded a seasonal best of 175 feet, 1 inch in the discus at the Sunset League Finals.

*

Jack Wiseman

High Jump, Huntington Beach, Sophomore

Wiseman will have the honor of carrying the torch for the Coastal Cities’ boys’ track and field athletes next year, as he will be the only returning Masters Meet qualifier. He did well to get there, duplicating his personal best of 6 feet, 6 inches to take second in the CIF-SS Division 1 Finals. He matched the state-qualifying height of 6 feet, 5 inches at the Masters Meet, but his season was ended in a jump-off by Cerritos junior Destin Flucas. Wiseman will look to improve upon a stellar sophomore campaign, and he will have to in order to stay competitive in his event. Six of the top eight Masters competitors (including all jump-off participants) will be returning.

*

Boys’ Track and Field Dream Team

*Masters qualifier

100 – Jacob Garrett, Fountain Valley, Sr.; Christian Parker, Marina, Sr.

200 – Jacob Garrett, Fountain Valley, Sr.; Cooper Malerstein, Marina, Sr.; Christian Parker, Marina, Sr.

400 – Miles McCord, Sage Hill, Sr.

800 – Mark Field, Newport Harbor, Sr.; Leif Hellgren, Corona del Mar, Sr.; Connor Schwarz, Edison, So.; Davis Smith, Edison, Sr.

1,600 – Mark Field, Newport Harbor, Sr.; Alexis Garcia, Newport Harbor, So.; Leif Hellgren, Corona del Mar, Sr.; Lars Mitchel, Huntington Beach, So.; Edwin Montes, Ocean View, So.; Ben Wilson, Newport Harbor, Sr.

3,200 – Alexis Garcia, Newport Harbor, So.; Leif Hellgren, Corona del Mar, Sr.; Ryan St. Pierre, Ocean View, Sr.

110HH – Jevon Hill, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Nathan Willoughby, Fountain Valley, Sr.

300IH – Noah Holmes, Marina, Sr.; Orbelin Portillo, Los Amigos, Sr.; Nathan Willoughby, Fountain Valley, Sr.

400 relay – Fountain Valley

1,600 relay – Fountain Valley; Edison

HJ – Aiden Garnett, Edison, So.; David Straw, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Jack Wiseman, Huntington Beach, So.*

LJ – Warren Cha, Fountain Valley, So.; Geoff Delorie, Marina, Sr.; Elvis Leyva, Los Amigos, Jr.; Miles McCord, Sage Hill, Sr.; Parker Obert, Huntington Beach, Sr.; Josh Tellez, Fountain Valley, Jr.

TJ – Isaiah Galloway, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Alex Wang, Marina, Sr.

PV – Michael Chadwick, Edison, Sr.; Alex Escalera, Sage Hill, Sr.*; Ryan Fegan, Newport Harbor, Sr.*; Michael Magula, Marina, Sr.*

SP – Jake Arnold, Marina, Sr.*; Cole Smith, Newport Harbor, Sr.*; Kyle Tsu, Marina, Sr.*

DT – Jake Arnold, Marina, Sr.*; Mason Crane, Corona del Mar, Sr.; Cole Smith, Newport Harbor, Sr.*; Kyle Tsu, Marina, Sr.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner