Sanford Soars to State’s Top Mark

Woodbridge sophomore Michelle Sanford achieved another personal milestone Saturday in the Surf City Invitational at Huntington Beach High, winning the triple jump with a mark of 40 feet 5 3/4 inches, the top mark in the state this season.

Sanford became only the third girl from the county to surpass 40 feet in the event, joining two-time state champion Kelly O’Connor of Esperanza, who went 40-11 3/4 in 1996, and Mission Viejo’s Lisa Fager, who jumped a wind-aided 40-11 in 1990.

No wind gauge was used during the triple-jump competition Saturday, but Sanford was pleased with the effort, legal or not.

“I made it on my first try,” said Sanford, whose previous best was 39-7 3/4 at the Arcadia Invitational last year. “After that, I stopped and decided to save my energy for the long jump.”

Sanford, who won a state title in the long jump last year and became only the third girl from the county to clear 20 feet, produced a mark of 19-5 3/4 in that event, which is No. 2 in the state this season.

Another top mark Saturday belonged to Temple City’s Laura Chen, who cleared 12-7 in the pole vault, the second-best mark in the state this season. Chen, the defending state champion in the event, set a state indoor record of 12-6 1/4 at the Nike Indoor Classic in Maryland two weeks ago.

In the boys’ competition, juniors Denny Flanagan of Edison and Matt Bruno of Trabuco Hills produced impressive victories against high-caliber competition.

Flanagan won the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles. His time of 14.47 seconds in the 110 bettered Covina’s Scott Jarvis by .10. Jarvis finished sixth in the state last year and was the second-fastest returning hurdler in the event.

“That was a great race for me,” said Flanagan, who led Edison’s football team in receptions and receiving yardage last season. “I got out of the blocks nice.”

Bruno won the 100 meters in a wind-aided 12.66, edging defending Orange County champion Darryl Poston of Edison and Wes Felix of Santa Clarita Valencia, who finished second in the 200 in the Southern Section Division II championships last season.

Bruno also won the long jump with a county-leading mark of 22-4 and the 200 in 21.4. Poston and Flanagan helped break the Edison record in the 400 relay, with their team winning in 42.27.

In the field events, Katella junior David Giang had the county’s leading mark, clearing a personal-best 15-0 to finish second in the pole vault.

In the Santa Ana City boys’ track and field championships:

Santa Ana wins--The Saints earned the team title with 94 points, followed by Santa Ana Valley (62), Saddleback (49) and Century (38). Santa Ana Valley’s Lance Johnson won the 200 (22.3) and 400 meters (51.1), and teammate Luis Torres was first in the high jump (5-10) and long jump (21-6).

In the Santa Ana City girls’ track and field championships:

Falcons are first--Santa Ana Valley won the team title with 122 points, followed by Santa Ana (79), Saddleback (29) and Century (8).