Melvin Welcomes More Competition

Orange County’s best sprinter, Claude Melvin of Brea Olinda, couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed Saturday at the Southern Section boys’ track and field finals at Cerritos College.

Not that his performance was bad. On the contrary, the Wildcat junior captured titles in the Division II 100 and 200, setting personal bests. He also anchored Brea’s winning 400-meter relay team as the Wildcats (32 points) finished second behind Ventura (49).

Melvin’s performance was impressive but he wasn’t all that gratified. In fact, he was singing the blues after the 100, which he won in a season-best 10.70. Despite a slow start, he posted the fourth-best time of the day, earning a return trip to Cerritos Friday night for the Masters Meet with a good chance of qualifying for the state finals.

Melvin says he could have run even better had he been up against stronger competition.

“It’s been that way all year,” Melvin said. “There’s no one to push me. The only time this year that I came close to being pushed was in a relay.”

Melvin figures to get the test he so desperately seeks next week at the Masters. In the 100 he’ll be up against Long Beach Poly’s Darrell Rideaux (10.49) and Kareem Kelly (10.54). Both took the top two spots in the Division I final, as well as the Division III winner, Warren Rogers (10.42) of Gardena Serra. Melvin’s 200 time (21.40) was the fifth best of the day, well off the pace set by Division III champion Rogers (20.88) and Paramount’s Michael Mitchell (20.98), who upset Rideaux in the Division I final.

“I’m looking forward to racing against some better runners,” Melvin said. “You run better when someone is ahead of you, then when you are ahead. It will be a great opportunity for me to improve my time and really see what I can do.”

Brea’s win in the 400 relay was a county-best 42.22, which was the fifth-best time overall on the day. Santa Margarita, expected to push the Wildcats, couldn’t complete the hand-off on the third leg and was disqualified. Servite was second (42.84).

There were several top performances posted by county athletes, many of which came in the field events.

Esperanza junior Travis Pendleton defended his title in the Division I discus with a lifetime best throw of 183 feet 7 inches, which was also the best throw on the day in any division. Huntington Beach senior Sam Lightbody was runner-up for the second consecutive year (176-10). Magnolia’s Asi Faoa finished second in the Division II discus (172-2). Lightbody and Faoa also qualified for the Masters.

Lightbody won the shotput in his division (59-0), improving on his second-place finish a year ago. Whittier Christian’s Steve Holland won in Division IV (49-4 3/4).

Huntington Beach senior Jeff Ryan cleared 15-6 on his first attempt to win the Division I pole vault. Alta Loma’s Dustin Morrison also cleared 15-6, but got second because he needed more attempts to clear 15-0. Santa Margarita junior Pat Luke won the pole vault in Division II (14-6).

Buena Park’s Joe Thomas won the triple jump in Division II (46-2), which was the fourth-best mark on the day. Thomas finished second in the long jump (22-4 1/2), behind Simi Valley Royal’s Oliver Jackson (24-2 1/2).

Katella’s Antonio Lozano won the 800 in Division II (1:56.03), Newport Harbor’s Steve Jensen finished third (1:56.52) in the same race and got the final qualifying spot.

Notes

Villa Park junior Augie Escobar held off Ventura’s Josh Spiker to win the 3,200 in Division II (9:03.64), which was the fastest time on the day and beat his personal best by nearly 10 seconds. . . . Kennedy’s Ahmad Wright won the 110 hurdles in Division II (14.58) and qualified seventh. Wright also qualified in the 300 hurdles. . . . Servite won the 1,600 relay in Division II, beating its county-best mark (3:19.82) and placing the Friars third in the team standings, one point behind Brea Olinda. It was also the third-fastest qualifying time. . . . Long Beach Poly, the two-time defending state boys’ champion, won its second consecutive Division I title with a 92-41 victory over runner-up Chino. Darrell Rideaux, the defending state champion in the 100, Kareem Kelly and fellow senior Samie Parker gave the Jackrabbits a 1-2-3 finish in the 100.

Times staff writer Dan Arritt contributed to this story.