MT. SAC TRACK AND FIELD RELAYS : THE PREPS : Esperanza’s Parlin Takes It Easy--Except in Ring--Wins Shotput, Discus

Dressed in faded blue cotton shorts and chatting casually with his opponents, Esperanza High School senior Mark Parlin appeared to be his low-key self Saturday at the 33rd Mt. San Antonio Relays.

It wasn’t until he stepped into the shotput and discus rings that you knew he was ready for business.

Parlin won both events, the first to win both weight events since Kami Keshmiri, the national record-holder in the discus, did it in 1987.

Parlin’s marks of 64 feet 7 3/4 inches in the shot and 177-5 in the discus were not close to career bests, but Esperanza throwing coach Bill Pendleton said that was probably because of an increase in weight training last week. Parlin, who competed in the Arcadia Invitational last Saturday, eased off the weights before that meet.

“We can’t back off every week,” Pendleton said.

Katella’s Kevin Carlson looked equally relaxed during the high jump competition, lounging in a beach chair between attempts. Carlson, the defending state champion, won the event at 6-10. He then came close to equaling his career best and county record of 7 feet, but he nicked the bar with his calf.

Saddleback, which won the Orange County boys’ championship a week ago, had its best performance in the 400-meter relay, anchored by Jarrett Murrell. The Roadrunners placed second in their heat in 42.62, a step behind Crenshaw (42.43). Saddleback’s time was third-fastest of the day after Compton (42.32) and Crenshaw.

Other top performances by Orange County athletes:

J.R. Sauni of Orange was second to Parlin in the discus at 162-8.

Sunny Hills’ Danielle Brown placed second in the long jump with a leap of 17-7. Brown won the triple jump (37-9 1/2) Friday night.

In the girls’ invitational high jump, Darci Morrison of Laguna Hills was second at 5-2. El Modena’s Brian Valdez was fourth in the triple jump (45-7 1/2).

El Modena’s Gary Van Sluis and Marina’s Mark Crowley cleared 13-0 in the pole vault, but Van Sluis finished third and Crowley tied for fourth on the basis of fewer misses.

Adrian Brown led Huntington Beach to victory in the shuttle hurdle relay--the Oilers won in 1:02.46--and later placed third in the 110-meter high hurdles in 14.75, the same as second-place finisher Demond Smith of Hawthorne. Keith Williams of Escondido won the event in 14.46.

El Modena sophomore Kristina Dahlberg was third in the 1,500 in 4:42.97.

Mater Dei’s Rick Ellis sprinted to a third-place finish in the boys’ 100 in 10.95 seconds, then sprinted to his car. Ellis, the left fielder on the Monarch baseball team, had to get back to Mater Dei for a game against Loyola.

Mater Dei won, 10-5, but Ellis didn’t get to the game until the third inning and was hitless in two at-bats.