Molina, Barnett claim two track championships each
EL CAMINO – Dual championships from St. Francis High junior Matthew Molina and La Crescenta resident Mia Barnett highlighted a huge afternoon of winning and qualifying at the CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championships at El Camino College.
Overall, Crescenta Valley, St. Francis and the city of La Crescenta qualified 10 entrants to Saturday’s competition.
Outside of the four titles, Molina and Barnett qualified to the CIF Southern Section Masters the following Saturday at El Camino as did Falcons seniors Colin FitzGerald and Artin Allahverdian.
Molina, a junior, followed in the footsteps of his one-time teammate Jasher Foster by claiming twin titles. Molina won the Division III high jump and 110-meter hurdles and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet next Saturday back at El Camino.
Last season, Molina finished second in the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 6 inches to Alemany senior Earnest Sears. Without Sears around, Molina cruised to a title in 6-6. The mark was four inches higher than division runner-up Brendan Cormie of Santa Margarita.
“I’m pretty happy with that although I know I could have done better,” said Molina, whose personal best is 6-8 1/4. “The last couple of jumps I was a little far out, but I made some adjustments.”
Molina passed on heights of 5-10 and 6 feet, before hitting first attempts at 6-2 and 6-4 and needing two tries at 6-6. Molina eventually missed on three tries at 6-9.
Molina’s 6-6 was the fifth-best mark across four divisions.
In between leaping, Molina flew to a victory in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.73 seconds, which easily topped runner-up Matthew Wang (14.82) of Harvard-Westlake.
Molina’s time was fourth-best across four divisions and merited him a berth to the Masters Meet. He’s the city’s lone Masters Meet qualifier.
“My goal was to do better than I did, but 14.7 is still pretty good and I’m happy,” Molina said. “It means a lot to make it to Masters and I have another week to get better.”
Molina is St. Francis’ first CIF high jump champion and only second-ever field event winner as he follows pole vaulter Andrew Steban (2006). His hurdles crown follows back-to-back 110-meter championships for Foster in 2015 and 2016.
Thanks to his exploits, St. Francis finished tied for sixth in the final Division III standings with Esperanza and Servite with 25 points.
As for Barnett, the Village Christian youngster was a force to be reckoned with on Saturday and shed any doubt that may have been attached due to her placement in Division IV.
Barnett opened the day with a championship in the Division 1,600-meter run with a personal record time of 4 minutes, 46.77 seconds, which beat her previous best of 4:52 and was easily ahead of runner-up and friend Audrey Suarez (4:54.40) of Mayfied Senior.
“This has given me so much confidence for the few races I have left,” Barnett said. “I’m only a freshman and to run alongside some of the best sophomores, juniors and seniors in Southern California is my privilege.”
Barnett’s mark of 4:46.77 ended up being the third-best of any runner across four divisions and placed ahead of runners from powerhouses such as Great Oak.
In the nightcap, Barnett crushed the competition in the Division IV 3,200 race with a blazing time of 10:27.82, which was well ahead of second-place Emily Donahue (10:56.46) of Santa Ynez.
Barnett’s time blasted her previous-best of 10:40 and was on par with upper-division titans as she placed fourth overall.
As for Masters qualifiers, Crescenta Valley boasts a pair in FitzGerald and Allahverdian.
FitzGerald, the back-to-back All-Area Boys’ Cross-Country Runner of the Year, is making his furthest track advancement after finishing third in the Division I 1,600-meter championships in a personal-best mark of 4:14.46. The mark was the 10th-best of any runner and earned him a spot to Masters.
“To advance means a lot because I’ve been through a lot this season,” FitzGerald said. “It’s been a tough year, but to make it to Masters is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Allahverdian competed in the Division I 3,200 championships and took sixth in 9:08.21. Though he finished a bit off his personal best of 9:04, Allahverdian still finished seventh overall and is heading to Masters.
“It’s just amazing to get to Masters because I never thought I’d get this far,” Allahverdian said. “I mean last year, I didn’t even make it to CIF prelims. This is great.”
Crescenta Valley sophomore Dylan Wilbur ended his season Saturday as he placed eighth in the Division I 1,600 prelims with a mark of 4:26.73.
St. Francis also saw a pair of seniors cap nice careers as Blake Howard finished fifth in the Division III pole vault in 13 feet, while Andrew Monarrez earned eighth in the Division III long jump in 20-7 1/2.
Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy sophomore Lauren Bolte competed in the Division IV 400-meter dash and placed ninth with a time of 60.19.
