Most of Orange County’s track and field athletes who competed in the CIF-SS Masters Meet at Moorpark High School on Saturday knew there wasn’t much room for error if they were to advance to next week’s CIF State meet.
The majority responded with top marks and a few qualified for the state meet in more than one event.
The top six placers in each event qualified for the CIF State Championships in Clovis on May 24-25.
Pacifica thrower Zach Lewis was among the county’s double qualifiers, finishing first in the discus with a throw of 180 feet and first in the shot put with a mark of 62 feet, .5 inches.
Newport Harbor’s Keaton Robar is capping off her fine season with a trip to the state meet after winning the 800 meters in a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 7.01 seconds.
JSerra’s Georgia Jenneret finished third in 2:10.5 and Corona del Mar’s Melisse Djomby Enyawe and Paige Scheer of Dana Hills were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Ventura’s Saddie Englehardt, the defending state champions in the 1,600, pushed a fast pace in the event Saturday, winning in 4:45.05
Dana Hills junior Annie Ivarsson finished third in 4:47.21 and JSerra junior Anne Elise Packard crossed the line in 4:49.12, to finish fourth.
Englehardt’s fast pace helped Ivarrson and Packard establish new PRs, shattering their previous marks.
After winning the Division 2 1,600 and 3,200 at the CIF-SS finals last week, Dana Hills’ Evan Noonan, who owns the state’s fastest time in the 1,600 this season (4:4.02), opted to run only the 3,200 at the Masters Meet.
Noonan needed all of his energy in the 3,200 as he was challenged throughout the race by Millikan’s Jason Parra, who led much of the way.
Noonan pulled ahead in the final lap and finished first in 8:54.56, slightly more than a second ahead of Parra.
In the boys 1,600, Beckman’s Izban Felix won in 4:09.78 and San Clemente’s Brett Ephraim qualified for the state meet by finishing sixth in 4:11.74.
Ephraim came back later in the meet to run a leg of the Tritons’ 4×800 relay team that finished second. The Tritons’ foursome consisted of Ephraim, Jackson Brownell, Taj Clark Pierce and Clark Brett.
Three of the six state qualifiers in the high jump were from Orange County.
Isis Salazar of Ocean View and Julia Taven of Brea Olinda finished in a tie for second (5-6) and Newport Harbor sophomore Natalie McCarty and Amia Witt of Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks finished in a fourth-place tie (5-4).
Devon Brag of Los Alamitos will race in the 100 and 200 at Clovis after finishing third in the 100 (10.47) and fourth in the 200 (21.28).
Edison’s Alexa Sheldon advanced to the state finals for the shot put and discus after finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in those events.
Huntington Beach freshman Sydney Rubion has quietly but consistently proven herself as one of Southern California’s top distance runners.
Rubio finished third in the girls 3,200 (10:20.89), behind Santiago of Corona junior standout Rylee Blade, who won the race, and South Pasadena junior Abigail Errington, who took second.
Rubio finished second to Blade in the Division 1 final 3,200 and was a standout cross country runner for the Oilers in the fall.
Joining Rubio in Clovis for the 3,200 will be JSerra sophomore Summer Wilson and Aliso Niguel senior Olivia Foody, who were fifth and sixth, respectively.
Trabuco Hills’ Holly Barker finished seventh.
Villa Park’s Blythe Dahl won the boys triple jump with a jump of 46-8.50.