Shanklin Gets Ahead of Herself

Amanda Shanklin was so concerned about generating a top speed in the 300 intermediate hurdles Saturday, she overlooked one important detail.

“I started with my wrong foot in the blocks, so I chopped the first [hurdle],” said Shanklin, a junior at Santa Margarita. “Ideally, once I get my speed taken care of, then I’ll try and master my technique.”

Shanklin’s speed was good enough to win the event in 44.24 seconds, which broke the Trabuco Hills Invitational meet record of 44.98. That was set by Angie Polk of Cerritos in 1996.

The victory capped an impressive day for Shanklin, who was second in the 100 hurdles (15.26) and third in the triple jump (36 feet 4 inches).

“I felt good coming down the backstretch, which is odd for me. But I felt really strong going over the hurdles,” Shanklin said.

Another athlete who performed strong in the hurdles was Mission Viejo freshman Dana Bethel. Bethel finished ahead of Shanklin in the 100 hurdles (14.87), and won her open division heat in the 300 hurdles (45.7) with the second-best time in the event. Bethel was fourth in the long jump (17-6 1/2).

Mission Viejo’s Mark Gleason set a meet record in the 1,600 with a time of 4:15.23. He also anchored the Diablos’ winning distance medley relay team, which set a meet record (10 minutes 23.45 seconds).

“I did a lot better than I thought I would in the 1,600,” Gleason said. “The school record is 4:14 and I’m hoping to accomplish that next weekend [at the Arcadia Invitational].”

Gleason didn’t run in the 3,200, which opened the door for teammate Christian Kemp, who won the race in 9:22.22.

Allyson Marquand of University won the girls’ 1,600 in 5:05.7, and ran the final leg of the the Trojans’ distance medley team, which finished second in 12:38.59.

In the girls’ 3,200, Santa Margarita freshman Lori Mann surged ahead of teammate Dani Rope at the finish line to win in 11:23:46, just .01 seconds ahead of Rope.

County athletes took the top two spots in the 800 meters. Dana Hills’ Devin Lindahl took the lead for good after the first turn and won the race in 1:54.99. Bruce Hancock of Costa Mesa was second (1:56.84).

In the girls’ 800, Liz Morse of Corona del Mar finished first (2:17.45), followed by Brea Olinda’s Maika Nelson (2:18.9).

El Modena’s Santosh Swamidass won the boys’ high jump (6-4) and Aliso Niguel’s Alain Nicasio took the boys’ triple jump (45-2 1/2). Westminster’s Juan Columbie led the way in the shotput (53-11).

Sunny Hills’ Stevie Nicholas won the girls’ high jump (5-6), Sara Higham of Mission Viejo won the pole vault (11-0) and Suzanne Linn of Trabuco Hills won the discus (130-9).