Birmingham Hopes to Run Away From Taft, Win City Title

To win a City Section championship, you have to put away your competition when you have the chance.

That’s the lesson Coach Scott King of Birmingham High hopes his girls’ track and field team learned when Taft came from behind to defeat the Patriots, 82-78, in the City championships last year.

Birmingham beat Taft, 74-53, in a dual meet earlier in the season and had a 48-12 lead over the Toreadors after six events in the City final. But Taft scored 70 points in the final nine events, capped by a victory in the 1,600-meter relay.

“I felt like we kind of lost our concentration in the middle of the meet,” King said. “It seemed like our kids thought they had it wrapped up when the early scores were announced. . . . We had too many missed opportunities during the middle of the meet and Taft did a great job. They didn’t do anything wrong. They haven’t done anything wrong in the last two [City championship meets].”

Birmingham and two-time defending champion Taft are expected to again battle for the City title. Their strongest challenger should be West Valley League rival Cleveland, which finished a point behind third-place Westchester last year.

Birmingham lost standouts Tiffany Burgess--a five-time City champion in the 800 and 1,600--and Keisha Mierez to graduation, but junior Melissa Astete and senior Gigi Mendola head a list of talented returnees.

Astete, who cleared a school record of 11-1 in the pole vault to win her second consecutive City title last May, has been sidelined by a stress fracture in her right leg, but could return to competition next week. In addition, senior Nicki Kohlieber finished second and sophomore Michelle Rivera was third in the pole vault at the City meet.

Mendola placed third in the 400 and fifth in the 200 in the City championships and has bests of 57.2 and 25.0 in those events. She is also the the top returning member from a 400 relay team that finished second in the City meet and from a 1,600 relay squad that was third.

Seniors Tammy Carpenter, Shakela Wilson, RiKiesha Garrett and Ebony Thomas, junior DeAnna Mack and freshmen Vincetta Mendola, Vonnie Fulford and Ellen Shepstone could be other key performers for Birmingham.

Carpenter finished fifth in the triple jump in the City championships last year and Wilson placed fifth in the 800, but was disqualified because she ran out of her lane during the first turn of the race.

Garrett bounded 36-2 in the triple jump last year, but became academically ineligible before the Northwest Valley Conference finals.

Thomas didn’t compete last season, but ran 48.9 in the 300 low hurdles two years ago.

Mack placed eighth in the shotput in the City final.

Vincetta Mendola, Gigi’s sister, clocked 11.9 in the 100 last year, and King calls Fulford a “brilliant young sprinter” who is running track for the first time.

Shepstone put the shot over 38 feet in an all-comers meet earlier this season.

The injury to Astete and the departure of 300 hurdler McKenzie Evans--who moved to Missouri after transferring from Dorsey to Birmingham in January--has made Birmingham a little less imposing. Yet King figures the Patriots will have a good chance at winning their first girls’ title when the City championships are held at Birmingham on May 25.

“I don’t feel any differently now than I did [a month ago],” he said. “I’m still very, very optimistic we’ll be there.”

TEAMS TO WATCH

TAFT--The Toreadors lack Birmingham’s depth, but have three outstanding performers--seniors Deneeka Torrey and Erin Reed, and junior Schquay Brignac.

Torrey is defending City champion in the 100 high hurdles and 300 lows, and has run 14.43 in the highs and 43.74 in the lows. She finished second in the 100 in the City final last year.

Reed, who finished third in the 100 and 200 last year, will probably run the 400 instead of the 100 this season.

Brignac won consecutive City titles in the high jump for Cleveland in 1998 and last year, but transferred to Taft last fall.

CLEVELAND--Senior Jessica Cosby and sophomores Brynne Steward and Michelle Stinnette combined to score 34 points in the City championships last year, but the Cavaliers’ title hopes could hinge on senior Malinda Malone, who missed the season because of an anterior cruciate ligament injury that required surgery.

Cosby, who has committed to UCLA, won her third consecutive City title in the shotput with a career best of 45-6 1/2 last year while competing with a torn anterior cruciate ligament that required surgery.

Steward finished second in the 100 high and 300 low hurdles in the City meet, and Stinnette was fourth in the 100 and long jump.

Malone clocked school records of 24.76 in the 200 and 55.44 in the 400 two years ago.

THOUSAND OAKS--Senior Erin Brzezinski and a good group of distance runners will lead a squad that has won or shared six consecutive Marmonte League titles.

Brzezinski is defending league champion in the 100 and 200, and placed second in the long jump last year.

Junior Kelley Hess placed second in the 3,200 in the league final last year and sophomore Ashley Patteson was runner-up in the 800.

RIO MESA--Junior Porchea Carroll heads a squad expected to battle defending champion Camarillo for the Pacific View League title.

Carroll, who won the long jump in the Nike Indoor Classic at the University of Indiana on Sunday, placed fourth in the 100 and eighth in the long jump in the state championships last year.

She has bests of 11.70 in the 100, 24.33 in the 200 and 19-3 1/2 in the long jump.

Senior Michelle Villa finished second in the 800 in the league final last year, junior Danielle White placed second in the 100 high hurdles and junior Jacklyn Grentzer finished second in the 300 lows.

CAMARILLO--Senior Lisa Wygant won the 100 high hurdles, the 300 lows, the high jump and triple jump in league finals last year to lead Camarillo to a 123-120 victory over Rio Mesa. She also tied for third in the high jump in the Southern Section Division I final.

Senior Nicole Richardson in the 3,200 and sophomore Marianne Gerry in the 800 are returning league champions.

NOTRE DAME--Junior Sierra Hauser-Price is defending Southern Section Division III champion in the 100 and 200, and has been a state finalist in each event the last two years for the Mission League favorites.

With bests of 11.81 in the 100 and 23.99 in the 200, she will give Notre Dame a superb anchor runner in the 400 and 1,600 relays.

Sophomore Tracy Johnson was the runner-up in the 100 high hurdles and long jump in league finals last year and is a fine high jumper.

BUENA--The Bulldogs suffered a blow when defending Channel League 800 champion Natalie Sanderson decided not to run this season, but senior Shelaine Larson could help them win their second consecutive league title.

Larson is defending league champion in the shotput and discus, and placed third in the discus in the Southern Section Division II final.

CRESCENTA VALLEY--Junior Emily Forsythe and senior Janelle Del Soldato won Pacific League titles last year.

Forsythe won her second consecutive league title in the high jump and placed fifth in the Southern Section Division I final.

Del Soldato won the 400 in the league meet but is moving up to the 800 this year.

AT A GLANCE

* THE PROVEN: Junior Anita Siraki of Hoover High placed fourth in the national cross-country championships in December after finishing fifth in the 3,200 meters at the state track championships in June. She is defending Southern Section Division I champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 and has outdoor bests of 4:55.75 in the 1,600 and 10:30.81 in the 3,200. . . . Junior Alexis Weatherspoon of Grant is defending City Section champion in the 100 and 200 and has bests of 11.93 and 24.24. . . . Freshman Treani Swain of Oakwood clocked a scintillating 53.71 in the 400 last year after running a superb 2:09.00 in the 800 in 1998. . . . Senior Rosanna Kirkendall of Lancaster ran a career best of 5:04.62 in the 1,600 to place fourth in the Southern Section Masters Meet last year.

* THE PROMISING: Sophomore Cassie Ramirez of Highland failed to advance to the final of the 3,200 in the Southern Section Division I final last year, but she won the Golden League cross-country title and placed 14th in the Division I final in November.

* FAST FACT: This is the best group of girls’ sprinters that the region has ever had. Five athletes have bests of 12.15 or better in the 100, and four individuals have run 24.33 or faster in the 200.