PREP TRACK ROUNDUP : Love Is Grand, Running Two Personal Bests

Mike Love of Katella was smiling after running at the first Trabuco Hills Track and Field Invitational at Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo Saturday.

He had reason to. Love, a junior, set personal bests in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. And he was running without pain.

Love, who missed last track season because of a stress fracture, placed fourth in the invitational 1,600 in 4 minutes 22 seconds. Rolling Hills Estates Peninsula’s Goss Lindsey, the boys’ athlete of the meet, won in 4:15.74, followed by Simi Valley’s Doran Valdez (4:20.59) and Hart’s Paul De La Cerda (4:21.12). Laguna Hills’ Chris Lynch, who has been recovering from the flu, was fifth in 4:22.6.

In the 3,200, Love came back to place third in a strong 9:29.4. Lindsey won in 9:16.4.

Love’s previous bests were 4:32 and 9:46.

“My leg feels real good,” said Love, who said he is suffering from tendinitis and not a recurrence of the stress fracture. “I knew I was going to be running against some good people today in the 3,200 and I was just hoping to stay in it.”

Love made his move in the hotly contested 3,200 with less than two laps remaining, bolting from fifth to third.

“I just stayed with the pack,” he said. “I was surprised with the fast pace because going into the race, I really didn’t know who many of those guys were.”

That sentiment was probably echoed by several Orange County athletes; the invitational drew top performers from both in and outside the county. Thousand Oaks’ junior sprinter, Marion Jones, the girls’ national leader in the 100, 200 and 400 last season, was impressive, winning the invitational 200, 400 and running legs on the 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

Jones, girls’ athlete of the meet, won the 200 in 23.96, her second fastest time this year, and ran an unofficial 53.6 split on the 1,600 relay, which finished second in 3:59.97 behind Hawthorne (3:56.53).

Mission Viejo’s team of Laurie Murphy, Amy Chris, Heather Sterlin and Andrea Dean was third in 4:03.32.

“I knew I’d have to go out fast since Hawthorne’s first leg was real fast,” Jones said. “My time was OK, but I would have been much happier with first place.”

Santa Ana Valley’s boys’ 1,600 relay team of Terry Mayers, Rylan Branch, Kimiko Bandy and Tony Davis won the invitational race in an impressive 3:20.95, defeating Alta Loma (3:21.29) and Dominguez (3:25.23). Davis, who also won the 400 (49.90), came from behind with a furious sprint to capture the race. The same four combined to win the 400 in 43.16.

In field events, Esperanza’s Travis Kirschke won the boys’ discus throw in a personal best of 165 feet 10 inches. Other top marks were turned in by Sonora’s Jay Lim in the the high jump (6-8) and University’s Andrea Bill in the discus (131-8) and shot put (40-0).

In girls’ running events, Fountain Valley’s Elinor Tolson, who has a knee injury, won the 100 low hurdles in 14.3, then scratched from the 300.

Freshman Barbara Boisvert of Orange Lutheran led the 1,600 from start to finish, winning in 5:00.2, a personal best. She later ran in a meet at Beaumont High, winning the 800 but in apparent violation of CIF rules that state an athlete can run in no more than one meet a day.

Coach Jonathan Zimmerman said he misinterpreted the rulebook based on some erroneous advice he received at Trabuco Hills. There was no immediate indication of what action, if any, the Southern Section might take.

At the Beaumont Invitational:

Orange Lutheran Wins--Orange Lutheran’s girls won the Beaumont Invitational with 137 points. Erica Ebel of Orange Lutheran won both the 100 and 200 meters and was named athlete of the meet.