Area boys’, girls’ track and field squads shine in Pacific League finals
ARCADIA — It proved to be an impressive showing Thursday for all five area boys’ and girls’ track and field teams at the Pacific League finals.
Perhaps it’s just the start of things to come for each squad.
Burbank, Glendale, Crescenta Valley and Burroughs combined to win 16 league championships and register 33 qualifying spots for CIF Southern Section preliminaries at Arcadia High on Thursday.
Leading the charge was Burbank, which won seven league crowns. Glendale captured six events, followed by Crescenta Valley (two) and Burroughs (one). Each school is in CIF Southern Section Division I. Hoover (Division III) didn’t earn any league titles, yet will send a small contingent to the postseason.
Glendale’s Dylan Andrade and Crescenta Valley’s Dylan Wilbur each won two individual championships on the boys’ side. Jayla Flowers of Burbank captured a pair of league crowns in the girls’ portion of the meet.
Andrade won the 200- and 400-meter races. Andrade repeated as champion in the 400 with a mark of 49.19 seconds and took the 200 in 22.31. In addition, Andrade grouped with David Fuentes, Thomas Khan and Esteban Pelayo to capture the 4x100 relay in 43.55.
“It just feels good when you can go out there and perform like that, whether its on your own or with your teammates who are also your friends,” Andrade said. “It’s awesome to be able to win the 400 again and I was just thinking about getting out strong out of the blocks and widen my stride on the back stretch.”
Wilbur also excelled under the lights, taking the 800 and 1,600. Wilbur won a second straight league crown in the 800, clocking a personal-best 1:54.73 before winning the 1,600 in 4:2.94.
“Overall, it’s a confidence-booster heading to CIF,” Wilbur said. “On the 800, I wanted to win it all again and I knew I needed a PR to make that happen.
“With the 1,600, I had the confidence that I could take the lead and hold it.”
Flowers paved the way for Burbank, winning championships in the long and triple jumps. She had a mark of 16 feet, 9 ¼ inches in the long jump and turned in a 36-2 effort in the triple jump.
“She’s definitely a very talented athlete,” Burbank first-year coach David Card said. “It’s just great to see her perform like that and she had an excellent showing.
“I liked the way our teams went out there and performed overall. That’s a lot of league titles.”
Also winning individual titles in the boys’ competition were Khan in the 100 (11.10), Victor Goli of Burbank in the 3,200 (9:26.23), Burroughs’ Eli Gault-Crabb in the pole vault (13-6) despite battling a nagging hamstring, Burbank’s Zion Chavez in the triple jump (40-7 1/2) and Glendale’s Julius Reyes in the discus (145-5). Burbank’s 4x400 relay team of Jack Sapyta, Ian Miller, Kendall Fauntleroy and Bryan David took first in 3:26.86.
In the 3,200, Goli edged Burroughs’ Raymond Berrelez, who cocked 9:26.78.
“It’s a really tough race to run, especially those fifth and sixth laps,” Goli said. “You have to trust your training and experience.”
Recording first-place individual efforts for the girls were Emma Cusumano of Burbank in the 300 hurdles (47.51), Burbank’s Sara Tominaga in the pole vault (9-0) and Glendale’s Faviola Ramirez in the shot put (32-6).
Ramirez repeated as champion in the shot put.
“It’s mostly about lots of practice and lots of help from my coaches,” Ramirez said. “It’s great to get back to CIF for a second straight year.”
Burbank’s additional qualifiers were Sol Fernandez in the 3,200 (second, 11:34.53), Cusumano in the high jump (second; 5-0), Alisa Petrosyan in the pole vault (second; 9-0), the 4x100 relay team of Flowers, Hannah Cmacho, Tamryn Betts and Stephana Powell (second, 49.65), the 4x400 relay squad of Camacho, Betts, Powell and Amira Ottosson (third, 4:14.17), Mher Matevosyan in the 800 (third, 1:58.72), Andres Leon in the 3,200 (eighth, 9:52.94), Chavez in the long jump (third; 19-6 3/4) and James Smyth in the discus (third, 137-7).
Qualifying for Burroughs were Lakely Nealis in the 800 (fourth, 2:26.39), Vanessa Reveles in the 3,200 (fourth, 11:43.46), Jordan Guzman in the 3,200 (fifth, 11:47.25), Kayla Wrobel in the high jump (second, 5-0) and Berrelez in the 3,200 (second),
Glendale’s other qualifiers are Ramirez in the discus (second, 98-7), Luz Perez in the discus (third, 96-3), Khan in the 200 (second, 22.47), Arvin Sales in the 1,600 (second, 4:22.77) and the 4x400 relay team of Andrade, Alex Jensen, Ken Sindo and Khan (third, 3:29.75).
Qualifying for Crescenta Valley were Ily Nelson in the 800 (third, 2:20.28), Sophia Atin in the 1,600 (second, 5:15.43), Samantha Moore in the 1,600 (third, 5:18.87), Atin in the 3,200 (second, 11:34.08). Moore in the 3,200 (sixth, 11:57.76), Prita Riley in the 300 hurdles (second 47.68), Grant Lauterback in the 1,600 (third, 4:23.17), Ameer Mohammed in the 1,600 (fourth, 4:23. 25), Manan Vats in the 3,200 (third, 9:28.37) and the 4x400 relay team of Wilbur, Lauterback, Talon Carvalho and Mohammed (fourth, 3:31.34).
Hoover’s qualifiers included Jazzmin Simmons in the 400 (second, 59.86), Elizabeth Ghazanchian in the discus (fourth, 92-3) and Jeffrey Nguyen in the pole vault (third, 12-0),
The Division I prelims will be held at Trabuco Hills High and the Division III prelims are at Estancia High on May 4. The division finals will be held May 11.
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Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
