TRACK & FIELD / JOHN ORTEGA : The Johnny O Is a Singular Distinction

Now that the high school track season is over for all intents and purposes--only a few local athletes are still competing in age-group competition--it’s time for the first Johnny O awards honoring some of the region’s top performers.

For those who are interested, the awards are based on the humble opinions and observations of track columnist John Ortega rather than the usual poll of Times writers.

This year’s winners and some notable runners-up:

Boys’ Awards

Track athlete of the year: Jason Medearis of Hart placed second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and fourth in the 110 highs in the State championships last month.

His best time of 36.80 seconds in the intermediates moved the Wyoming-bound Medearis to second on the all-time region list behind Charles White, who timed 36.4 in the 330-yard intermediates for San Fernando in 1976, and his 14.12 clocking in the highs moved him to sixth.

Ramsey Jay of Ventura, who finished fourth in the 400 in the State meet, and Antonio Arce of Palmdale, second in the 3,200, rank second and third.

Arce finished higher than fellow junior Jay in the State championships, but Jay produced more high-quality marks over the course of the season.

Field athlete of the year: Jeremy Fischer of Camarillo opened the outdoor season by clearing 7 feet 3 inches in a dual meet March 2 and won the USA Track & Field Junior championships on Saturday with a jump of 7-2 1/2.

In between, he was undefeated outdoors, winning the Arcadia and Mt. San Antonio College invitational meets in April, the Southern Section Division I and Masters Meet championships in May, and the State, Golden West Invitational and National Scholastic Outdoor meets in June.

Fischer, who is headed to Wisconsin, set a region record of 7-4 in the Santa Barbara Easter Relays in March to move into a tie for eighth on the all-time national high school list and has cleared 7 feet or higher in 11 meets this season.

He also spanned 23-2 in the long jump and finished second in that event in the Division I championships.

Jamaal Chase of Quartz Hill, runner-up in the triple jump in the State championships, and Esa Sallinen of Burroughs, fourth in the pole vault, fill the second and third spots.

The Kansas State-bound Chase ranks third on the all-time region list in the triple jump at 49-11 and is sixth in the long jump at 24-2 1/4.

Sallinen, an exchange student from Finland, ranks fourth in the pole vault at 16-4 3/4.

Track performance of the year: Medearis’ 36.80 clocking in the intermediates at the Masters Meet.

Field performance of the year: Fischer’s 7-4 jump in the high jump in the Santa Barbara Easter Relays.

Most consistent performer: Fischer cleared 7 feet or higher in the high jump in 11 meets, and Medearis ran between 14.12 and 14.30 in the high hurdles nine times, but Camarillo junior Eleazar Hernandez edged them in a close contest.

Hernandez posted a best of 9 minutes 10.96 seconds in the 3,200 to finish seventh in the State championships and ran 9:18.99 or faster seven times.

Rising star award: Moses Backus of Taft was a member of the Toreadors’ 400 relay team as a sophomore in 1993, but he stood out individually this season when he ran 22.3 in the 200 and 49.59 in the 400.

Based on his fourth-place finish in the 400 in the City Section championships in May, Backus appears to have the talent to crack the 48-second barrier next season.

Girls’ Awards

Track athlete of the year: Cathy Prater of Agoura was runner-up in the 300 low hurdles in the State championships and also won the Southern Section Division I title.

Her best of 43.62 ranks sixth on the all-time region list.

Prater, who will run cross-country and track for UC Davis, also ran 15.32 in the 100 high hurdles and 26.00 in the 200 to rank third and fifth on the yearly region list.

Thousand Oaks sophomore Kim Mortensen and Rio Mesa junior Andrea Wasden are ranked second and third.

Mortensen finished fifth in the 3,200 in the State championships, won the 1,600 and 3,200 in the Southern Section Division I meet, and led the region in both events with times of 5:01.27 and 10:53.65.

Wasden finished a disappointing ninth in the final of the 100 high hurdles in the State meet, but posted a region-leading time of 14.37 in the preliminaries and also finished second in the Southern Section Division II championships.

She also ran 25.2 in the 200 and 44.5 in the 300 lows to rank second and third on the region list.

Field athlete of the year: Dolores Tuimoloau of Channel Islands moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time state list in the shotput with a mark of 49-2 and established a Ventura County record of 145-0 in the discus, her secondary event.

She lost only once in the shotput and capped her season by winning the State championships and Golden West Invitational.

High jumpers Liz Giltner of Chaminade and Kathy Watson of Saugus are the No. 2 and 3 performers.

Giltner, a freshman, finished sixth in the State championships and her personal best of 5-8 ties her for 10th on the all-time region list.

Watson, a senior, moved into a tie for fourth on the all-time region list when she cleared 5-10 to win her second consecutive Southern Section Division I title, but she was academically ineligible for the first half of the season and placed seventh in the State meet.

Track performance of the year: Prater’s 43.62 in the 300 lows at the State championships.

Field performance of the year: Tuimoloau’s 49-2 to win the Ventura County championships.

Most consistent performer: Giltner cleared 5-6 or higher in nine meets, topped by the 5-8 effort that tied for second in the Masters Meet.

Rising star award: Giltner and sprinter-long jumper Michelle Perry of Quartz Hill each had superb freshman campaigns, but both were well known in youth track circles prior to the season.

That contrasts sharply with the winner, Nordhoff freshman Bridie Hatch, an unknown quantity who ran 44.89 in the 300 lows in her first track season.

After running 48.0 to win the 330-yard lows in the Frontier League championships, Hatch went on a tear, running 45.87 in the Southern Section Division III preliminaries, 45.74 to win the final and 44.89 to place sixth in the Masters Meet.