SOUTHERN SECTION TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS : Mitchell Travels New Path With Triple Victory : Girls: Winning the 100, 200 and 100 hurdles is unprecedented for an Orange County runner. Her wind-aided 200 is the county’s best ever.

Competing in three events wasn’t too much for Los Alamitos senior Cavetra Mitchell to tackle at the Southern Section track and field finals Saturday at Cerritos College.

But winning three?

Mitchell breezed to victories in the Division II girls’ 100 meters, 200 and 100 high hurdles, becoming the first girl in Orange County history to win those events in the finals. All were wind-aided, but her 200 (24.29 seconds) was the best run by a county girl under any conditions, and her 100 (11.91) was second best, behind the 11.89 run by Saddleback’s Estelle White in 1982.

Mitchell ran the 100 hurdles--raised three inches this season--in 14.70. She said that after running four events--including the 400 relay--through last week’s Division II preliminaries, competing in three wasn’t difficult. The Griffins’ relay didn’t qualify for the section finals.

Amazingly, Mitchell didn’t pick up the hurdles until this past summer, when she started practicing with them only. She spent her junior year watching meets instead of competing because she was academically ineligible. She said each Southern Section championship meet leading up to State was depressing.

“I was hoping to take at least third in State in one of my events last season,” Mitchell said. “I’m very excited now.”

Mitchell enters the Masters with the third-best time in the hurdles and fifth-best in both the 100 and 200.

Sophomore Carrie Caulkins of Esperanza was another impressive county runner, winning the Division II 1,600 in 4:59.35 by outkicking Corona del Mar freshman Kelly Campbell, who ran 4:59.75.

Caulkins’ time was the day’s second fastest behind Agoura’s Amy Skieresz, who won Division I in 4:56.39. Caulkins also placed third in the 3,200 (11:04.49), helping Esperanza to second place in the team race with 37 points.

Newport Harbor won the Division II title with 43 points. The Sailors were helped by Gina Heads in the shotput (first, 41 feet 11) and the discus (second, 138-7). University’s Andrea Bill won the discus with the day’s best throw, 141-11.

Newport Harbor also advanced three high jumpers--Tina Bowman, Kala Ross and Misty May all went 5-6, with Bowman winning with no misses.

Ocean View’s Christie Engesser qualified as expected in the 800, but finished second in Division I to Long Beach Poly’s Sherron Rhetta; they were separated by thousandths of a second, 2:12.053 to 2:12.057.

Girls’ Notes

Among other county runners qualifying for Masters were Laguna Hills’ Heidi Sickler (5:01.92) and Capistrano Valley’s Meghan Mayes (5:05.67) in the 1,600; University’s Shira Duzman (2:16.52), Esperanza’s Courtney Pugmire (2:16.77), Corona del Mar’s Mollie Flint (2:16.86) and Laguna Hills’ Tiffany Boykin (2:18.03) in the 800, and Edison’s Elyse Homberger in the 3,200 (11:07.98, third in Division I). . . . In field events, Westminster’s Lisa Tamamasui (40-11 1/2), Adara Newidouski (38-7 1/2) advanced in the shotput, and Newidouski qualified in the discus (132-3). The county was well represented in the high jump with Laguna Hills’ Darci Morrison (5-6) and Esperanza’s Kristy Kierulff (5-6) joining the three Newport Harbor athletes. . . . Laguna Hills’ 1,600 relay team finished second in Division III in 3:56.57, behind Morningside (3:47.64). El Dorado’s team qualified in Division II, placing second in 3:59.10.

Thousand Oaks’ Marion Jones broke a 13-year-old meet record in the long jump, in 21 feet 1 1/2 inches on her only non-wind-aided effort. Jones, in her first year of competition as a long jumper, broke Marlene Harmon’s 1980 mark of 20-0 1/2. Jones also won the 100 in 11.32 and the 200 in a wind-aided 22.79. . . . Long Beach Poly edged Long Beach Wilson, 76-67, for the Division I title, Morningside won in Division III and Cate in Division IV.