Brethren Christian’s Michels on the Mark for Pole Vault Title

Sometimes the title is more important than the mark, and that’s what Brethren Christian pole vaulter Steve Michels found out Saturday at the 29th Arcadia Invitational track and field meet.

Michels, a senior, bested the 16-foot mark for the third time in his career, in winning the event.

“A [personal best] would have been nice, but I’m happy with the win,” Michels said. “I was just a little impatient tonight. I felt good about this though, because I haven’t been over 16 feet since the [Los Angeles] indoor meet [in February].”

One jumper who did manage a personal best was El Toro standout Elliott Parks, who cleared 6-8 in the high jump to tie for second place. Los Alamitos senior Cory Johnson finished in seventh place with his effort of 6-6.

Marina sophomore Katie Rorem broke her county record in the pole vault, clearing 10-6 for third place in the event. Her previous personal best was 10-4 1/2 earlier this season.

University standout Allyson Marquand finished sixth in the 1,600 meters in a county-best time of 4:57.8. Marquand’s time is the 20th-fastest all time by an area athlete, but was far behind event winner Kim Mortensen of Thousand Oaks in 4:44.9.

Marquand also ran the anchor leg for the Trojans’ distance medley team, which finished in fifth with a time of 12:14.40. The time is eighth-fastest in county history.

Los Amigos’ Carrie Axton added more than six feet to her personal best in finishing sixth in the discus with a mark of 143-1. The mark was a county season best, but again fell short of the winning mark of 180-2 by Seilala Sua of Tomas Aquinas High in Fort Lauderdale. Sua’s distance is a Federation national record.

Tustin junior Dominique DeGrammont finished third in the 300 intermediate hurdles (38.63), slicing .07 off his personal best and county-leading mark. Santa Margarita senior Matt Blasdel ran 38.63 for fourth place in the event.

Brea Olinda’s Maika Nelson won her open heat of the 400, finishing with a county-leading time of 58.50. The sophomore also led the Wildcats to the fastest county clocking this spring in the 1,600 relay, winning the open division in 4:02.22.

Edison senior Brodie Riederich had a personal best in the shotput, winning the event with a county-leading effort of 56-3 1/4.

Mission Viejo’s Ashley Bethel kept herself busy all night, as the sophomore finished third in the high jump (5-4), fourth in the 100 hurdles (14.47) and fifth in the long jump (18-4 1/4).

Notes

Maribel Delgado of Santa Ana Valley lowered her personal best and the county’s leading mark in the 800, finishing seventh in the event in 2:15.59. . . . Servite hurdler John Hall won his open heat of the 300 intermediate hurdles in 38.60. . . . Esperanza senior Pat Swanson lowered his personal best in the 110 high hurdles by one hundredth of a second to 14.63 for second place in the seeded heat. . . . The Garden Grove boys’ team ran an area-best 42.33 for fourth in the seeded 400 relay. . . . Argonaut senior Kevin Griswold ran 10.91 in the 100 and 21.72 in the 200 for sixth place in both events. . . . Kerry O’Bric of Edison finished fourth in the triple jump (39-2), ahead of Esperanza senior Kelly O’Connor (38-4 3/4). The Huntington Beach duo of Tony Trueba (9:21.1) and Dan Gaston (9:26.4) finished 14th and 18th in the 3,200. The times are the two fastest by area athletes this spring.