Marina’s Gordon leads way at CIF-SS finals

Local athletes turned in outstanding performances and several advanced in the postseason after Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championships.

The divisional finals meet was held at Cerritos College in Norwalk.

Marina senior Jett Gordon won the boys’ Division 2 pole vault title with a mark of 17 feet, 2 inches, which was the top clearance of the day in any division.

Two other local athletes finished runner-up to event titles: in girls’ Division 1, Huntington Beach senior Cassie Durgy was second (2 minutes, 11.20 seconds in the 800 meters, and Kristian Crabb, also at senior at Huntington Beach, was second (55-8) in the boys’ Division 1 shot put.

In the girls’ Division 1 team standings, Huntington Beach placed 23rd and Fountain Valley 36th in a division won by Great Oak. In the boys’ Division 1 team standings, Huntington was 20th, Edison 32nd and Fountain Valley 35th in a division also won by Great Oak.

Marina placed seventh in Division 2, which was won by Woodbridge.

“The success that our boys’ team has received this year is due in part with the mindset our boys have had,” Marina Coach Carlos Castellanos said. “They put in the time because they knew that they had talented guys hungry to succeed and wanted to be considered one of the best teams around. There was a great combination of talent and work ethic, and having committed coaching with the vision to keep them focused. I’m proud of these guys.”

Gordon, Durgy and Crabb are three of five local athletes to advance to the CIF Masters Meet Friday at Cerritos College.

Gordon is the top seed in the boys’ pole vault in an event that also has Edison junior Michael Chadwick as the No. 14 seed. Durgy is the No. 5 seed in girls’ 800 meter run, and in the boys’ shot put, Crabb is the No. 11 seed and Marina junior Jake Arnold the No. 12 seed.

Gordon reached the CIF State meet last year and finished second in the pole vault.

“Jett winning the Division 2 crown is an amazing feat,” Marina Coach Carlos Castellanos said. “Being around the guy he is the most mellow guy around [and] he’s competitive because he loves the sport. If there were no awards involved, he’d still be pushing himself to get the state record because that’s the type of guy he is. He’s a special athlete and he definitely deserves the accolades he receives.

“Jake has done a great job this year. He’s been our top thrower since his freshmen year and this year he is the strongest and quickest he’s been. This is his first year qualifying for Masters and he’s excited and I’m excited for him. We can’t wait for Friday to come.”

The Masters Meet field events competition starts at 4:30 p.m. Running events start at 6 p.m.

The CIF Masters Meet is a qualifier for the CIF State Meet June 3-4 at Clovis Buchanan High.

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Girls

Division 1: 800 meter run (Cassie Durgy, Huntington Beach, 2:11.20, second); triple jump (Courtnee Moreno, Fountain Valley, 36-5, fifth).

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Boys

Division 1: 300 meter hurdles (Elias Ghazlani, Fountain Valley, 39.41, eighth); high jump (Jack Wiseman, Huntington Beach, 6-2, eighth); pole vault (Michael Chadwick, Edison, 14-6, fifth); triple jump (Dakari Barnett, Fountain Valley, 44-00.50, seventh); shotput (Kristian Crabb, Huntington Beach, 55-8, second);

Division 2: 4x100 meter relay (Marina: Michael Cunningham, Christian Parker, Cooper Malerstein, Alex Alvertos, 42.62, seventh); 300 meter hurdles (Noah Holmes, Marina, 51.56, ninth); pole vault (Jett Gordon, Marina, 17-2, champion); shotput (Kyle Tsu, Marina, 54-04.00, sixth); discus throw (Jake Arnold, Marina, 162-1, tie-fifth).

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michael.sciacca@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeSciacca