Athletes Hoping to Clear Hurdle at Masters on Way to CIF State Meet : Track: Top five finishers in each event Friday at Cerritos advance to next week’s preliminaries.

The Masters track and field meet, featuring the Southern Section’s best athletes trying to qualify for next week’s CIF State meet, will be held Friday at Cerritos College. Field events start at 5:30; running events at 7.

Unlike last week’s unwieldy divisional championships, this week’s meet is pretty straightforward. The top five finishers in each event advance to the State preliminaries next Friday at Cerritos.

A closer look at the meet:

BOYS’ SPRINTS

The big question in the 100 and 200 meters is whether anyone can derail unbeaten Ricky Carrigan of Compton. Tim Martin of San Clemente (in the 100) and Carrigan’s teammate, Hervey Edwards (200), have the best shots. Martin ran to an Orange County record 10.56 seconds in the 4-A final but was soundly beaten by Carrigan, who ran 10.48. In the 200, Martin ran a personal-best 21.50, but he and Edwards (20.47) trailed Carrigan (21.30).

Last week, Roshawn Sims of Esperanza improved his personal best in the 400 to 48.08, but lost his section-leadership to Edwards, who ran 47.55.

“I still want 47 seconds,” Sims said. “Actually, I want to break 47. Mentally, I should be able to do it.”

Aaron Taub of Foothill (48.75 last week) and Devon Edwards of Valencia (48.88) also qualified.

BOYS’ DISTANCES

Mike Terry of El Modena has beaten Louie Quintana of Arroyo Grande, the national leader at 800, in consecutive weeks. But can he complete the hat trick?

“Last week did a lot for my confidence,” Terry said. “If I stay close, I feel pretty confident. I think I can beat anyone in the nation.”

In winning the 3-A title, Terry lowered his personal record to 1:52.95. Quintana has run 1:50.2.

Dan Niednagel of Dana Hills (1:54.75) and Mike Hancock of Newport Harbor (1:55.87) also qualified.

Quintana’s winning 1,600 time of 4:09.28 was seven seconds better than that of anyone else, and he should win easily. Mike Bernstein of Garden Grove (4:20.28) is the only county qualifier.

BOYS’ HURDLES

Adrian Brown of Huntington Beach, Charlie Davidson of Saddleback and Brent Busch of Newport Harbor had dueled all season long in the 110 high hurdles. Brown came away the victor in a wind-aided 14.34 in last week’s 3-A finals.

Greg Muniz of Woodbridge set a personal best of 38.96 in the 300 intermediate hurdles last week. It’s probably not fast enough to catch Desmond Smith of Hawthorne (37.97).

BOYS’ RELAYS

Always an unpredictable race, the 1,600-meter relay features teams from Foothill (3:19.83) and Valencia (3:19.59). Compton Centennial had the fastest time last week (3:16.04).

BOYS’ JUMPS

Kevin Carlson of Katella, the state champion and county record holder at 7 feet, missed three times at that height last week and settled for a victory at 6-10. Thomas Clayton of Tustin, better known as a basketball player but showing he’s a pretty fair high jumper, placed third behind Carlson with a leap of 6-6.

Other competition for Carlson could come from Avery Anderson of Riverside North (6-8) and Tim Ross of Royal (6-8).

Vince Church of Kennedy (47-6 1/2) qualified in the triple jump.

BOYS’ THROWS

Friday’s meet offers Mark Parlin of Esperanza a chance to redeem himself after a disappointing second-place finish in the discus last week. The good news was Parlin set a personal best by more than a foot and broke the 3-A meet record with his 66-foot 7 1/2-inch shotput last week. In absence of close competition in the shot, Parlin is hoping for a county record 70-foot put.

J.R. Sauni of Orange (160-5) and Paul Richard of Valencia (160-0) also qualified in the discus.

Richard (54-10 1/4), Chris Santori of Tustin (54-6 1/4) and Tony Mancuso of Newport Harbor (53-9 1/2) also qualified in the shotput.

GIRLS’ SPRINTS

The names to know here are: Marion Jones, Marion Jones, Marion Jones. Last week, the sophomore from Rio Mesa in Oxnard set section records in the 100 (11.30), 200 (23.06) and 400 (52.91). Cavetra Mitchell of Los Alamitos qualified in the 100 (12.08) and 200 (25.03).

GIRLS’ DISTANCES

The 3,200 could be the race of the meet. Last week, five runners bettered 11 minutes, led by Deena Drossin of Agoura (10:40.27). Amber Parkinson of Orange Lutheran (10:49.87), Carrie Garritson of Sunny Hills (10:51.68), Maribella Aparicio of Fillmore (10:52.26) and Martha Pinto of Katella (10:53.60) were the others under 11 minutes.

Parkinson is a sophomore competing for the first time this year. Garritson, a veteran of road racing, is a freshman. Tanja Brix of University (11:04.36) also qualified.

Drossin also won the 1,600, soundly beating Shelley Taylor of Edison, 4:53.86 to 4:56.29. Parkinson (5:00.82), Kristina Dahlberg of El Modena (5:04.99) and Heather Killeen of Valencia (5:06.02) also qualified in the 1,600.

Taylor (2:12.68), Christie Engesser of Ocean View (2:15.13) and Jennifer Gillis of Irvine (2:15.78) qualified in the 800.

GIRLS’ HURDLES

Elinor Tolson of Fountain Valley qualified in the 100- (14.65) and 300-meter low hurdles (43.85). Lisa Knott of Sonora (45.36) also qualified in the 300.

GIRLS’ RELAYS

There were no county teams that advanced.

GIRLS’ JUMPS

It’s a lock. Barring earthquake, flood, injury or a really bad day, Juliana Yendork of Walnut will win the triple jump. Last week, she jumped 43-6, breaking the national record by 6 1/2 inches. It’s the best mark in the U.S. this year--open and college included.

Melissa McDonald of Mater Dei (38-1 1/2), Tammy Graham of Mission Viejo (36-4 1/2) and Danielle Brown of Sunny Hills (35-11) also qualified.

McDonald (18-0 1/2), Brown (18-0 1/2) and Heather Sterlin of Mission Viejo (17-4 3/4) qualified in the high jump.

McDonald (5-5), Beth Byron of Villa Park (5-6) and Carrie Hoagland of Canyon (5-4) will compete in the high jump.

GIRLS’ THROWS

Lisa Tamamasui of Westminster (40-2) and Nicole Beauregard of Valencia (39-3 1/2) qualified in the shotput. Gina Heads of Newport Harbor (128-4) and Melanie Dear of Garden Grove (127-8) advanced in the discus.