Tologs win two Sunshine League titles, boast eight CIF advancers

With a stated goal of advancing as many individual athletes as far as possible, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy track and field team enjoyed a successful afternoon Thursday at the Sunshine League championships at Occidental College.

The Tologs won two league crowns and qualified eight entrants to the CIF Southern Section Division IV prelims, while posting a top-three team finish in the league standings.

“We took third overall in league, which is fine,” said Flintridge Sacred Heart 14-year Coach Eddie Gorton. “We thought we were going to get second, but our real goal was to get as many athletes as we could beyond today.”

The 2015 league champion Tologs finished runner-up to Immaculate Heart in team competitions and placed fourth at Thursday’s league finals with 41 points, which trailed Immaculate Heart (114.50), Marlborough (69) and Notre Dame Academy (52).

Perhaps the biggest day locally belonged to senior Holly MacVaugh, who is a former All-Area girls’ tennis player, as well.

The two-sport star won the 100-meter hurdles in 16.10 seconds and was second in the 300 hurdles in 50.22, earning advancement to the Division IV prelims in both events. Also in the 300 hurdles, fellow senior Ella Gmelich punched her ticket by taking third in 51.14.

The Flintridge Sacred Heart 1,600-meter relay squad of Jenna Farac, Franny Cross, Bobbie Byrne and Kam Stewart also captured a victory in a mark not available at time of publication.

Byrne, who qualified in three events, also advanced in the 400-meter run by taking third in 59.59, while Cross also took third in the high jump with a mark of 4 feet, 10 inches.

Freshman Kelly Carney continued her impressive season by setting a school record in the triple jump with a mark of 33-6, which netted her third in league and continued her season into prelims.

The Flintridge Sacred Heart 4x100-meter relay team of Stewart, Byrne, Jillian Willis and Olivia Mathews also advanced by placing third in 52.53.

While she missed the cut, Flintridge Sacred Heart sophomore Meaghan De La Torre earned third place in the pole vault with a height of 6 feet.

The CIF Southern Section Division IV prelims will be held at Carpinteria High on May 14.

“I’m not sure I like that we have two weeks off until then, but it is nice to have a break,” Gorton said. “That’s what we’ll be focusing on for the next two weeks.”