Girls’ Track and Field Preview: Returning talent to shine for city trio

If the city of La Cañada Flintridge’s three girls’ track and field teams are to qualify athletes deep into the 2016 postseason, then it’s likely that those qualifiers will be returners to their respective teams rather than newcomers.

It’s seasoned athletes who will lead the way this track and field season, as Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, La Cañada High and Flintridge Prep are looking to make their mark in 2016.

Flintridge Sacred Heart captured its first-ever league title by winning the Sunshine League last season and took seventh place as a team with 24 points at the CIF Southern Section Division IV Championships at Cerritos College on May 23.

That type of success has coach Eddie Gorton wondering if his team is capable of a repeat feat.

“We went undefeated for the first time since I have been here. Last season was just a special season,” Gorton said. “We lost a couple of key seniors, but we’re still going to be battling.”

Gone are reliable and talented sprinter Kayla Montgomery (St. John’s University) and distance runner Kayla Grahn (Georgetown).

While losing both is a big blow, Gorton still has a talented group.

Senior captain Olivia Mathews will compete again in the long jump and triple jump this year, while also returning to the Tologs’ league championship 1,600-meter relay team (4 minutes, 2.72 seconds).

While All-Area Girls’ Tennis Doubles Player Holly MacVaugh may be best known for her exploits on the court, the senior is also accomplished on the track and returns this year as the defending league 100-meter hurdles (16.68) and 300 hurdles (48.67) champion.

Sophomore Bobby Byrne, who was tasked to lead the Tologs cross-country team after Grahn’s graduation, will now look to fill Montgomery’s void in the sprints, as she finished third in league in the 400 (58.94) and fourth in the 200 (26.56).

As for the distances, Gorton is looking for big things from junior Monica Collins.

Maybe no area squad has a bigger turnout than La Cañada, which boasts a giant team of between 106 and 110 athletes, according to longtime coach Casey Mollett.

It’s Mollett’s hopes that those numbers will translate into a higher finish in league for the Spartans, who were third last year behind South Pasadena and Monrovia.

“I think what I like about this team and the size is that we’re just about the same size as the boys’ team, which is nice,” Mollett said. “That’s not common among schools and it shows we’re growing. Maybe that can help us in league.”

Mollett has a bona fide star in sophomore Katie Scoville, a two-time All-Area Cross-Country selection, who won the Division IV cross-country championship before finishing 10th in state last fall.

Last season, Scoville claimed the Rio Hondo League 3,200-meter title (11:10.03) and was runner-up to San Marino’s Olivia Harrigian (5:14.02) in the 1,600 (5:19.13).

While senior Katherine Sheehy came up short of winning a league title last year – finishing second in the high jump (4-10) and 400 (61.80) – the soccer standout advance to the Division III championships at Cerritos College, where she took eighth in the high jump in 4-11.

Mollett is expecting a solid season from junior Zoe Williams in the shot put once the girls’ basketball season is over for the forward, while sophomore Claire Murray is also expected to be a solid contributor in the hurdles.

For a third consecutive year, Flintridge Prep will start a new campaign with a new coach as the program welcomes boys’ and girls’ coach Jen Molebash.

The former Pepperdine University swimmer inherits a team that is very strong in the distances thanks to the CIF Southern Section and CIF State Division V championship cross-country squad.

Junior Natalie O’Brien returns after winning a Prep League 3,200-meter championship (12:12.04) and finishing third in the 1,600 (5:21.20).

She’ll be joined in those events by sophomore Sophie Gitlin, who transferred in from Maryland over the summer and turned in a banner cross-country season.

“I’m thrilled that we’ll have a strong core in the distances,” Molebash said. “When you have state champions, that’s a big boost to any program.”

Outside of the distances, maybe the team’s biggest scorer will be junior Hanna Barakat, the league’s reigning 200-meter (25.71) and 400 (1:00.35) sprint champion.