County’s Best Battle for Spots in State Meet

The Southern Section’s elite track and field athletes will vie for berths in the state championships at the Masters meet tonight at Cerritos College.

The top five finishers in each event at the Masters, which opens with the discus at 5:15 p.m., advance to the state finals May 31-June 1 at the same facility.

Mission Viejo standout Ashley Bethel qualified for tonight’s meet in three individual events, the most by an Orange County athlete. The sophomore will compete in the long jump, high jump and 100-meter high hurdles.

Santa Margarita senior Matt Blasdel, who last weekend led the Eagles to their first section track title in Division II, enters the meet as one of the favorites in the 300 intermediate hurdles. The senior, who also will compete in the 110 high hurdles and anchor the 1,600 relay, won the section title in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 37.13 seconds, the 12th-fastest time in the nation this spring.

County runners John Hall (Servite), Dominique DeGrammont (Tustin) and Phil Oh (Irvine) will be in the 300 intermediate hurdles field.

Esperanza’s Kelly O’Connor begins defense of her state triple jump title and will compete in the long jump as well. The senior has long jumped 19 feet 8 1/2 inches and triple jumped 40-11 3/4.

Garden Grove sprinter Kevin Griswold was the Division III runner-up in the 100 and 200 and will anchor the 400 relay. The senior has run county-leading times of 10.67 and 21.31 in the 100 and 200.

Cory Johnson of Los Alamitos and Elliott Parks of El Toro are two of the section’s top high jumpers. Johnson, the three-time county champion and section Division I winner, leaped 7-0 earlier this year. Parks, a junior who won the section Division II championship, has jumped 6-10.

Four county runners are in the the girls’ 800 field: Maribel Delgado (Santa Ana Valley), Heather Cuthbertson (Marina), Jessica Dahlberg (El Modena) and Christa Fitzgerald (Dana Hills).

And three county athletes are in the 3,200 meters: Angie Winkler (Fountain Valley), Allyson Marquand (University) and Heather Garritson (Buena Park).

Scott Moser of Huntington Beach has thrown 179-1 in the discus and was the leading qualifier for the Masters after winning the Division I title last week.

Erica Hoernig of Foothill has the section’s second-leading mark in the pole vault, clearing 11-8 in the section prelims. The senior also won the Division II title in the event.

Carrie Axton of Los Amigos posted the best throw in the discus in the section finals, winning the Division III title with a 137-0 effort.