Sunset League Performs Well in Pole Vault

Sunset League athletes, the lone county representatives, made an impression at the Southern Section Division I track and field preliminaries Saturday at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Katie Rorem and Caroline Rebello of Marina and Esperanza’s Patricia Gutierrez all cruised through the prelims to earn one of the nine qualifying spots for the pole vault finals next weekend at Cerritos College.

Each girl easily cleared 10 feet, which became the end point for qualifying.

“I wish we could have kept going,” said Rorem, a senior, who vaulted 12-1 April 23 to set a county record. “I felt like today could have been a good day for me. I feel like I could have gotten good jumps on the big poles.”

Rorem’s record-setting jump came against Esperanza and Gutierrez, and eclipsed the mark of Mission Viejo’s Sarah Higham, who had a season-best mark of 11-11.

Rorem will be attending Purdue in the fall, where she signed a letter of intent earlier this year.

Because of her high qualifying mark, Rorem didn’t make an attempt until the bar reached 10 feet, which she cleared on her second try.

“I’m hoping that Saturday I’ll go 11-0 or 11-6,” she said. “Eleven-six could get me [past the next round]--I hope.”

Said Marina Coach Kevin Magula, “She will definitely have to go at least 11-0 on her first jump. She should be fine. She looked real good today.”

Rebello was critical of her performance because she rattled the bar while clearing 9-6 on her second attempt.

“Competing hasn’t been real good for me this year,” said Rebello, a sophomore. “I don’t know, I’ve been doing it in practice. I’ve just been in a rut.”

She easily cleared the bar on her first try at 10-0 to qualify for the finals.

“She does a lot of things right even though she thinks it’s wrong,” Magula said. “She’s always over-analyzing, and that’s good.”

In the girls’ discus, Stacy Jarne of Esperanza threw 115-0 to place third overall. Teammate Carolyn Pendleton’s 114-0 was good for fifth place. Both will move on to the finals.