County Athletes Strike Out on a Night of Near Misses

It was an evening of near misses and close calls for Orange County girls at the state track and field finals Saturday.

Woodbridge High sophomore Michelle Sanford came within a half inch of defending her long jump title and later finished second in the triple jump. Rachael Ziemann of Edison was runner-up in the high jump for the second consecutive year and Costa Mesa’s Sharon Day finished one spot behind in third.

But the toughest loss was suffered by Newport Harbor’s Amber Steen, who finished third in the 1,600 meters, then hobbled off the track in obvious pain and with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Steen, who ran a nation-leading time of 4 minutes 43.75 seconds while winning the event at the Southern Section Masters meet last week, said she started having pain in her right foot during a warm-down run following the victory.

Steen’s physical therapist said it was from overuse, but Steen was hoping to get through this weekend despite the pain.

“I was hoping it would hold up,” Steen said. “You just have to go out and do the best you can. You’ve got to try and overcome everything.”

Steen led the field through the first lap, then gave way to Sara Bei of Santa Rosa Montgomery, who won a state title in the event as a freshman. Bei went past the midway point in 2:22.9, stretching her lead to about five meters.

Alejandra Barrientos of Felton San Lorenzo, the state champion in the event in 1999, then passed Steen on the third lap and eventually blew past Bei on the final curve to finish first in 4:43.24. Bei was second (4:47.96) followed by Steen (4:51.64), who later scratched from the 3,200. .

“I can’t complain too much,” Steen said. “Especially after all I’ve accomplished this season.”

Sanford had mixed feelings about her results. She hoped to repeat as state champion, but was happy with her second-place jump of 20 feet 5 inches. The mark, which benefited from a 2.8-meter-per-second tail wind, bettered her previous lifetime best of 20-3 1/2, which was the best county’s all-time best wind-aided mark.

Elzunia Wojicka of Hollister won the event at 20-5 1/2, making up for her loss to Sanford earlier this season at the Arcadia Invitational.

Sanford also finished second in the triple jump, matching her personal best of 41-1 1/2, a county record she set last week at Masters. Candace Baucham of Long Beach Poly won the event at 42-4 1/2.

“I’m exhausted,” said Sanford, whose points put Woodbridge in eighth in the team competition.

Ziemann and Day equaled their season-best marks in the high jump, clearing 5-8 along with five others, but only Chante Howard of Riverside North could get over 5-10. Ziemann took second based on fewer misses at earlier heights. It’s the second consecutive year Ziemann finished second at state, and her twin sister, Bianca, was second in 1999.

Mission Viejo senior Dana Bethel set a personal best while finishing fourth in the long jump with a wind-aided 20-2 3/4. She came back to finish third in the 100 hurdles in a wind-aided 13.83.

Corona del Mar junior Julie Allen had the county’s other third-place finish, crossing the line in the 3,200 in a personal-best 10:39.52. Bei won that race in 10:11.11 and Glendale Hoover’s Anita Siraki was second in 11:11.79.

Esperanza junior Julie Handy finished fifth in the 300 hurdles in 43.78, then teamed with Maribeth Buche, Shalice Pugmire and Annie Briggs to finish sixth in the 1,600 relay in 3:54.15, the county’s fastest time in four years.

Magnolia junior Vao Faoa finished eighth in the discus with a throw of 138-8.