Two win championships, two earn Masters berths
NORWALK – History was made and traditions continued at the CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championships at Cerritos College on Saturday afternoon.
La Cañada High junior Claire Murray became her school’s first girls’ Southern Section hurdles champion, junior Evan Pattinelli continued distance dominance for Flintridge Prep and St. Francis’ Mathew Molina qualified to the next round.
Murray carved her named into the record books by winning the 100-meter hurdles in a mark of 14.71 seconds against a strong headwind (-5.1 meters per second). While her time was well short of her school record and prelims mark of 14.60, Murray was happy to survive.
“I was talking to the other girls, too, and everyone was saying it was just really hard to get to that next hurdle because you felt the wind at your back and you didn’t have the same momentum you would without wind,” Murray said. “You had to work a lot harder.”
Murray took control midway through the race and held off Santa Margarita junior Nikki Merritt (14.88).
It was a nervous 15 minutes or so before Murray qualified to Friday’s Masters Meet in Arcadia with what was the seventh-fastest time across all four divisions.
Murray became her school’s first girls’ hurdles champion and only the second in Spartans history. Chris Day captured the Division II-A boys’ 110-meter (14.80) title in 1980.
Flintridge Prep’s Pattinelli had the challenge of competing in the Division IV 3,200-meter championship, which was run concurrently with the Division I finals.
While Pattinelli tried to keep up with some of the state’s best talent, he more than held his own in the Division IV championship, which he won in 9 minutes, 43.79 seconds.
“This feels good and it feels like a nice end to the season,” Pattinelli said. “It was a little windy out there and I have a D-I kid who was pulling me. I could have had a faster time, but hey, there’s always next season.”
Pattinelli is Flintridge Prep’s second straight 3,200 winner, following in the footsteps of Jack Van Scoter in 2016, while Pattinelli’s title comes after he won a Southern Section Division V cross-country crown.
St. Francis sophomore Molina was in the mix for a Division III high jump title before tying for second with Gahr’s Tony Crosby with a mark of 6 feet, 6 inches.
Molina hit on his first attempts at 6-2 and 6-4, before needing a third try to clear 6-6.
Molina and Crosby each missed on three attempts at 6-8 with Mission League rival Earnest Sears of Alemany breaking through and taking home the championship at that height.
Molina’s final attempt involved some bad luck.
“I just wish I could have done 6-8, but my conditions weren’t the best because my shoe fell apart at the end,” Molina said. “I had to borrow someone’s shoe for the third jump, but the runway was so slippery. If anything, it wasn’t just the shoe because I was tired, too.”
Despite the issues, Molina tied for fifth across four divisions with four other competitors to punch his ticket to Arcadia.
Molina later competed in the Division III triple jump championship and took fifth in 43-5.
Hoover High senior Chris White ended an impressive season by placing fifth place in the Division III shot put championships with a throw of 50-4 1/4.
La Cañada Flintridge resident McKenna Smith of Mayfield Senior School placed second in the Division IV race in 11:20.27 and topped Prep League rivals Natalie O’Brien (fourth, 11:27.96) and Sophie Gitlin (eighth, 12:02.36) of Flintridge Prep.
Flintridge Prep’s Warren Hosseinion turned in a strong effort in taking third place in the Division IV shot put in a personal-best mark of 48-9 1/4.
Flintridge Prep senior Hanna Barakat capped a wonderful career with two fifth-place finishes in the Division IV 200 (25.75) and 400 (58.08), the latter being a school record.
Flintridge Prep sophomore Sasha Codiga also finished seventh in the Division IV 800-meter run in 2:22.02.
In the team standings, the Flintridge Prep boys turned in the best area finish, taking 12th in Division IV with 16 points. The Flintridge Prep girls earned 13th in Division IV with 16 points, while Murray’s win netted the La Cañada girls a tie for 16th in Division III with 10 points.
