Ventura, With Spiker, Justifies Lofty Rank

The Ventura High boys’ track and field team has spent most of the season ranked first or second in the region by The Times, and the Cougars showed why Saturday in the Southern Section Division II preliminaries at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.

Ventura, with junior Josh Spiker winning heats in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters, advanced seven individual qualifiers and two relay teams to the divisional championships at Cerritos College next Saturday.

“We’ve had a good day,” Ventura Coach John Beattie said toward the end of the meet. “We’re going for a plaque next week and that means finishing in the top two.”

Spiker, who has the fastest times in the state this year in the 1,600 at 4:12.19 and in the 3,200 at 9:08.48, ran 4:24.32 and 9:13.28 to easily win his heats.

Junior teammate Clark Goodwin posted the fastest time of the meet in the 400 with a career best of 49.34 and also ran legs on teams that won their heat in the 400 relay in 43.49 and finished second in their heat of the 1,600 relay in 3:21.75.

Junior Preston Biller, fourth in the long jump at 22-1 3/4 and ninth in the triple jump at 42-9, joined Spiker as a double individual qualifier.

Ventura’s other individual qualifiers were sophomore Chris Foster and senior Matt Swaney.

Foster ran a career-best 14.85 to finish second in his heat of the 110 high hurdles and Swaney finished fourth in the second heat of the 3,200 in 9:28.98.

Seniors Lauren Fleshman of Canyon, Annmarie Turpin of Simi Valley and Tim Adrian of Moorpark and junior Oliver Jackson of Royal all turned in noteworthy performances.

The Stanford-bound Fleshman won her heats in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 with times of 2:17.81, 5:03.18 and 11:12.59, and will attempt to pull off an unprecedented distance triple in the divisional championships next week.

Turpin, who has signed with UC Irvine, advanced to the Division II finals in the high jump, 400 and 300 low hurdles and just missed qualifying in the long jump.

Turpin was one of seven girls to clear 5-2 in the high jump and she won her heat in the 400 in 58.48 and in the 300 lows in a school-record 45.09.

The Syracuse-bound Adrian led qualifying in the boys’ discus with a throw of 178-10.

Jackson, the national leader in the boys’ long jump at 24-4 3/4, had the top mark in the event at 23-10 1/2. He also advanced to the final of the 300 intermediate hurdles by placing second in his heat in 38.89.

Juniors Brian Anderson of Burroughs and Erin Brzezinski of Thousand Oaks and freshman Michala Brook of Westlake were other heat winners.

Anderson clocked 4:25.50 in the second heat of the boys’ 1,600.

Brzezinski ran 12.51 in the 100 and a wind-aided 25.32 in the 200.

Brook won her 1,600 heat in a career-best 5:12.60.

Senior Neal Pabon of Newbury Park cleared 12-6 in the pole vault but dislocated his left elbow when he landed on the foam-padded mat.

“He just came down at a weird angle,” Newbury Park Coach Mike Stewart said.