THE PREPS : Track Roundup : Corona del Mar Stays Ahead of Saddleback at the End

Leading by just one point going into the final event, Corona del Mar High School outran Saddleback in the boys’ 1,600-meter relay to give the Sea Kings a 69-63 Sea View League victory Thursday at Saddleback.

The Sea King foursome of Winston Cheng, Pat Callaghan, Eddie Lavelle and Mark Barnum edged Saddleback by a second, winning in 3 minutes 32.4 seconds to Saddleback’s 3:33.4.

The victory moves Corona del Mar (3-0 in league meets) into sole possession of first place, though Saddleback (2-1) can win the league championship if it wins the league finals May 4 at Rancho Santiago College.

Along with helping the 1,600 relay, Lavelle, who Wednesday signed a national letter of intent to attend Notre Dame in the fall, won the 3,200 (9:53) and the 800 (2:00.4) for Corona del Mar. And before the 1,600 relay, Barnum won the open 400 in 51.5 and the 200 in 23.1.

For Saddleback, Chris Tavares won the triple jump (41-10) and the 110-meter high hurdles (15.5), and Shawn Flaherty won the shotput (49-8) and the discus (147-7).

In Sea View League girls’ track and field:

Tustin 75 1/2, Newport Harbor 51 1/2--Christina Garner won the shotput with a throw of 36-6 1/2 for the Tillers at Tustin.

In Angelus League boys’ track and field:

Mater Dei 107, St. Paul 16--Tino Chavez won the high jump (5-8), the pole vault (12-0) and the long jump (19-11) to lead the Monarchs at home. Mike Nielsen helped Mater Dei with victories in the mile (4:30.3) and two mile (9:44.1).

In Angelus League girls’ track and field:

Mater Dei 99, St. Paul 20--Melissa McDonald won the 440 (61.0), the long jump (17-7), the 220 (26.9) and the high jump (5-2).

In Century League boys’ track and field:

Villa Park 80 1/3, Canyon 55 2/3--Gary Bladow won the 100-yard dash (10.4) and the long jump (20-8), and Marc Sleenhof won the mile (4:41) and the two mile (10:21) to lead Villa Park at home.

Gerad Bryant won the 220 (23.2) and the 440 (52.1), and ran a leg on the winning mile relay team for Canyon.

In Empire League boys’ track and field:

Loara 95, Cypress 40--Greg Ramsey won the high jump (6-2), the triple jump (40-5), the 330-yard intermediate hurdles (43.4) and the 120-yard high hurdles (15.5) to lead Loara at home.

Esperanza 68, Katella 68--Chris Yedinak of Katella won the 100-yard dash (10.6) and the 220 (23.8), and Chris Molkoy won the 110 high hurdles (16.7) and the 330 intermediate hurdles (42.0) to lead Katella.

Chuck Underwood won the shotput (51-2), and Mark Kinney took second (50-3 1/4) for Esperanza.

In Empire League girls’ track and field:

Loara 93, Cypress 25--Kelly Graton won the high jump (5-0), the 110 low hurdles (16.2) and the 330 hurdles (51.5) to lead Loara at home. Leila Campbell won the 100-yard dash (11.9) and the 220 (27.5) to help the Saxons.

Esperanza 77, Katella 50--Martha Pinto won the mile (5:41.5) and the two mile (12:16) to lead Katella at home.

In Garden Grove League boys’ track and field:

Kennedy 66, Garden Grove 61--Charlie Cummings won the triple jump (44-3 1/2) and long jump (21-3 1/3) for the Fighting Irish at Kennedy. Mike Moore won the 100-yard dash (10.1) for Kennedy.

In Olympic League boys’ track and field:

Orange Lutheran 96, Ontario Christian 28--Jason Neben won the long jump (21-10) and the triple jump (40-3), and Gene Rivera won the shotput (45-6 1/2) and the discus (144-5 1/2) to lead the Lancers (2-1) at home. Gil Greene won the 100-meter dash (11.6) and the 200 (24.1) to help the Lancers.

In Olympic League girls’ track and field:

Orange Lutheran 107, Ontario Christian 5--Orange Lutheran swept all 15 events, though Ontario Christian scored points with a second place in the 200, and third places in the triple jump and the 400. Freshman Kara Stephens won the shotput (29-8) and the discus (95-9 1/2), and Rene Wright won the 100-meter low hurdles (18.2) and the 200 (28.6) to lead the Lancers.

In Orange League boys’ track and field:

Savanna 75, Western 60--Dariel Whipple won the 100-yard dash (9.8) the 220 (23.2) and the long jump (22-2) for Western.

In Orange League girls’ track and field:

Savanna 102, Western 24--Savanna won all but two of the 15 events. Western’s Jennifer Yu won the discus (118-9 1/2) and Thuy Tran, in her first attempt at the event, won the triple jump (31-9 1/2).

In South Coast League boys’ track and field:

San Clemente 100, El Toro 36--Tim Martin won the 100-meter dash (11.0) and the 200 (23.1) to lead San Clemente at El Toro.

In Sunset League boys’ track and field:

Edison 74, Marina 57--Greg Thurston won the shotput (52-2) to lead Edison at Marina.

In Sunset League girls’ track and field:

Marina 64, Edison 63--Jennifer Close won the high jump (5-0), the long jump (16-1), the triple jump (34-0 1/4) and took second in the 100-meter low hurdles (17.0) to lead Marina at Edison. Suzie Greganic set a school record of 38-4 in the shotput for Marina.