Axton Quickly Advances to State

Carrie Axton’s goal of advancing to the state meet in the discus was quickly realized Friday night at Cerritos College.

Axton, a Los Amigos junior, won the discus with a personal best 150 feet, but her first throw of 147-1 was enough to secure the title and advance her to the state meet.

“The 147-1 felt good so I had to work up from there,” said Axton, who posted three marks better than second-place Marie Philman of Edison (144-0).

Axton, who won the discus at the Orange County Championships and Garden Grove League finals, hit 150-0 on her second throw.

The top five athletes in each event advance to the state meet, scheduled for next Friday and Saturday also at Cerritos College.

Edison’s Kerry O’Bric won the long jump with a 19-4 3/4 wind-aided mark. O’Connor’s winning triple jump mark--a wind-aided 39-11--was almost a foot better than second place.

Esperanza’s Kelly O’Connor also finished second in the long jump (19-2 1/4, wind-aided). O’Bric was fourth in the triple jump (38-6, wind-aided).

Foothill’s Erica Hoernig cleared 11-0 in the pole vault for second place. Marina vaulter Katie Rorem, who cleared 10-6, finished fifth.

Ashley Bethel of Mission Viejo finished third in the 100-meter high hurdles (14.27, wind-aided) and Sonya Bryant of Marina finished third in the discus (142-10, personal best).

Christa Fitzgerald of Dana Hills used a strong kick in the 800 meters to grab the final qualifying spot. Fitzgerald finished in a personal-best 2 minutes 15.55 seconds for fifth place, just ahead of El Modena sophomore Jessica Dahlberg in seventh in 2:15.93

Tayyiba Haneef tied for second-place in the high jump (5-6--. Bethel tied for sixth (5-4).

University freshman Allyson Marquand finished second in the 3,200 meters, running a personal-best 10:40.03, seventh on the county’s all-time list. Buena Park sophomore Heather Garritson finished fourth in 10:44.00, earning her first state meet berth.

Thousand Oaks senior Kim Mortensen won in 9:48.59, breaking the national high school record.

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Notes

Esperanza’s 1,600-meter relay team finished eighth in 3:55.19, fastest in the county this season. . . . Marie Philman also qualified in the shotput, finishing fifth in 39-6. . . . Darnesha Griffith of Trabuco Hills narrowly missed advancing in the triple jump with her season-best 37-7 3/4 (wind-aided) for sixth place.