Felicia Crenshaw and Skyler Magula win track and field titles at Orange County Championships

In the middle of April, the track and field community recognizes that it is time to round into form.

The Arcadia Invitational passed by last weekend, providing a look at the potential field for this year’s CIF State championship meet.

With just two weeks remaining before the road to state begins, local athletes seemed to use Saturday’s Orange County Championships at Mission Viejo High as the meet to elevate their level.

After failing to make the finals of the girls’ discus throw at the Arcadia Invitational, Costa Mesa High’s Felicia Crenshaw rebounded to win the county title for the first time in her career.

The Mustangs senior produced a winning mark of 146 feet, 5 inches. Although she won the event, her runner-up showing in the shotput may have been the more impressive feat.

Crenshaw heaved a lifetime best of 42-3, a three-inch personal record for the event. Prior to Saturday, Crenshaw’s seasonal best had been 38-5.

“My whole series was really solid,” she said. “I think it just clicked. I hope to just get better from here.”

Crenshaw, a two-time state qualifier, realizes that her celebrated high school career is entering the stretch run.

“The ending is starting to begin,” Crenshaw added. “It’s time for me to start picking it up. Even though I was trying really hard in the very beginning, now, everyone is starting to find their rhythm and know what is going on.”

Marina junior Skyler Magula continued his meteoric rise in the boys’ pole vault. He won the competition with a clearance of 15-8, which was his second personal record of the week. He had reached the height of 15-6 in a league meet on Thursday.

“I had only taken, I think, three jumps total, so I was still pumped full of energy,” Magula said of the sequence leading up to his new personal best.

Magula followed by attempting to conquer the bar at 16 feet. His second attempt was his best, as he knocked off the bar on his upswing.

“My first one was pretty good,” Magula recalled. “The second one was a lot better, but I had the standards too close. I think if I had the standards back a little, I would have definitely made it.”

Vikings senior Luke Sutherland clocked in with a new personal best of 1 minute 56.37 seconds to place third in the 800 meters.

Senior Jack Skocilic also established a new career-best mark of 6-2 in the high jump, placing third.

Newport Harbor sophomore Aidan Elbettar had a pair of top-three finishes in setting personal records in the boys’ shotput (56-4½) and the discus (166-2).

Elbettar flirted with fouling throughout his discus series, but he managed to stay in the ring on his biggest throw, which came on his final attempt.

“I had a really rough time until my last throw,” Elbettar said. “Most of the time, my foot landed right on the iron ring, so it felt really good on the last one how it went farther on my last PR, and I didn’t foul.”

Junior Alexis Garcia ran a lifetime best 4:19.99 in the 1,600 meters, and senior Spencer Blake placed third in the shotput (53-10½) to lead the Sailors’ boys’ team to a ninth-place showing in the county showcase.

Fountain Valley received third-place showings from senior Isaiah Galloway in the triple jump (44-9½) and junior Ashley Faller in the 3,200 (11:20.32).

Corona del Mar senior Morgan Simon was the runner-up in the girls’ pole vault (11-8), while Sea Kings junior Paige Damron took fifth in the 300 hurdles (46.0).

Huntington Beach senior Alison Young placed fifth in the girls’ pole vault (10-8).

Dana Hills won the boys’ team title 68-60 over Mission Viejo.

Mater Dei bested Mission Viejo 69-60.5 on the girls’ side.

*

BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Orange County Championships

At Mission Viejo High

*Denotes meet record

Team Results

1. Dana Hills 68; 2. Mission Viejo 60; 3T. Los Alamitos 50; 3T. Aliso Niguel 50; 5. Santa Margarita 34; 6. Mater Dei 32; 7T. Tesoro 30; 7T. JSerra 30; 9T. Orange Lutheran 29; 9T. Newport Harbor 29

Individuals

100 – 1. Irvin (Servite) 10.94; 2. Stephens (JSerra) 10.98; 3. Lemmons (Mater Dei) 11.02; 4. Caragao (Santa Margarita) 11.03; 5. Aurelio-Anderson (Mission Viejo) 11.08

200 – 1. Stephens (JSerra) 21.99; 2. Phillippy (Aliso Niguel) 22.01; 3. McCray (Orange Lutheran) 22.03; 4. Halvax (Dana Hills) 22.20; 5. Caragao (Santa Margarita) 22.46

400 – 1. Phillippy (Aliso Niguel) 48.50; 2. Halvax (Dana Hills) 49.28; 3. Gutierrez (Orange Lutheran) 49.79; 4. Lind (Orange Lutheran) 49.92; 5. Koesel (Aliso Niguel) 49.95

800 – 1. Van Dorpe (Mater Dei) 1:53.58; 2. Hickman (Mission Viejo) 1:54.95; 3. Sutherland (Marina) 1:56.37; 4. Dowdy (Dana Hills) 1:56.74; 5. Darden (Aliso Niguel) 1:56.95

1,600 Seeded – 1. Byrne (Santa Margarita) 4:16.40; 2. Adel (Woodbridge) 4:16.46; 3. Grover (JSerra) 4:17.25; 4. McNulty (Orange Lutheran) 4:19.98; 5. Garcia (Newport Harbor) 4:19.99

1,600 Rated – 1. Bragdon (JSerra) 4:30.37; 2. Howard (Santa Margarita) 4:31.44; 3. Miller (Crean Lutheran) 4:33.0; 4. Munguia (Tustin) 4:33.65; 5. Cox (Esperanza) 4:33.81

3,200 – 1. Landgraf (Dana Hills) 9:26.27; 2. Niednagel (Dana Hills) 9:26.82; 3. Herold (JSerra) 9:33.54; 4. Crites (Tesoro) 9:34.59; 5. Fuller (Dana Hills) 9:34.79

110HH – 1. Robbins (Tesoro) 14.64; 2. Hurd (Trabuco Hills) 14.86; 3. Scott (Los Alamitos) 15.03; 4. Tagle (San Juan Hills) 15.11; 5. Hill (Mission Viejo) 15.19

300IH – 1. Hennesay (Santa Margarita) 38.67; 2. Hill (Mission Viejo) 38.78; 3. Robbins (Tesoro) 38.95; 4. Kruki (El Toro) 39.10; 5. Hurd (Trabuco Hills) 39.40

400 relay – 1. Mission Viejo 42.41; 2. Aliso Niguel 42.76; 3. Woodbridge 43.49; 4. San Juan Hills 43.69; 5. Los Alamitos 43.82

1,600 relay – 1. Dana Hills 3:16.80*; 2. Aliso Niguel 3:18.03; 3. Orange Lutheran 3:19.49; 4. Woodbridge 3:23.05; 5. Mission Viejo 3:24.48

HJ – 1. Schmitt (Los Alamitos) 6-4; 2. Wesley (Santa Ana Valley) 6-4J; 3. Skocilic (Marina) 6-2; 4. Cormie (Santa Margarita) 6-2J; 5. Garnett (Edison) 6-2J

LJ – 1. Phillips (Canyon) 22-5.5; 2. Bandley (Los Alamitos) 22-3; 3T. Nguyen (Woodbridge) 21-4; 3T. McNerney (Crean Lutheran) 21-4; 5. Greene (Fountain Valley) 21-3

TJ – 1. T. Ruotolo (Mater Dei) 45-6¼; 2. Ayale (Los Alamitos) 45-5¼; 3. Galloway (Fountain Valley) 44-9½; 4. Williams (Trabuco Hills) 44-8½; 5. Reed (Tesoro) 44-3½

PV – 1. S. Magula (Marina) 15-8; 2. Gariepy (Mission Viejo) 14-8; 3T. Parsons (Los Alamitos) 14-2; 3T. Pi. O’Connell (Servite) 14-2; 5T. Virga (Los Alamitos) 13-8; 5T. Cook (Newport Harbor) 13-8; 5T. Waizinger (San Juan Hills) 13-8

SP – 1. Duensing (Esperanza) 57-5; 2. Elbettar (Newport Harbor) 56-4½ ; 3. Blake (Newport Harbor) 53-10½ ; 4. Baloun (El Toro) 51-3; 5. Rhyan (San Juan Hills) 51-1

DT – 1. McKhann (Dana Hills) 179-9; 2. Lavalle (Mission Viejo) 173-9; 3. Elbettar (Newport Harbor) 166-2; 4. Duensing (Esperanza) 163-8; 5. Baloun (El Toro) 162-5

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

Orange County Championships

At Mission Viejo High

*Denotes meet record

Team Scores

1. Mater Dei 69; 2. Mission Viejo 60.5; 3. Los Alamitos 58; 4. Santa Margarita 53.5; 5. Woodbridge 50; 6. Dana Hills 44; 7T. Capistrano Valley 40; 7T. Aliso Niguel 40; 9. Yorba Linda 26; 10. Costa Mesa 20

Individuals

100 – 1. Godin (Mater Dei) 12.02; 2. N. Merritt (Santa Margarita) 12.08; 3. Green (Santa Margarita) 12.31; 4. Aluya (Valencia) 12.40; 5. Quinn (Yorba Linda) 12.41

200 – 1. Godin (Mater Dei) 24.88; 2. Green (Santa Margarita) 25.14; 3. Malec (Woodbridge) 25.42; 4. Pagaduan (Mission Viejo) 25.45; 5. Rind (Dana Hills) 25.49

400 – 1. Malec (Woodbridge) 56.30; 2. Blockburger (Los Alamitos) 56.48; 3. Rind (Dana Hills) 57.07; 4. Ray (Dana Hills) 57.52; 5. Niemiec (Beckman) 58.26

800 – 1. Johnson (Mission Viejo) 2:13.67; 2. G. George (Santa Margarita) 2:13.87; 3. Bautista (Capistrano Valley) 2:15.33; 4. Stark (Canyon) 2:17.47; 5. Jacobs (Tesoro) 2:18.09

1,600 Seeded – 1. Herberg (Capistrano Valley) 4:57.81; 2. Catsimanes (San Clemente) 5:01.74; 3. Sanacore (Los Alamitos) 5:02.45; 4. Vincent (El Dorado) 5:03.78; 5. Valenti (Brea Olinda) 5:04.01

1,600 Rated – 1. Dillon (Fullerton) 5:22.22; 2. Carnell (St. Margaret’s) 5:24.20; 3. O’Connell (Northwood) 5:24.98; 4. Hill (Beckman) 5:25.31; 5. Moradian (Valencia) 5:25.77

3,200 – 1. Herberg (Capistrano Valley) 10:48.33; 2. Corsinita (Capistrano Valley) 11:08.72; 3. Faller (Fountain Valley) 11:20.32; 4. Tabrizi (JSerra) 11:23.16; 5. Hicken (Mission Viejo) 11:23.45

100HH – 1. N. Merritt (Santa Margarita) 14.48; 2. Brown (Segerstrom) 14.85; 3. Beveridge (Aliso Niguel) 15.16; 4. McDonald (Mater Dei) 15.36; 5. Lyon (Woodbridge) 15.45

300IH – 1. N. Merritt (Santa Margarita) 42.36*; 2. Brown (Segerstrom) 42.53; 3. Goerlinger (Villa Park) 45.76; 4. Ray (Dana Hills) 45.88; 5. Damron (Corona del Mar) 46.0

400 relay – 1. Mater Dei 47.74; 2. Yorba Linda 48.08; 3. Dana Hills 48.53; 4. Los Alamitos 48.55; 5. Aliso Niguel 48.70

1,600 relay – 1. Dana Hills 3:52.59; 2. Mission Viejo 3:59.19; 3. Yorba Linda 4:03.46; 4. Aliso Niguel 4:05.80; 5. Beckman 4:06.26

HJ – 1. Battle (Aliso Niguel) 5-4; 2. Wright (Los Alamitos) 5-2; 3. Chiaramonte (Mater Dei) 5-2; 4. Stallworth (Troy) 5-0; 5. McMahan (Los Alamitos) 5-0J

LJ – 1. Nguyen (Bolsa Grande) 18-10¾; 2. Lyon (Woodbridge) 18-10¼; 3. Jocson (Tesoro) 18-2½; 4. Godin (Mater Dei) 18-1¾; 5. McDonald (Mater Dei) 17-11¾

TJ – 1. McDonald (Mater Dei) 39-4; 2. Lyon (Woodbridge) 38-0; 3. Biele (Beckman) 37-7½; 4. Garner (Woodbridge) 37-6; 5. Jocson (Tesoro) 36-5

PV – 1. Flynn (Aliso Niguel) 12-4; 2. Simon (Corona del Mar) 11-8; 3. Agnew (Mission Viejo) 11-8J; 4. Lindstrom (Capistrano Valley) 11-2; 5. Young (Huntington Beach) 10-8

SP – 1. Sale (Los Alamitos) 43-11; 2. Crenshaw (Costa Mesa) 42-3; 3. Lister (Mission Viejo) 38-7; 4. Hartmann (Mission Viejo) 38-4.5; 5. Wilkerson (Trabuco Hills) 36-9

DT – 1. F. Crenshaw (Costa Mesa) 146-5; 2. Sale (Los Alamitos) 142-5; 3. Hartmann (Mission Viejo) 131-0; 4. Wilkerson (Trabuco Hills) 129-9; 5. Robbins (Esperanza) 124-4

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner