Gilford Leads Hawthorne Girls, but Boys Struggle

It was an up-and-down Saturday for Hawthorne High at the Southern Section 4-A Division track and field preliminaries at Gahr High.

Freshman Jalauna Gilford won the girls’ 400-meter race in 57.28 seconds. She also anchored the Cougars’ 1,600-meter relay team, which had the fastest time (3 minutes, 52.88 seconds).

In seven different events, the Hawthorne girls earned trips to Friday’s Southern Section divisional finals.

But the boys’ team struggled. Chris Alexander, who had a time of 11.16 in the 100-meter race to finish fifth, was the only member to qualify for the finals in any sprint event.

And the Cougars’ 1,600-meter relay team, which won at last year’s state meet, failed to advance to the Southern Section finals. Their 4x100-meter relay team, anchored by Alexander, had the seventh-best time (42.67) to squeak into the finals. The top nine finishers in each event qualified.

The poor showing in the sprints and relays dealt a blow to Hawthorne’s hopes for a fourth consecutive state title. This season, the baton appears to be is in the girls’ hands.

Gilford, who won last week’s Bay League title in the 400 in 57.97, said that she wasn’t nervous going into her first individual postseason race.

“I was just calm,” she said. “I had a lot of confidence coming in.”

The Cougars won their heat in the first event, the girls’ 400-meter relay. Hawthorne’s time of 47.69 was second only to Muir’s 47.07. Palos Verdes ran 4:01.53 to easily win their heat in the 1,600-meter relay and place fifth.

Junior Dawn Hendrickson, a transfer from San Clemente, anchored the Sea Kings’ 1,600-meter relay team, with Nicole Dunn, Monica Keele and Tracy Maye leading the way. A month ago, Hendrickson competed in only the triple jump and long jump.

Palos Verdes was short on relay runners, Hendrickson said. “So, about three or four weeks ago, they said, ‘Does anyone want to run (the 1,600-meter relay)?’ ” she said.

“I was having a poor day jumping, so I said, ‘I guess I will.’ I ended up having a pretty good time, and they said, ‘Why don’t you work out with us?’ ”

Torrance was the only South Bay team to qualify in field events. Jennifer Tully had the day’s second-best long jump at 18-feet, 2 inches and teammate Lisa Misipeka was fifth in the shot put at 36-8 1/2.

Palos Verdes had three individuals qualify: Nancy Heap in the 3,200, Goss Lindsey in the 1,600 and Aaron Marlowe-Rogers in the 800.