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7 local track and field athletes headed to CIF Southern Section Masters meet

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There are no local hurdlers competing at Saturday’s CIF Southern Section Masters track and field meet at El Camino College in Torrance, even if it is the final hurdle to clear before next weekend’s CIF State meet.

Seven local athletes will instead try to throw, vault and jump their way to Clovis Buchanan High next weekend.

Costa Mesa High senior Tayla Crenshaw is the lone area competitor who has previously made the state meet. The UC Irvine-bound Crenshaw went as a junior, and she’s trying to go again in two different events. She will compete in the girls’ discus at 11:30 a.m., with the shotput to follow.

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Like in every event, Crenshaw will have to place in the top six in her event to make it to state, or meet an at-large mark. The at-large mark in the girls’ discus is 134 feet 5 inches, which Crenshaw, the CIF Southern Section Division 3 champion in the event, has bettered three times this season. She would have work to do it in the shotput, where she did throw a personal-best 38-6 last weekend. The at-large mark is 40-10.

Crenshaw’s personal-best in the discus is 142-11, which she accomplished at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 21, also held at El Camino.

“She’s had a good week of practice and her chances are really good,” Costa Mesa coach Steve Moreno said. “She likes the ring [at El Camino] so that’s a big plus for her, going back there.”

Marina sophomore Alejandra Rosales also competes in the girls’ discus, qualifying after placing sixth in Division 2 at 125-9.

Newport Harbor’s Aidan Elbettar will compete in the boys’ shotput, after finishing third in Division 2 with a personal-best 57-1.5. The sophomore can make state with a repeat performance, as the at-large mark is 54-4.

Marina junior Skyler Magula and Corona del Mar senior Morgan Simon will compete in the boys’ and girls’ pole vault, respectively, starting at 10:30 a.m. Magula won the Division 2 title last weekend by clearing 15-6, a mark only bettered at the divisional finals by Tiber Seireeni of Studio City Harvard-Westlake in Division 1 (16-0). The at-large mark for state is a 14-9.

Simon, bound for UC Santa Barbara, won the girls’ Division 3 title after clearing 12-4. That was well above the state at-large standard of 11-11 for Simon, who’s in just her second year vaulting.

“She seems to be getting stronger and stronger,” CdM vault coach Fritz Howser said. “Everything’s looking pretty positive … Morgan has a gymnastics background, which entails a lot of training and a lot of both mental and physical preparation. She’s pretty strong that way, which has made it easier, I think, for her to have the focus to do the things that she does in pole vaulting.”

Two juniors will compete in the boys’ high jump at 11:30 a.m., Jack Wiseman of Huntington Beach and Aiden Garnett of Edison. Both cleared 6-4 last weekend, which tied them for third in Division 1.

The at-large mark for state is two inches higher, at 6-6. Both have reached the mark this season, Wiseman at the Beach Cities Invitational and the Division 1 preliminaries, and Garnett at a Sunset League tri-meet against Newport Harbor and Los Alamitos.

Wiseman almost made state last year, but he missed out on the sixth and final automatic spot after losing a three-athlete jump-off.

“I think being so close probably gave him more determination this year,” Huntington Beach coach Kareen Shackelford said. “From September, he’s been working hard … He’s really taking it seriously, everything down to the ice baths that he does and the preparation. He really wants to make it [Saturday], and if everything falls into place, I think he can.”

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CIF Southern Section Masters meet

When: Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: El Camino College (16007 Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance, 90506)

Fan Info: Gates open at 9:30 a.m. with the first event, boys’ pole vault, beginning at 10:30. The final event, the boys’ 1,600-meter relay, is scheduled for 3:50 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for high school students with ID and $5 for children ages 5 and up. Parking is $3.

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo

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