Stone Wins Twice for Woodbridge

The relief was brief Saturday, but it was long enough for Meryl Stone to escape the sadness that enveloped the Woodbridge track and field team and the rest of the campus this week.

On Thursday, a van with four Woodbridge students hydroplaned off a rain-slick road near the Woodbridge campus and into a light pole. The impact killed one student and slightly injured the others, including two of Stone’s teammates.

At the Surf City Invitational at Huntington Beach High Saturday, Stone was able to briefly set aside her emotions and win the 100 and 200 meters, as well as anchor the Warriors’ 400 relay team, which also won. .

“It’s been a hard week at our school,” Stone said. “A lot of my friends were involved in that, so the best thing to do was just come out and run. I was pretty scared in the beginning because I’m still kind of out of it a little bit.”

Stone, the defending Orange County champion in the 100 and 200, began the day by anchoring the Warriors’ 400 relay team to a first-place finish in 51.02 seconds. She followed that with the top time of the meet in the 100 (12.36) and 200 (24.91).

“It’s been a really sad atmosphere and it kind of brings you down, but I just came out here and tried to run some good times,” Stone said. “It was such a freak thing. It really scared everyone. The whole track team is really pulling together for them.”

Stone was one of two Orange County athletes who won more than one event at the meet.

Edison freshman Bianca Ziemann finished first in the high jump (5 foot 7) and long jump (16-7 1/2), and also placed second in the 100 hurdles (16.72). Ziemann’s twin sister, Rachel, was second in the high jump (5-5) and long jump (16-7), and third in the 100 hurdles (16.92).

Foothill’s Tynisia Edwards finished first in the triple jump with a personal-best mark of 38-3 1/2, Esperanza’s Stephanie Sampson finished first in the shotput (36-3 1/4) and second in the discus (112-1 1/2), and Huntington Beach senior Maryn Ciarelli won the discus (130-7 1/2).

The top performance in the distance events belonged to Fountain Valley freshman Julie Allen, who won the 3,200 (11:35.6) and finished second in the 1,600 (5:23.6). Foothill freshman Laura Strachan was second in the 800 (2:24.92) and the 3,200 (11:53.10).

In the boys’ competition: Esperanza junior Travis Pendleton set a personal best in the discus with a winning mark of 180-11 1/2. Huntington Beach senior Sam Lightbody finished second in the discus (178-8 1/2), then won the shotput (58-5 1/4).