Common passion, goal lead throwing quartet to state meet

If a CIF Southern Section athlete had ambitions of making a deep run to the CIF State Track and Field Championships, an appearance in the Arcadia Invitational might have served as a good omen.

As a national invitational, the midseason meet helped to boost the confidence of many of the competitors. In a way, the participants hoped that it was a sign of things to come, a kind of foreshadowing for where they would be headed in late May.

It was at the Arcadia Invitational that Marina High throws coach Mike Giron took a picture of four local athletes. Two were his own. The other two were under the tutelage of his good friend, Isaias Morales.

In the photo, Marina’s Kyle Tsu and Jake Arnold are shown standing with Costa Mesa twin sisters Felicia and Tayla Crenshaw.

Giron used the picture as a motivator for the athletes heading towards the postseason. He urged the athletes on, saying, “Let’s recreate this picture at Masters. We all have a goal of making it to state.”

Felicia Crenshaw and Tsu had medaled in the night meet at the Arcadia Invitational on April 8. Last Friday, all four of the fore-mentioned athletes punched their ticket into the state meet.

The throwing coaches of Marina and Costa Mesa sent texts excitedly back and forth, notifying each other as each of their athletes qualified.

Others have recognized the privilege of having two premier throwers on the same team. As much as he has been able to enjoy it down the stretch, Giron admitted that he wishes he had more time.

“Everyone was so jealous,” Giron said. “They said, ‘Man, you get to have these two guys.’

“I wish I had them. Jake was out for 4 1/2 months. It’s nice to have him back. It’s such a pleasure to have such great talent. They’re so open to coaching.”

Giron and Morales first met in 2012. Back then, neither was with their present program, but it was their passion for throwing that connected the two.

“Mike and I had two athletes that competed against each other almost every weekend when he was at Los Amigos and I was at Estancia,” Morales said of how they met. “We started talking then, and we have become good friends since.

“I believe the kids we coach work really hard and have dedication to the sport, which is why they have been successful. Our friendship along with the friendship the athletes have built is a big plus. The way the athletes motivate each other and bring out the competitive spirit in one another makes everything we do as coaches that much more fun.”

The Crenshaw twins and Arnold will compete in the state preliminaries for discus at Clovis Buchanan High on Friday. Arnold and Tsu will both contest the shot put.

The top 12 throwers from Friday will advance to Saturday’s championship round.

Michael Magula (Marina) and Ryan Fegan (Newport Harbor) must also achieve a top-12 mark in boys’ pole vault to advance to the state finals. A jump-off may be used to downsize the field to 12 if a tie exists at the bottom.

CIF State Track and Field Championships

When: Friday-Saturday, June 2-3.

Where: Clovis Buchanan High (1560 N. Minnewawa Ave., Clovis, CA 93619)

Fan Info: The two-day meet will have preliminaries on Friday and the state finals on Saturday. The stadium opens at 2 p.m. on Friday, with field events beginning at 3 p.m. and the first race starting at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the stadium will open at 3:30 p.m. Field events for the state finals will begin at 4:30 p.m., and the first race will be at 6 p.m. General admission for the prelims is $10. Children (age 5 and up), students with school ID, and seniors are $7. Those rates are raised to $12 and $8, respectively, for championship Saturday. Parking is $5 (it is $10 for RVs).

TRACK AND FIELD

CIF-SS Masters Meet

Boys’ State Qualifiers

100 – 1. Guidry (Vista Murrieta) 10.35; 2. Cunningham (Rancho Verde) 10.41; 3. Hampton (Yucaipa) 10.49; 4. Hennesay (Santa Margarita) 10.54; 5. Kamulali (Sierra Canyon) 10.67; 6. Moore (Oaks Christian) 10.69

200 – 1. Cunningham (Rancho Verde) 21.52; 2. Moore (Oaks Christian) 21.54; 3. Hampton (Yucaipa) 21.55; 4. House (Rancho Verde) 21.63; 5. Hill (Rancho Cucamonga) 21.95; 6. Webb (Oaks Christian) 22.01

400 – 1. Shinnick (Damien) 46.38; 2. Saniego (Vista Murrieta) 47.69; 3. Bowens (Long Beach Poly) 47.95; 4. Bowens (Redlands East Valley) 48.01; 5. Strader (Trinity Classical Academy) 48.45; 6. Hill (Oak Hills) 48.65

800 – 1. Irish (Palos Verdes) 1:55.21; 2. Villa (Corona) 1:55.40; 3. Lamb (Glendora) 1:55.43; 4. Wilkinson (Alemany) 1:55.46; 5. Robles (Roosevelt) 1:55.59; 6. Peterson (San Marcos) 1:55.71

1,600 – 1. Renken (Claremont) 4:10.95; 2. Fountain (Great Oak) 4:11.88; 3. Berti (Paso Robles) 4:12.74; 4. Bishop (Claremont) 4:12.88; 5. Opsahl (Redlands East Valley) 4:13.79; 6. Smith (Pacifica) 4:13.84; 7. Taylor (Arroyo Grande) 4:14.40

3,200 – 1. Bolger (San Luis Obispo) 9:03.24; 2. Llorin (Mira Costa) 9:06.30; 3. Corcoran (St. John Bosco) 9:07.77; 4. Gonzalez (Rubidoux) 9:08.39; 5. Carvajal (Great Oak) 9:08.54; 6. Spencer (Roosevelt) 9:09.22

110HH – 1. Anderson (Upland) 13.56; 2. Samuel (Rancho Verde) 13.85; 3. Rubio (Los Alamitos) 13.89; 4. Easter (Roosevelt) 14.04; 5. Flowers (A.B. Miller) 14.15; 6. Oles (Long Beach Poly) 14.31; 7. Sandoval (Servite) 14.35

300IH – 1. Anderson (Upland) 36.58; 2. Christensen (Los Osos) 36.90; 3. Samuel (Rancho Verde) 37.03; 4. Rubio (Los Alamitos) 37.22; 5. Ruger (Great Oak) 37.23; 6. Easter (Roosevelt) 37.32

400 relay – 1. Rancho Verde 41.14; 2. Oaks Christian 41.27; 3. Gahr 41.54; 4. Paraclete 41.54; 5. Yucaipa 41.62; 6. Vista Murrieta 41.66; 7. Mission Viejo 41.82

1,600 relay – 1. Roosevelt 3:15.30; 2. Long Beach Wilson 3:16.02; 3. Aliso Niguel 3:16.06; 4. Harvard-Westlake 3:16.63; 5. Rancho Verde 3:18.78; 6. Loyola 3:20.0

HJ – 1. Crosby (Gahr) 6-7; 2. Lee (Trabuco Hills) 6-7; 3. Sears (Alemany) 6-7; 4. Baylis (Bishop Montgomery) 6-5; 5. Furbee (Morro Bay) 6-5; 6. Flucas (Cerritos) 6-5

LJ – 1. Thompson (Rancho Verde) 23-8; 2. Douglas (Long Beach Poly) 23-3; 3. Reyes (Elsinore) 22-9.5; 4. Hunter (Chaminade) 22-9; 5. Rubio (Los Alamitos) 22-8.75; 6. Roberson (Upland) 22-7.25; 7. Enochs (Yucca Valley) 22-5; 8. Wesley (Santa Ana Valley) 22-4.75

TJ – 1. Stevenson (Great Oak) 48-9; 2. Nnoli (San Marcos) 47-0.5; 3. Massey (Hesperia) 46-9.5; 4. Dedmon (Antelope Valley) 46-5.5; 5. Smith (Oak Park) 46-4.25; 6. Reyes (Elsinore) 45-7.75

PV – 1. Curran (Redondo Union) 17-0; 2. Magula (Marina) 16-0; 3. Fegan (Newport Harbor) 15-0; 4. McGuire (Claremont) 15-0; 5. Seireeni (Harvard-Westlake) 15-0; 6. Martinez (JSerra) 15-0; 7. Valles (Burroughs/Burbank) 15-0; 8. Silva (California) 15-0

SP – 1. Tsu (Marina) 60-5; 2. Johnson (Valley View) 58-5; 3. Wilborn (Notre Dame/SO) 57-3.5; 4. Arnold (Marina) 55-11; 5. Schooler (Mission Viejo) 55-1.5; 6. Brown (Mater Dei) 54-4.75

DT – 1. Otal (Oak Park) 201-1; 2. Kocab (Serrano) 189-6; 3. Coronado (Golden Valley) 176-4; 4. Arnold (Marina) 174-9; 5. Lavalle (Mission Viejo) 174-1; 6. Aviles (Ventura) 173-1; 7. Johnson (Valley View) 170-2

Girls’ State Qualifiers

100 – 1. Nowling (Calabasas) 11.57; 2. Reed (Serra) 11.59; 3. Augustine (Long Beach Poly) 11.66; 4. Frost (Serra) 11.82; 5. Williams (Redondo Union) 11.83; 6. Bowens (Redlands East Valley) 11.93

200 – 1. Augustine (Long Beach Poly) 23.95; 2. Nowling (Calabasas) 24.05; 3. Reed (Serra) 24.11; 4. King (Long Beach Wilson) 24.45; 5. Harris (Rancho Cucamonga) 24.45; 6. Medley (El Toro) 24.85

400 – 1. Anderson (Norco) 53.67; 2. Medley (El Toro) 54.15; 3. Harris (Rancho Cucamonga) 54.79; 4. Wilson (Oaks Christian) 55.28; 5. Prude (Bonita) 55.71; 6. Meaders (Chino Hills) 55.84

800 – 1. Hill (Etiwanda) 2:09.09; 2. Tanaka (Long Beach Poly) 2:09.82; 3. Yago (Marymount) 2:10.43; 4. Schroeder (San Marcos) 2:10.49; 5. Sanacore (Los Alamitos) 2:11.15; 6. Hines (Palos Verdes) 2:11.24

1,600 – 1. Boos (Claremont) 4:49.74; 2. Herberg (Capistrano Valley) 4:49.92; 3. Mandel (Great Oak) 4:51.05; 4. Arriaga (Walnut) 4:52.45; 5. Tobin (El Toro) 4:54.25; 6. Beatty (Great Oak) 4:55.34

3,200 – 1. Lane (Malibu) 10:10.25; 2. Cruz-Albrecht (Oak Park) 10:24.19; 3. Adler (Northwood) 10:24.62; 4. Chittenden (Mira Costa) 10:24.86; 5. Leonard (Canyon) 10:25.64; 6. Peurifoy (ML King) 10:28.81

100HH – 1. Davis (Agoura) 13.45; 2. Jones (San Marcos) 13.90; 3. Hicks (Upland) 13.91; 4. Robinson (Mira Costa) 14.13; 5. Dyer (Temecula Valley) 14.21; 6. Bernard (Roosevelt) 14.27

300IH – 1. Anderson (Norco) 41.41; 2. Robinson (Mira Costa) 41.96; 3. Bernard (Roosevelt) 43.41; 4. Brown (Segerstrom) 44.18; 5. Seaton (Westlake) 44.51; 6. Avila (Walnut) 45.55

400 relay – 1. Calabasas 46.45; 2. Santa Margarita 46.6; 3. Serra 46.79; 4. Upland 47.20; 5. Rancho Cucamonga 47.45; 6. Mater Dei 47.81

1,600 relay – 1. Santa Margarita 3:47.82; 2. Quartz Hill 3:48.07; 3. Dana Hills 3:48.69; 4. Roosevelt 3:49.63; 5. Corona 3:49.67; 6. Bonita 3:50.35

HJ – 1T. Burke (Riverside Poly) 5-5; 1T. Garner (Woodbridge) 5-5; 1T. Palka (Oaks Christian) 5-5; 4. Small (Upland) 5-5; 5. Plummer (Moorpark) 5-5; 6. Given (Los Alamitos) 5-4

LJ – 1. Davis (Agoura) 20-3.25; 2. Seaton (Westlake) 19-1; 3. Smith (Long Beach Poly) 19-0.5; 4. Schiller (Westlake) 19-0; 5. Batty (Cabrillo/Lompoc) 18-10.75; 6. Braimah (Peninsula) 18-10.25; 7. Fulton (Muir) 18-5.5; 8. May (Northwood) 18-5.25; 9. Chiaramonte (Mater Dei) 18-2

TJ – 1. Davis (Agoura) 40-4; 2. Moersdorf (San Luis Obispo) 40-2.25; 3. Smith (Long Beach Poly) 40-1.25; 4. Garner (Woodbridge) 39-5.5; 5. Pastrana (Charter Oak) 39-1; 6. Weeks (Santa Margarita) 38-9.75; 7. May (Northwood) 38-8.75; 8. Fulton (Muir) 38-4.75; 9. Woodall (Calabasas) 38-4.5; 10. Hubbard (Lakewood) 38-1.75

PV – 1. Baxter (Canyon) 14-4; 2. Caskey (Mater Dei) 13-4; 3. Thomas (Santa Margarita) 12-10; 4. Ahrens (Peninsula) 12-4; 5. Heri (Redondo Union) 12-4; 6. Wilshusen (Paso Robles) 12-4; 7. Gerardo (Santa Margarita) 11-10; 8. Coombs (Orange Lutheran) 11-10; 9. Turner (Redondo Union) 11-10; 10. Agnew (Mission Viejo) 11-10; 11. Grau (Mira Costa) 11-10

SP – 1. Sale (Los Alamitos) 46-11.75; 2. Anumba (Los Osos) 45-10.5; 3. Patterson (Louisville) 43-3.5; 4. Crockem (Chino) 43-0.75; 5. Ramirez (West Ranch) 41-11.5; 6. Green (El Toro) 41-1.25

DT – 1. Anumba (Los Osos) 166-1; 2. F. Crenshaw (Costa Mesa) 150-5; 3. Sale (Los Alamitos) 142-5; 4. Tovi (San Gorgonio) 142-1; 5. Sanchez (Canyon) 137-1; 6. T. Crenshaw (Costa Mesa) 136-9; 7. Ramirez (West Ranch) 134-1; 8. Patterson (Louisville) 133-1

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner