Prep Track and Field : Edison Boys, Santa Ana Valley Girls Win Tustin Relays

Doug Nichols led two Edison High School relay teams to victory Saturday as the Chargers won the boys’ team championship in the 30th annual Tustin Relays at Rancho Santiago College.

Nichols turned in anchor legs of 49.5 in the 4x400-meter relay and 1:55 in the 4x800-meter relay in winning efforts that gave Edison 45 points and the championship. West Covina was second with 34 points and Marina third with 32.

In the girls’ competition, Santa Ana Valley won three relay races to win the championship with 45 points. El Toro was second with 36 points followed by Irvine with 32 points.

Nichols, the three-time Sunset League 400-meter champion, held off a strong challenge from Corona del Mar’s Eddie Lavelle to anchor the 4x800-meter relay victory. The Chargers’ winning time was 7:53.7, the second fastest ever in the Tustin Relays event and the ninth-best mark all-time in Orange County.

Corona del Mar was second in 7:54.7, the third fastest in meet history and 11th best mark ever in the county. Mater Dei came in third in 8:02.6.

“With 300 meters to go, Eddie and I were running side-to-side,” said Nichols. “I knew that if I let Eddie pass me, I wouldn’t win the event, so I just hung right in there and pulled away from him.”

Lavelle, who started his anchor leg a close second behind Edison, turned in a 1:54.7 mark.

Later, Nichols anchored the win in the 1,600-meter relay, which Edison ran in 3:22.2. Nichols, who was joined by Rick Loringer, Ken Arao and Dave Baker in the 4x800-meter triumph, got help from Arao, Baker and Matt Hart in the 4x400-meter event.

Two of the three Santa Ana Valley wins in the girls’ competition, the 400 and 800 meters, came from the quartet of Yvonne Williams, Alida Dixon, Shondra Rose and Brenda Robinson.

In the 800 relay, the Falcons’ winning time of 1:45.8 was the fourth fastest in meet history. San Marcos and Irvine tied for second at 1:46.5, the fifth best mark in the Tustin event.

The Falcons’ 400 relay time was 49.9. Irvine was second at 50.2 and San Marcos came in third at 50.4.

Santa Ana Valley’s other winning relay team--the Orosco sisters, Veronica and Eva, and Maria Vargas and Teresa Beltran--won the 4x1,600-meter relay in 21:58.7. Huntington Beach was second in 22:14.7 and Newport Harbor third in 22:24.0.

“Everyone ran within themselves and we had a lot of personal records,” Santa Ana Valley Coach George Payan said.

In the Valencia Invitational track meet:

Woodbridge was a double winner as the boys’ and girls’ teams placed first. Senior Louie Muniz won the 300-meter hurdles (39.96), the 110-meter high hurdles (15.16), placed second in the long jump (21-4 3/4) and ran a leg on the winning mile relay team (3:28.15) to help Woodbridge score 87 points. Valencia, led by pole vaulter Eric Whitcomb (15-1), placed second with 60 points.

In the girls’ division, Kaci Keffer won the 300-meter low hurdles (46.58) as Woodbridge scored 74 points. Elizabeth Baur won the high jump (5-6) and Janette Reed won the 800 (2:21.38) for Foothill, which finished sixth with 32 points.