Boys’ Track : Aztecs Can’t Wait for the News: Esperanza Comes Away With 3-A Title

The Southern Section track and field championships were long over, and the crowd of 4,000 had deserted the Cerritos College stadium when it dawned on Al Britt. The Esperanza High School boys’ track team had won the 3-A title.

It was such an unlikely prospect that there was not a single Aztec athlete left in the stadium to accept the championship plaque. Britt, Esperanza coach, sent an assistant coach to race after triple jumper Clayton Tharrington, who had won with a leap of 46 feet 8 1/2 inches and was headed out to the parking lot, to collect the plaque.

Esperanza has a long history of Southern Section championships in football and baseball, but this was the school’s first track title.

Of the 13 athletes Esperanza had entered in the finals Saturday, six were sophomores and one was a freshman. This, too, helped make it unlikely that Esperanza could actually win the team championship.

But Esperanza’s kiddie corps came through. The Aztecs scored 52 points in seven events and won the title going away, thanks to:

--Tharrington’s victory in the triple jump.

--A victory in the shotput by Chuck Underwood, a senior who qualified for Friday’s Masters meet with a 56-9 1/4 mark.

--A victory in the 400 meters by sophomore Roshawn Sims in 49.62 seconds. Sims also was fourth in the 200 in 22.13.

--A third-place finish in the pole vault by sophomore Trevor Lycett (13-6).

--A second-place finish in the 4 x 1,600 relay (3:22.68) and a fourth-place finish in the 4 x 100 relay (43.56).

Britt was at once delighted and stunned.

“All the kids had gone home,” he said. “A lot of our points came after the meet was over. The field events ran so late. No one knew.”

He said he would have to call his athletes to let them in on the good news Saturday night.

“I might have to let them know we won. They’ll read it in the paper and say, ‘Really?’ ”

Earlier Saturday, San Clemente sophomore Tim Martin hunkered down in the starting blocks surrounded by sprinters of some renown for the 4-A 100 meters.

The field included Curtis Conway of Hawthorne, who will play quarterback at USC next fall; Andre Green of Long Beach Poly, an up-and-coming junior; junior Chris Alexander of Hawthorne, and Erik Allen, a sophomore at Hawthorne.

Martin was even with the Hawthorne trio and Green as the five seemed to match strides for the first 40 meters.

Conway pulled away for the victory in a wind-aided 10.44. Green was second in 10.61, followed by Alexander in 10.62.

Martin ran 10.68 for fourth, just ahead of Allen’s 10.71.

Martin qualified for the Masters meet where he will face the same four runners plus four others, all trying to advance to the state meet. He also will be an alternate in the 200. He was fifth in the 200 in 21.96. Conway ran 21.25 for an impressive double victory.

Things were not so clear-cut in the 3-A 3,200. Through the mile mark, any one of the nine runners seemed to be poised to take the lead. A different runner had led each lap. But Jimmy Rodriguez of Santa Ana Valley was unwilling to share the lead with anyone.

He bolted from the pack and buried a classy field in 9:12.28.

Mike Nielsen of Mater Dei waged a spirited duel with Angel Martinez of San Gabriel for second. Martinez passed Nielsen going down the backstretch on the final lap. Nielsen waited going around the curve, then blew past him for second in a personal-best 9:15.62. Martinez was third in 9:17.16. Nielsen also finished third in the 1,600.

Rodriguez, Nielsen and Martinez qualified for the Masters meet.

Notes

Other county qualifiers for the Masters meet included: Eric Whitcomb of Valencia, second in the 2-A pole vault (14-6), and Brian Ziller of Trabuco Hills, Sean Rogan of Irvine, Josh Herndon of University and Brad Williams of Servite in the pole vault. . . . Louie Muniz of Woodbridge qualified in the 300 intermediate hurdles (38.88). . . . Phouphet Singbandith of Magnolia was second in the 2-A long jump and triple jump to Russell White of Crespi and will advance. . . . Doug Nichols of Edison was second in the 4-A 800 in 1:52.15, a personal best. Mike Terry, a freshman from El Modena, won the 3-A 800 in 1:55.17 but did not advance. . . . Joe White of Capistrano Valley was second in the 4-A 400 in 48.89. . . . Andy Marrone of Dana Hills was the final qualifier in the discus with a throw of 163-11. . . . Eddie Lavelle and Greg Shryock of Corona del Mar and Mike Nielsen of Mater Dei advanced in the 1,600 meters.