Local quartet moves on to track and field state meet

Eleven local track and field athletes found themselves journeying to Moorpark High for the second consecutive weekend, but only one had a chance to make a return trip to the step beyond.

Newport Harbor senior Leo Davis made good on that opportunity, placing second in the boys’ pole vault competition at the CIF Southern Section Masters Meet on Saturday.

The top six in each event, plus those who achieved at-large qualifying marks and times, moved on to the CIF State track and field championships, being held Friday and Saturday at Clovis Buchanan High.

Davis twice surpassed his personal record — set with a clearance of 15 feet, 5 inches in the Masters Meet last year and matched in winning at the Orange County championships on April 15 — over the weekend to advance to his second state meet. He cleared the bar at 16 feet, moving into a three-way tie for the fifth-best mark in the state.

“I was way over [16-6], too, so I can’t wait for next week,” said Davis, who competed on a sprained ankle at the state meet last year.

Corona del Mar junior sprinter Ava Simos had a far more dramatic experience. She finished outside of the top six in both the 100 meters (11.96 seconds) and the 200 (24.28), but her times — albeit wind-aided with tailwinds of 3.5 and 3.9 meters per second, respectively — were fast enough to qualify for the state meet.

“I’m so happy about it,” said Simos, who credited CdM sprints coach Kayvan Aminzadeh for helping her progress. “I really cannot believe it. At the start of the season, I was just hoping to even get to Masters, so the fact that I’ve qualified for state in more than one event is just unbelievable. I’m so happy. It’s so good to see the months of work that me and my coaches have done, it’s really good to finally see it paying off.”

Newport Harbor sophomore Keaton Robar was also competing in her first Masters Meet, but a stretch of new lifetime-best performances early in the spring indicated this might be a longer season.

Sports

Edison hurdlers victorious as 10 local athletes qualify for Masters at CIF track and field championships

Seniors Sophia Menchine and Lindy Tarvin swept the Division 2 hurdles races at the CIF track and field championships at Moorpark High on Saturday.

May 14, 2023

Robar placed fourth in 2:10.19 in a loaded field representative of the one she ran her lifetime-best time of 2:09.13 against at the Arcadia Invitational. Both elite races were won by Riverside JW North senior MacKenzie Browne.

“Now that MacKenzie Browne is out of the mile, I know she’s going to go really fast at state,” Robar said. “At this point, I’m looking at [Ventura sophomore] Sadie Engelhardt. I’m going to try to stay on her. I know she has a hard double for state with the 1,600 and the 800, and we’re going to see what happens.”

Huntington Beach junior Makenzie McRae punched her ticket to the state meet in a methodical 3,200-meter race. She knew by the completion of the first mile that only the top six would be making it past the weekend.

“Once we came in through that first mile, I kind of knew … it probably won’t cut down as much,” McRae, who rounded out the area’s state qualifiers with a fourth-place finish in 10:31.21, said. “We went out, I think it was 5:20 or 5:21. I kind of just tried to stay in contact with that front pack and then just keep consistent with every move that they made.”

Edison senior Lindy Tarvin felt the sting of being the first competitor to miss the cut — by a tenth of a second — finishing seventh in the 300 intermediate hurdles in 44.02 seconds.

Corona del Mar junior Melisse Djomby Enyawe placed eighth in the 1,600 (4:58.92). Newport Harbor senior Kenny Wanlass crossed the finish line in 9:38.07 in the 3,200.

Local high jumpers Natalie McCarty, a freshman from Newport Harbor, and Caeden Connell, a senior at Pacifica Christian Orange County, each cleared the opening height in their events.

Edison junior Alexa Sheldon was ninth in the girls’ shot put (40-6), and Marina senior Khang Nguyen posted a mark of 43-1 (12th) in the boys’ triple jump.

BOYS’ TRACK AND FIELD

CIF Southern Section Masters Meet

At Moorpark High

State Qualifiers and Local Athletes

100 (10.66) - 1. Pleasant (Serra) 10.14; 2. Washington (Jordan) 10.24; 3. Flowers (South Torrance) 10.33; 4. Bragg (Los Alamitos) 10.48; 5. Redeaux (Oaks Christian) 10.54; 6. Barbarin (Simi Valley) 10.59; 7. Parish (Chino Hills) 10.63; 8. Deal (Paloma Valley) 10.64

200 (21.66) - 1. Pleasant (Serra) 20.71; 2. Washington (Jordan) 20.81; 3. Flowers (South Torrance) 20.92; 4. Deal (Paloma Valley) 21.23; 5. Aguillar-Carnes (Sierra Canyon) 21.37; 6. Kaloustian (Orange Lutheran) 21.69

400 (48.53) - 1. Ricks (Long Beach Poly) 46.50; 2. Hansen (Oaks Christian) 48.02; 3. Shigg (Chaminade) 48.17; 4. Smith (Long Beach Poly) 48.19; 5. Kraemer (Long Beach Wilson) 48.50; 6. Naim (Beverly Hills) 48.56

800 (1:53.96) - 1. Ligons (Cathedral) 1:51.96; 2. Clark (San Clemente) 1:52.84; 3. Kirk Jr. (Long Beach Poly) 1:53.00; 4. Francis-Mitchell (Long Beach Wilson) 1:53.50; 5. Murray (South Pasadena) 1:53.80; 6. Johnson (Vista Murrieta) 1:54.10

1,600 (4:13.89) - 1. Brown (Great Oak) 4:11.50; 2. Sutch (Cate) 4:11.84; 3. Rodriguez (Great Oak) 4:12.16; 4. Dybdahl (Santa Barbara) 4:12.41; 5. Fast Horse (Ventura) 4:12.65; 6. Donis (Highland) 4:12.86; 7. Hernandez (Cathedral) 4:13.16; 8. Grossman (Ventura) 4:13.82

3,200 (9:05.52) - 1. Noonan (Dana Hills) 8:49.38; 2. Issa (West Ranch) 8:57.68; 3. Parra (Millikan) 8:58.06; 4. Donis (Highland) 9:00.57; 5. Chantaca (San Clemente) 9:01.86; 6. Hartline (El Toro) 9:02.13; 7. Simmons (Crescenta Valley) 9:02.90; 8. Perez (Cathedral) 9:04.47; 12. Wanlass (Newport Harbor) 9:38.07

110HH (14.36) - 1. Davis-Lyric (Upland) 13.89; 2. Lyght (Mater Dei) 14.11; 3. Frank (Thousand Oaks) 14.18; 4. Brown (Simi Valley) 14.20; 5. Edwards (Thousand Oaks) 14.55; 6. Whitt (Culver City) 14.59

300IH (38.66) - 1. Roberson (Roosevelt) 37.59; 2. Stevens (Jordan) 37.72; 3. Mueller (Loyola) 37.85; 4. Paton (Monrovia) 38.40; 5. Edwards (Thousand Oaks) 38.43; 6. Davis-Lyric (Upland) 38.49; 7. Nocero (Damien) 38.63; 8. Gammage (Canyon/CC) 38.65

400 relay (41.85) - 1. Oaks Christian 41.43; 2. Simi Valley 41.62; 3. Rancho Cucamonga 41.63; 4. Long Beach Poly 41.93; 5. Jordan 42.04; 6. Trabuco Hills 42.75

1,600 relay (3:19.48) - 1. Long Beach Poly 3:13.86; 2. Cathedral 3:16.68; 3. Westlake 3:19.24; 4. Loyola 3:20.61; 5. Canyon/CC 3:20.72; 6. Orange Lutheran 3:21.38

3,200 relay - 1. San Clemente 7:45.93; 2. Long Beach Wilson 7:48.79; 3. Long Beach Poly 7:50.18; 4. Loyola 7:51.06; 5. Saugus 7:53.27; 6. Redondo Union 7:54.28

HJ (6-5) - 1. Gorski (Mater Dei) 6-9; 2. Ezike (Moorpark) 6-7; 3. Vuong (Cypress) 6-7J; 4. Elam (Loyola) 6-5; 5T. Owens (Riverside Poly) 6-5J; 5T. Cotton (Northwood) 6-5J; 5T. Stafford (JSerra) 6-5J; 8T. Gutierrez (Mater Dei) 6-5J; 8T. Schwab (San Clemente) 6-5J; 13. Connell (Pacifica Christian) 6-1

LJ (22-7) - 1. Crook (Sultana) 22-1¾; 2. Wetherspoon (Bishop Amat) 21-11½; 3. Jornadal (JSerra) 21-11½; 4. Flanagin (Santa Barbara) 21-10; 5. Cotton (Walnut) 21-9; 6. Fleischer (Harvard-Westlake) 21-8¾

TJ (45-11) - 1. Robinson (Great Oak) 46-10¼; 2. Bolanos (Redlands East Valley) 46-6¼; 3. Nwafor (Vista Murrieta) 46-4½; 4. Joyce (Alemany) 46-0; 5. Saenz (Murrieta Valley) 45-7; 6. McDuffie (Mater Dei) 45-1¾; 12. Nguyen (Marina) 43-1

PV (15-0) - 1. Curtis (Redondo Union) 16-6; 2. Davis (Newport Harbor) 16-0; 3. McKee (ML King) 16-0J; 4. Sommers (Westlake) 15-0J; 5. Ciccarelli (North Torrance) 15-0J; 6. Dinkler (Foothill Technology) 15-0J; 7. Leuenberger (Capistrano Valley) 15-0J

SP (56-5) - 1. See (JSerra) 63-10; 2. Deines (Redondo Union) 62-4; 3. Wells (Warren) 60-8; 4. Lewis (Pacifica) 60-5½; 5. Schrader (Ventura) 56-11½; 6. Godfrey (Chaparral) 56-3½

DT (171-0) - 1. Mephors (JW North) 184-7; 2. Udengwu (Glenn) 181-10; 3. See (JSerra) 180-6; 4. Lewis (Pacifica) 180-4; 5. Deines (Redondo Union) 178-3; 6. Stafford (JSerra) 176-0; 7. Nora (Oak Hills) 175-1; 8. Goldman (Harvard-Westlake) 171-8

GIRLS’ TRACK AND FIELD

CIF Southern Section Masters Meet

At Moorpark High

State Qualifiers and Local Athletes

100 (11.96) - 1. Clayton (Oaks Christian) 11.46; 2. Neal (Serra) 11.63; 3. Anyansi (Murrieta Valley) 11.82; 4. Jones (Lakewood) 11.87; 5. Smith (St. Bernard) 11.88; 6. Flowers (Serra) 11.91; 7. Scoggins (Golden Valley) 11.93; 8. Simos (Corona del Mar) 11.96

200 (24.50) - 1. Neal (Serra) 23.36; 2. Currie (Quartz Hill) 23.41; 3. Trepagnier (Culver City) 23.55; 4. Humphries (Castaic) 23.55; 5. McBride (Ayala) 23.79; 6. Rodriguez (Oaks Christian) 24.03; 7. Luckey (Long Beach Wilson) 24.12; 8. Maddox (Culver City) 24.14; 9. Simos (Corona del Mar) 24.28

400 (55.84) - 1. Luckey (Long Beach Wilson) 52.71; 2. Trepagnier (Culver City) 53.46; 3. Rodriguez (Oaks Christian) 54.44; 4. Maddox (Culver City) 54.87; 5. Ehiemere (Orange Vista) 55.01; 6. Green (Serra) 55.51; 7. Powell (Culver City) 55.69

800 (2:13.20) - 1. Browne (JW North) 2:07.49; 2. Engelhardt (Ventura) 2:09.76; 3. Edwards (Claremont) 2:09.82; 4. Robar (Newport Harbor) 2:10.19; 5. Abbott (JW North) 2:10.79; 6. Jeanneret (JSerra) 2:11.66; 7. Esponda (South Torrance) 2:12.68

1,600 (4:52.85) - 1. Engelhardt (Ventura) 4:46.02; 2. Blade (Santiago/C) 4:46.28; 3. Barrett (Buckley) 4:49.66; 4. Markow (Dana Hills) 4:52.18; 5. Callanan (Peninsula) 4:53.58; 6. Lieberman (Murrieta Valley) 4:53.89; 8. Djomby Enyawe (Corona del Mar) 4:58.92

3,200 (10:29.56) - 1. Blade (Santiago/C) 10:27.84; 2. Barker (Laguna Hills) 10:28.39; 3. Godsey (Oaks Christian) 10:28.52; 4. McRae (Huntington Beach) 10:31.21; 5. Hawkins (Newbury Park) 10:31.28; 6. DeBrouwer (La Canada) 10:33.41

100HH (14.56) - 1. Mckenzie (Orange Vista) 13.85; 2. Reid (La Salle) 14.13; 3. London (St. Bernard) 14.25; 4. Gowans (Marlborough) 14.29; 5. Watkins (Quartz Hill) 14.37; 6. Clayton (Oaks Christian) 14.39; 7. Ajayi (ML King) 14.43.

300IH (43.92) - 1. Divinity (Redondo Union) 42.86; 2. Tidwell (Long Beach Wilson) 43.55; 3. Edwards (Long Beach Wilson) 43.69; 4. Borchard (Oaks Christian) 43.85; 5. Reed (Long Beach Poly) 43.94; 6. Holden (South Pasadena) 43.95; 7. Tarvin (Edison) 44.02

400 relay (47.90) - 1. Long Beach Wilson 46.28; 2. Serra 46.58; 3. Quartz Hill 46.88; 4. Long Beach Poly 46.89; 5. Chino Hills 46.99; 6. Oaks Christian 47.01; 7. Lakewood 47.33; 8. Trabuco Hills 45.56

1,600 relay (3:53.17) - 1. Culver City 3:41.40; 2. Long Beach Wilson 3:43.19; 3. JW North 3:46.50; 4. Chino Hills 3:48.88; 5. Calabasas 3:50.56; 6. Oaks Christian 3:51.84; 7. Ventura 3:52.92

3,200 relay - 1. Claremont 9:07.84; 2. JSerra 9:10.59; 3. Chino Hills 9:11.50; 4. La Canada 9:13.95; 5. Santa Monica 9:15.37; 6. Trabuco Hills 9:16.09

HJ (5-5) - 1. Humphries (Castaic) 5-7; 2T. Mckenzie (Orange Vista) 5-5; 2T. Smith (Vista Murrieta) 5-5; 4. Wetteland (Long Beach Poly) 5-5J; 5T. Fakrogha (Ventura) 5-5J; 5T. Bailey (Chino Hills) 5-5J; 7T. Thai (Thousand Oaks) 5-5J; 7T. Witt (Chaminade) 5-5J; 9. Thompson (Castaic) 5-5J; 10T. McCarty (Newport Harbor) 5-1

LJ (18-7) - 1. Hope (ML King) 19-9½; 2. Mckenzie (Orange Vista) 19-4¼; 3. Humphries (Castaic) 19-3¾; 4. Alumbres (Vista Murrieta) 19-¾; 5. Aimufa (United Chris.) 18-10½; 6. Webster (Long Beach Wilson) 18-9¾

TJ (38-6) - 1. Gatlin (Mission Viejo) 39-10¾; 2. Williams (Elsinore) 39-8½; 3. Aimufa (United Chris.) 39-3½; 4. Smith (Upland) 39-2¼; 5. Alumbres (Vista Murrieta) 39-0; 6. Humphries (Castaic) 38-7¾

PV (12-3) - 1. Fears (Vista Murrieta) 13-4; 2. Coates (Great Oak) 12-3; 3. Thompson (Harvard-Westlake) 12-3; 4. Negro (Murrieta Valley) 12-3; 5. Hinds (Great Oak) 11-9; 6T. Rodriguez (Vista Murrieta) 11-9J; 6T. Davis (Trabuco Hills) 11-9J

SP (41-5) - 1. Johnson (Notre Dame) 46-10; 2. Alo (Etiwanda) 42-11; 3. Brennan (Hart) 42-8; 4. Brown (Archer) 42-5; 5. Ricks (Long Beach Poly) 41-8½; 6. Fontenette (Notre Dame) 41-3½; 9. Sheldon (Edison) 40-6

DT (139-6) - 1. Fontenette (Notre Dame) 162-5; 2. Lambert (JSerra) 147-3; 3. Johnson (Notre Dame) 143-10; 4. Brown (Archer) 143-6; 5. Tuimaualuga (Camarillo) 143-3; 6. Tipton (Camarillo) 141-9