SOUTHERN SECTION MASTERS TRACK : Garritson, Foothill Relay Wipe Out County Records

For six laps of the girls’ 3,200 meters Friday at the Masters meet at Cerritos College, Carrie Garritson of Sunny Hills chased Maribella Aparicio of Fillmore. With about 700 meters left, Garritson shot past Aparicio and began her relentless pursuit of a 10-year-old Orange County record.

With Aparicio out of the picture, Garritson seemed to reach down for another level of concentration, powering away from her closest challenger on the backstretch. When she passed that same spot a lap later, Garritson appeared to be in a trance. Coming out of the final turn, she found a little extra kick, putting the hammer down one final time.

At the tape, perhaps sensing the record was hers, Garritson thrust her arms overhead.

The clock stopped at 10 minutes 28.20 seconds, just under the decade-old record of 10:29.03, set by University’s Teresa Barrios. It’s the fastest time outdoors in the nation this season. Amanda White of Timonium, Md., ran 10:21.12 indoors this year.

“I’m just so happy,” Garritson said. “It was a great day to run.”

Moments later, Foothill knocked out the 11-year-old county record in the boys’ 1,600-meter relay. In the end, it mattered not that the Knights did not win. They qualified for the State meet next week at Cerritos by finishing second and, better still, accomplished their season-long goal of breaking the record with a sterling 3:15.10.

Fountain Valley set the old mark of 3:16.41 in 1981. Santa Ana holds the record in the mile relay--a bit longer--with a 3:15.0 in 1972.

“We could go faster,” said Aaron Taub, who ran a 47.9 anchor leg. “I think we could go faster. . . . I know we can run faster.”

Foothill actually finished third behind winner Inglewood Morningside, which ran 3:14.52, and Long Beach Poly. But Poly was disqualified for running out of its lane, and Foothill was moved up.

“The main point was to qualify,” said Tad Heath, who ran the third leg after running a personal-best 1:53.60 in the open 800.

The records by Garritson and the Foothill relay team all but overshadowed a meet filled with exceptional performances.

Indeed, until Garritson walked to the track to begin her duel with the clock and Aparicio (who finished second in 10:39.94), hurdler Greg Muniz of Woodbridge and triple jumper Tony Parrish of Marina seemed destined to leave the most indelible county marks on the meet.

Beaten out of sight in the 110-meter high hurdles, Muniz rebounded to run a county-leading 37.72 to finish second in the 300 intermediate hurdles behind Demond Smith of Hawthorne, who ran 37.51.

On his first jump Friday, Parrish jumped 49-4 1/4 to destroy his old personal best of 47-1 1/2, set in winning the Southern Section 3-A title last week. Parrish is now the third-longest jumper in county history. Phouphet Singbandith of Magnolia holds the county mark of 51-7 3/4, set in 1990.

Other noteworthy county qualifiers included:

--Anthoni Davis of Santa Ana Valley, who was a fast-closing third in the 400 in a county-leading 48.33 and fifth in the 200 in 21.98.

--Charlie Davidson of Saddleback, who said he wasn’t as smooth as he could have been over the hurdles but won the 110-meter highs in 14.37.

--Christie Engesser of Ocean View, who, without Edison’s Shelley Taylor (scratched in favor of the 1,600) and Fillmore’s Nikki Shaw (scratched because of injury) in the race, won the 800 in a rout. Her county-leading 2:11.50 put her comfortably ahead of second-place finisher Kristi Camp of Agoura (2:14.08).

Of Shaw’s absence, Engesser said, “At this point, I’m actually a little disappointed. If she’s in the race, you know she’s going to push you to a faster time.”

--Chad Peare of Trabuco Hills improved on his county-leading discus throw to 176-0 (bettering his own 170-11). Peare had an incredible three-throw series of 173-1, 176-0 and 171-4, any one of which would have beaten Tyson Lingenfelter of Upland, who was second (170-1).

--Edison’s Taylor finished second behind Shaw in the 1,600, running a conservative 4:57.81.