Orange County Boys’ Championships : Dancy Excels; Canyon Takes Title

William Dancy of Santa Ana Valley saw it coming.

He said he knew that the Orange County Boys’ Track and Field Championships Saturday at Mission Viejo High School would be a place to showcase his talents.

“Last week at Canyon, I was thinking about Saturday,” Dancy said.

On Saturday, Dancy went from looking ahead to looking back as he outdistanced everyone in three events to be voted athlete of the meet by the coaches.

Dancy, a junior, finished first in the long jump with a mark of 22-feet 1/2-inch, first in the 100 meters with a time of 11.3 seconds and first in the 200 meters with a time of 22.10.

“He’s just a talented kid,” Santa Ana Valley Coach George Payan said. “He hasn’t reached his potential yet. He’s capable of jumping 24 feet.”

Noble Franklin, Dancy’s personal coach, said, “He’s made a name in the long jump. Now he knows he can sprint.”

Dancy may have been the best individual, but Canyon had enough second-bests to finish as the best team.

Canyon had only one first-place finish--Bret Schultz in the 1,600 meters--but it had four second-place finishes, two thirds and a fourth to win the championship with 61 points.

“I tell the kids: ‘It’s not who wins, it’s the third-place finishes that count,’ ” Canyon Coach Les Owens said. “Schultz is a standout star, but the rest of the kids are about the same.”

Schultz’s victory in 4:20.18 was just four-hundredths of a second ahead of Dana Hills’ Steve Niednagel.

The 3,200 meters also produced a tight race. Jim Geerlings the defending Southern Section 3-A 1,600-meter champion from Newport Harbor, won in 9:28.6, edging Santa Ana Valley’s Jim Rodriguez (9:28.9).

Mission Viejo finished second in the meet with 59 points and Capistrano Valley third with 51.

Owens downplayed the importance of being named Orange County champion, in part because 28 of the 60 Orange County schools did not participate.

“There were some people who weren’t here,” Owens said. “This meet is not as important as the Villa Park (dual) meet. This is nice, but . . . “

In the 300-meter hurdles, Anthony Hale of Garden Grove took first with a time of 29.57. Mater Dei’s George Lynch, who won the 110 hurdles (14.96), finished second in the 300 hurdles (40.27). Rick Fratus of Capistrano Valley finished third in both the 300 hurdles (40.98) and the 110 hurdles (15.69).

El Toro’s Rob Boldt won the triple jump with a mark of 45-3 and finished second to Dancy in the long jump (21-4 1/2).

Newport Harbor’s R.W. Henson and Ocean View’s Ray Dirling tied in the pole vault with the bar at 14-6, but Henson was awarded the victory because he had fewer misses.

It was a similar situation in the high jump, in which Western’s Andy Lobpries received the nod over Mission Viejo’s Eric Pryce because Lobpries had fewer misses.