The Preps : State Track and Field Championships : Edison’s Seven Qualifiers Lead County Teams in Preliminaries : Athletes Compete at Cerritos Today for Saturday’s Finals

Edison High School has seven athletes competing in the preliminaries of the State track and field championships today at Cerritos College, five more than any other Orange County track team.

The Edison seven are Leslee Briggs and Greg Thurston in the shot put, freshman Shelley Taylor in the 1,600 meters, Doug Nichols in the 800 and the 1,600-meter relay team of Nichols, Keniji Aaro, Matt Hart and Dave Baker.

To advance to Saturday night’s finals, athletes must either win their heat or have one of the next five-fastest times overall. Field events begin at 3 and running events at 5.

Here’s a look at the 26 county entrants, in the order of their events:

Boys’ 100 meters--San Clemente’s Tim Martin, who has a hand-timed best of 10.5 seconds and a wind-aided best of 10.61, is the only county entrant. Only a sophomore, Martin has improved steadily in getting out of the blocks. But he faces a great field including Hawthorne’s Curtis Conway, the Southern Section Masters champion at 100 and 200 meters.

Boys’ 800--Nichols has the second-fastest time in the state (1:51.94) after Carpinteria’s Coley Candaele (pronounced Can-dell). Candaele, who ran a state-leading 1:51.58 in winning the Masters 800 last Friday, was expected to drop the 800 in order to concentrate on the 1,600. But, according to Carpinteria Coach Van Latham, Candaele will double.

Does that spell double-trouble for Nichols? Possibly, though the Edison senior ran his best time last Friday despite the fact that one of his shoes came untied and flopped almost all the way off en route to the finish.

Boys’ 1,600--In one of the better county duels, Corona del Mar’s Eddie Lavelle (4:11.94) and Mater Dei’s Mike Nielsen (4:12.44) will battle to see who is the county leader at season’s end. The fast-improving Nielsen beat Lavelle at the Masters by more than a half-second. Candaele, though,with a best of 4:10.54, is favored.

Boys’ 3,200--Santa Ana Valley senior Jimmy Rodriguez, third in this event last year, has yet to improve on his best time (9:03.06) that he ran as a junior. But Rodriguez, who spent most of the early and mid-season running races 400 to 1,600 to improve his speed, has been known to surprise people at the end of the season. Race favorites? Probably Agoura’s Bryan Dameworth (9:03.62) and Thousand Oaks’ Mike Williamson (9:07.24).

Boys’ 300 intermediate hurdles--Woodbridge’s Louie Muniz barely made it to the State meet; he was the final qualifier at the Masters meet. There, Muniz ran his best time: 38.76. He has the 14th fastest time among those entered.

Boys’ shotput--Esperanza’s Chuck Underwood (56-feet-11) and Edison’s Thurston (55-9 1/2) will face one of the country’s best high school shotputters, Fallbrook junior Brent Noon (69-8 1/4).

Boys’ triple jump--In April, Magnolia’s Phouphet Singbandith came oh-so-close to breaking Ken Williams’ county record (50-3 1/2) with a leap of 50-3. But Singbandith has yet to improve on that performance, although this could be the night.

Boys’ 1,600 relay--The Edison foursome has been the school’s biggest surprise. Aaro, an exchange student from Japan, Hart, Baker and Nichols have rapidly improved, running 3:16.92 last week. That time broke the 16-year-old school record by nearly three seconds.

Pole vault--Valencia’s Eric Whitcomb has the third-best leap in the state at 15-4, the mark with which he won the Masters title. Irvine’s Sean Rogan (14-4) also will compete.

Girls’ 400--Westminster senior Shelly Tochluk has vastly improved since what she calls a “disastrous” junior year. Tochluk ran a 55.77 for third last week, the fifth-fastest time in county history.

Girls’ 800--Capistrano Valley’s Laurinda Mulhaupt ran a lifetime best 2:13.61 in placing third at the Masters. Edison’s Taylor, who placed second in 2:13.10, will drop the event in order to concentrate on the 1,600. With that, alternate Janette Reed of Foothill (2:18.48) moves into the lineup.

Girls’ 1,600--In only her first year of competitive running, Taylor has been impressive. Her finishing kick has devastated opponents the past three weeks, although her best time (4:59.25) is well behind state-leader Kira Jorgensen of Rancho Buena Vista (4:53.66), and South Hills’ Karen Hecox (4:53.94), whom Taylor out-kicked last week.

Girls’ 3,200--Katella’s Martha Pinto is only a sophomore, but her time (10:59.87) is sixth-fastest in the state. Montebello’s Rayna Cervantes is the state leader at 10:32.89.

Girls’ 300 intermediate hurdles--Sonora’s Shannon Bryant has the 16th fastest time (44.97) among those entered tonight.

Girls’ shotput--Edison’s Briggs (41-11 1/2) and Irvine’s Bev Oden (41-3) will compete in tonight’s preliminaries--led by Bakersfield’s Melissa Weis, the nation’s leader at 47-10 1/2. After the competition, Briggs and Oden plan to rush to Golden West College for the Orange County Volleyball Coaches all-star match, which starts at 6 p.m.

Girls’ discus--Canyon’s Allison Franke, the three-time defending Masters champion, has the state’s third-best mark this season (160-6). But Franke will face her longtime rivals, Bakersfield’s Weis, the defending champion who has thrown 165-4, and state-leader Candy Roberts of Don Lugo (167-8).

Girls’ long jump--Canyon’s Franke will compete, as will Melissa McDonald, a Mater Dei sophomore, and Mission Viejo’s Allison Axtell.

Girls’ high jump--El Dorado’s Lori Svoboda almost cleared 6-0 last week in winning her third Masters title at 5-10. Svoboda, who leaped a best of 5-10 3/4 this season, wants to break the county record of 6-0 set by Anaheim’s Yleana Carrasco in 1985. Foothill’s Elizabeth Bauer, with a best of 5-6, also will compete.