Hawthorne in Running for 3rd State Track Crown

It’s pretty easy to pick out Kye Courtney in a crowd. Simply find the man wearing the Hawthorne High School shirt that has five red numbers etched above the left pocket.

Those numbers--81, 82, 84, 86 and 87--signify the years the Cougars have won boys state track championships. They announce how successful the program has been under Courtney’s reign.

On Saturday afternoon, the Cougars embarked on their quest for a third straight state crown at Hanford Rant’s Stadium at Gahr High in Cerritos in the Southern Section 4-A preliminaries.

Nine Hawthorne athletes and three relay teams qualified for Saturday’s finals at Cerritos College. In addition, Illiana Mazingo of the girls’ team qualified in three events. Marcus Purifoy of Inglewood qualified in the 300 intermediate hurdles.

Travis Hanna (48.46) and teammate Chris Alexander (49.51) qualified in the 400 meters for Hawthorne. In the 100-meter heats, Curtis Conway (11.09) and Leroy Thomas (11.34) also qualified.