Marina Girls Forfeit Four Track Victories

The Marina High School girls’ track and field team has forfeited all four of its Sunset League victories because an ineligible athlete competed, Marina Coach Dick Degen said.

The athlete, a freshman shotputter and discus thrower, moved with her family from Utah to the Marina attendance area last June. The family moved again in February, to the Ocean View High School attendance area, but the student remained enrolled at Marina.

“We didn’t know they moved; apparently there was a miscommunication between the family and the school,” said Degen, whose team was 4-1 and tied for first with Ocean View and Huntington Beach after the last week of dual meet competition.

“The paper work didn’t get done, and it cost us a league title,” Degen said. Marina finished first in the league championships Friday night, but will end the season with an 0-5 league record. The ineligible athlete had been a member of the varsity, scoring three points for the Vikings this season.

Because track and field advances athletes to Southern Section competition as individuals, the six Marina team members and two relay teams that qualified for next week’s preliminaries by placing in the top three in their events Friday will not be affected.