Temperature and Smog Levels Rise, but Records Still Fall : Prep track: Although the weather is frightful, athletes are hot too at first Orange County co-ed championships.

Saturday was a miserable day for a track and field meet.

Even at 10 a.m., the heat and smog were suffocating at Trabuco Hills High, which played host to the first co-ed Orange County championships.

The temperature eventually reached 89 degrees at nearby El Toro and the smog levels were deemed unhealthful by air-quality experts, but the meet still produced record-breaking performances.

Edison distance-running standout Shelley Taylor started it all off with another resounding victory. This time, she ran 4 minutes 33.6 seconds to win the 1,500 meters over Orange Lutheran freshman Barbara Boisvert, who was second in 4:35.7.

“Oh, it was even hot for that,” Taylor said later. “I was really happy with the time, though.”

Taylor, a senior who will attend Arkansas next fall, broke the old meet record of 4:35.5 set by Jennifer Abraham of Foothill in 1983. Abraham, who now goes by Thomas, is an assistant coach at Laguna Hills and watched her record tumble.

Elinor Tolson of Fountain Valley broke her own meet record by .41 in the 100-meter low hurdles with a winning time of 14.38. She also came back to win the 300-meter lows in 45.80.

Heather Sterlin, who helped lead Mission Viejo to the girls’ team title over second-place Newport Harbor, won the long jump in a meet record 18 feet 6 inches. Allison Axtell of Mission Viejo set the old mark of 18-3 1/4 in 1989.

Running in the meet’s final race, Foothill won the 1,600-meter relay in 3:17.96, the only boys’ meet record set on Saturday.

Chris Lynch of Laguna Hills didn’t want to hang around all day looking for one of the few shady spots at Trabuco Hills, so he went home to rest between his victories in the boys’ 1,500 and 3,000.

“I watched the Twins get their butts kicked by the A’s on TV and I took a nap for about 30 minutes,” he said. “It was almost too long of a break.”

At about 10:30 a.m., Lynch put the finishing touches on a victory in the 1,500 by running away from Mike Love of Katella in 4:01.1--2.2 seconds ahead of Love. About eight hours later, Lynch came back to win a duel with Shawn Frack of Esperanza in the 3,000.

Lynch’s strong move with two laps left finally dropped Frack and carried him to victory in 8:46.24. Frack held on for second in 8:50.05.

“My splits probably look like a heart monitor,” Lynch said of the uneven pace he and Frack set. “I knew they (the pack) would hang with me through the mile, but I wanted to get away. I had to surge (with 800 meters to go) to break Frack. He really surprised me.”

If there were such a thing, the surprise of the meet award might go to Greg Muniz of Woodbridge, who pulled off a doozy in the boys’ 400 meters by winning in 48.69.

Better known as a hurdler, Muniz took on the county’s best quartermilers and won. Was he surprised? Pleased?

“Both,” he said. “The last 100 I looked over and saw those guys weren’t that far ahead.”

Those guys were, beginning on his right, Aaron Taub of Foothill in lane five, Anthoni Davis of Santa Ana Valley in six and Ethan Taub of Foothill in seven. It was close, but Muniz managed to slow the least in the final meters and he came away an unexpected winner. Ethan Taub was second in 48.73 with Davis third, also in 48.73, and Aaron Taub fourth in 49.05.

“I PR’d like a madman,” Muniz said of beating his previous best of 50.1.

Later, he came back to win his specialty--the 300-meter intermediate hurdles--in 38.53 over Charlie Davidson of Saddleback, who finished his third race at the distance in 38.64.

Other double-winners included:

--Tonn Parrish of Marina, who won the boys’ long and triple jumps in 22-7 and 46-10 1/4, respectively.

--Gina Heads of Newport Harbor, who won the girls’ shotput and discus. Her winning mark of 41-5 1/2 tied her with Andrea Bill of University for the top mark in the county this season. Heads, a sophomore, threw the discus 131-11 1/2.

--Meisha Wilson-Duval, a freshman at Woodbridge, who won the girls’ 100 in 12.49 and the 200 in a hand-timed 25.5.

Meet Notes

Valencia won the boys’ team title over Saddleback. Foothill and Santa Ana Valley tied for third . . . Other noteworthy winners included: Barbara Boisvert of Orange Lutheran, who won the girls’ 800 in 2:14.4; Carrie Garritson of Sunny Hills, who won the girls’ 3,000 over University’s Tanja Brix, 10:20.99 to 10:22.57; and Jeff Waldron of Cypress, who won the boys’ high jump by clearing 6-6 . . . Three sprinters broke 11 seconds in the boys’ 100 meters. Kevin Alexander of Valencia was first in 10.82, Charlie Davidson of Saddleback was second in 10.86 and Korey Alexander of Valencia was third in 10.88. The wind was less than the allowable 2.0 meters per second.