Daily Pilot Girls’ Track and Field Dream Team: Crenshaw doubles down with second state run

The definition of a successful season is relative by nature.

It cannot be summed up by a universal rule because the goals change with the person.

Costa Mesa High thrower Felicia Crenshaw is a big proponent of giving herself targets to achieve. The subsequent performances have not seized to amaze as she continues to raise the bar.

In 2015, Crenshaw finished her freshman year with the first 100-foot discus throw of her career. She just eclipsed the century mark, going out with a toss of 100 feet, 11 inches at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Preliminaries.

Before the next season, as she does every year, she wrote down the goals that she wanted to accomplish. As a sophomore, she wanted to break the school record for discus. The mark to beat was 135-8, and if she did so at the right time, it would put her on track to go to the state meet.

Crenshaw did what all the greats are able to do, as she started her peak as the postseason got underway. She returned to the CIF-SS Prelims, tying the school record on the very stage that her first season had ended.

The Mustangs standout rode the momentum, twice improving upon her own record to finish seventh (143-6) in the CIF State Championship Finals.

“I really think that was her turning point where she said, ‘Okay, I know what I need to do,’” Mustangs throws coach Isaias Morales said of Crenshaw completing the postseason gauntlet for the first time.

Having already reached the top of the sport at the prep level, Crenshaw entered another offseason looking to set new goals for herself. After making it to state, the only thing left to do was to return with bigger marks and a higher placement.

The expectations were high, even within the family. Her father, Oronde, lives in Cedar City, Uah, and he had only been able to watch her throw at the Masters Meet her sophomore year. This year, he thought he could afford to wait another week.

“He told me at the beginning of the year, ‘I’ll just come watch you at state,’” Crenshaw said. “I’m like, ‘Dad, the season just started. What are you doing?’”

“He’s like, ‘I know you’re going. I’ll get ready. Don’t worry.’”

“He drove all the way down from Cedar City at like 4 a.m. in the morning. He came all the way to Fresno and watched me throw. Then he watched me throw the next day. That meant a lot to have him there.”

She saved her best performance of the year for the state final, a laser of 156 feet, 8 inches. It was the fourth time she had topped her career-best mark during her junior year.

The outstanding mark earned Crenshaw fifth-place overall and a spot on the podium. At the state meet, the top six athletes from all events are brought onto the infield in the middle of the track. Their names are announced as they receive their medals.

It was an experience that Crenshaw will never forget. She feels that discus is often overlooked because of its remote location away from the track.

“It was an incredible experience to be up there and to be honored for something like that in front of thousands of people,” Crenshaw said. “Even if it’s just a little meet, it means a lot just to have people around and to acknowledge it.”

“I understand that at some meets, the discus ring is really far and not a lot of people know where it is. Some people kind of ignore it. If you make it [to the state meet], people care and people know that you’re doing it there.”

En route to placing at the state meet, the three-time Orange Coast League champion (two discus titles, one in shotput) collected a lot of medals. She recorded discus victories at the Irvine Invitational, the Laguna Beach Trophy Invite, the Beach Cities Invitational, and the Ocean View Small Schools Invitational.

The third time that she broke her own school record in discus this year came in the CIF-SS Division 3 Finals. It was a 150-foot, 11-inch slingshot, giving Crenshaw her first sectional crown.

In addition to her accolades in discus, Crenshaw also set a personal record in shotput with a 42-foot throw in a league meet. The school record is 42-6 3/4th set by two-time U.S. Olympian Bonnie Dasse in 1977.

“I was extremely blessed to have the team that I did and the coaches that I have,” she said. “It was exciting. I was really determined this season to go on that pedestal and make sure that I was in that top six, and I was able to.”

Crenshaw is a team-oriented individual, and she is the same way with her competitors. She loves to cheer on the other throwers at the meets. As long as she maintains her focus in the ring, Morales will not complain.

“I always found that what matters is when your name gets called to when your throw gets done,” he said. “Everything between that, you want to stay loose. You want to stay focused, but you want to be loose. You don’t want to be tense.”

“You don’t want to be getting into your own head too much to where you’re going to get into the ring and just be overwhelmed.”

To this point, Crenshaw’s training has been heavily technique-based. Both athlete and coach say that the physical, weight-lifting component is coming, as the goal for next year is to add speed and strength to what she already has in technique.

Coach of the Year

Isaias Morales

Costa Mesa Throws Coach

Morales’ name is one they won’t soon forget at South El Monte High. He still holds the shot put (52-3) and discus (161-3) records there. He started his coaching career at his alma mater in 2003, and since then, he has offered his sage advice to three local schools — Costa Mesa, Corona del Mar and Estancia.

In his second stint with the Mustangs, Morales is cementing his legacy through the work of two talented and excitable athletes. The Crenshaw twins, Felicia and Tayla, have shown a willingness to put in the work. Their greatest obstacle may be the mental aspect of the sport, and Morales has played a key role in preparing them for the big moments.

“When a kid wants to win so bad, sometimes, they become their own enemy,” he said. “I always try to reach out to them and say, ‘Yes, it’s OK to want to win. It’s OK to go out there and give it your all, but you still have to find a way to relax yourself, especially in this sport.’”

Both of the twins made it to the state meet this year. They were the only female representatives from the Coastal Cities to make it as far as the Masters Meet.

“I’ve been lucky to have kids that work hard, that want to win, and want to do the sport,” Morales added. “The kids are dedicated.”

Tayla Crenshaw

Throws, Costa Mesa, Junior

It would be a fair question to ask where one Crenshaw twin would be without the other. They are each other’s biggest fan, greatest confidant, and fiercest competitor. In their sophomore year, Tayla watched as her sister, Felicia, went to the state meet for the first time. The trip motivated her, and this June, Tayla was able to make the state meet a family affair. She delivered lifetime bests in back-to-back weeks to reach the state preliminaries. Tayla threw 129 feet, 2 inches in the CIF-SS Division 3 Finals, and she improved to 136 feet, 9 inches in the Masters discus competition. Her talent is evident, and if she can calm her nerves, she could be a dual threat in throws next postseason. The junior topped out at 38 feet, 1 inch in shotput.

Cora Davis

Sprints, Fountain Valley, Senior

The Utah Valley signee was a blur, going undefeated in the sprints in Sunset League competition. She established new personal bests of 12.14 seconds in the 100 meters and 25.50 seconds in the 200. The Barons senior also served as the anchor on Fountain Valley’s 400 relay team, which was good enough to gain entry into the prestigious Arcadia Invitational. The only thing working against Davis was that her team had to compete against Division 1 schools in the CIF Southern Section. Davis qualified for CIF in the sprints and both relays, but the stark competition of their division eliminated Davis and the Barons’ relay teams in the CIF-SS Prelims.

Amanda Herrington

Hurdles, Edison, Senior

Records show that Herrington had a single dual-meet victory to her name through her first three seasons on the track. That being said, the Chargers senior surprised many when she started out the spring by winning six of her first eight races in the 100 high hurdles. The Sunset League champion claimed big wins at the Laguna Beach Trophy Invitational and the Beach Cities Invite. By the Orange County Championships, Herrington and Santa Margarita’s Nikki Merritt were the only two girls in the county to have run sub-15-second times. Unfortunately, that race never materialized, as Herrington was disqualified for a false start. She notched a personal record of 14.72 seconds in the Sunset League Prelims. Her time of 14.74 seconds (with a tail wind of 1.0 meters per second) was her best wind-legal performance, and it sent her into the Division 1 Finals as the fourth seed. The 14.74 is also a school record, crushing the 22-year-old standard of 15.02, which was set by Marie Philman. Herrington, who signed with Point Loma Nazarene, is also fourth in school history with a personal record of 46.47 in the 300 hurdles.

Courtnee Moreno

All-around, Fountain Valley, Junior

Moreno was invaluable to the Barons track and field team because of her versatility. She contributed points in league meets in five different events. The junior qualified for CIF in both the 100 hurdles and triple jump individually, and she ran on the CIF-qualifying 400 relay team with her twin sister Breanna, Ally Bebout, and Cora Davis. Moreno was the Sunset League champion in triple jump, extending her season to the CIF-SS Division 1 Finals. Her season-best mark in the event was 36-0 1/2 in the Prelims. She also competed in the 300 hurdles and the long jump. The twins could star on next year’s Barons roster, as Breanna was also the Sunset League’s long jump champion at 17 feet, 8 inches.

Raquel Powers

Distance Runner, Corona del Mar, Senior

It was a down year for Powers, but it did not matter. The four-year resume was enough for the Sea Kings stalwart to draw interest from some top-tier athletic programs. Powers signed with the Michigan Wolverines, following in the footsteps of older sisters Melanie (Wake Forest) and Ashlee (UCLA), who both competed collegiately for Division 1 programs. Despite her struggles, the CdM distance runner would not go quietly. She rallied to qualify for CIF in both the 1,600 and the 3,200. Powers turned in both of her seasonal bests in the 1,600 (5:13.06) and the 3,200 (11:14.06) in the CIF-SS Division 3 Preliminaries. She managed to extend her season to the CIF-SS Finals in the 3,200, where she placed seventh. Powers displayed improved foot speed in limited 800 appearances, posting the area’s second-fastest mid-distance time at 2:21.23.

Girls’ Track and Field Dream Team

*Masters qualifier

100 – Cora Davis, Fountain Valley, Sr.

200 – Ally Bebout, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Cora Davis, Fountain Valley, Sr.

400 – Ally Bebout, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Micayla Shook, Ocean View, Jr.

800 – Sara Feitz, Fountain Valley, So.; Hannah Gallegos, Edison, Jr.; Raquel Powers, Corona del Mar, Sr.

1,600 – Evie Cant, Laguna Beach, Jr.; Ashley Faller, Fountain Valley, So.; Sara Feitz, Fountain Valley, So.; Raquel Powers, Corona del Mar, Sr.

3,200 – Evie Cant, Laguna Beach, Jr.; Mia Matsunami, Newport Harbor, So.; Raquel Powers, Corona del Mar, Sr.

100HH – Amanda Herrington, Edison, Sr.; Courtnee Moreno, Fountain Valley, Jr.

300IH – Julianne Bartz, Corona del Mar, Jr.; Paige Damron, Corona del Mar, So.; Amanda Herrington, Edison, Sr.

400 relay – Fountain Valley

1,600 relay – Corona del Mar; Fountain Valley; Sage Hill

HJ – Katie Bennyworth, Edison, So.; Nicolette Gruber, Marina, Fr.; Xolani Hodel, Huntington Beach, Fr.

LJ – Breanna Moreno, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Bree Smentkowski, Huntington Beach, Jr.; Emma Walker, Huntington Beach, So.

TJ – Breanna Moreno, Fountain Valley, Jr.; Courtnee Moreno, Fountain Valley, Jr.

PV – Nina Espilita, Huntington Beach, Jr.

SP – Felicia Crenshaw, Costa Mesa, Jr.; Tayla Crenshaw, Costa Mesa, Jr.

DT – Felicia Crenshaw, Costa Mesa, Jr.; Tayla Crenshaw, Costa Mesa, Jr.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner