It has been a simple game of succeed and proceed for Orange County’s throwers this track and field season.
It was more of the same this past Saturday at the CIF-SS Track and Field Finals at Cerritos College, as county throwers set themselves up nicely for the CIF Masters meet Friday.
On the girls side, Los Alamitos’ Mackenna Howard recorded a personal best of 49feet, 2inches to win the Division 1 shot put title. That’s the fifth-best throw in the country this year and second best in the state.
Howard qualified for Masters in the shot put and discus. Griffins coach Nathan Howard said the goal there won’t be to set any marks but to qualify for next month’s state meet in both events.
Esperanza’s William Truong finished second in the shot put in Division 3 and qualified for Masters as the No. 2 seed with a throw of 61-71/4, which places him eighth in California.
Esperanza freshman Bronson Osborn qualified for the shot put with a throw of 55-31/2.
Mater Dei’s Malik McMorris had the best throw of the day in the discus and fourth best in shot.
San Clemente’s Kelsey Benoit qualified for Masters in both events, and the Tritons’ Rocky Fenton qualified in the discus.
Valencia’s Michael Sota qualified in the shot put with a throw of 58-31/4.
For girls, Aliso Niguel’s Kathryn Plummer will compete in the shot put, while El Toro’s Hannah Meager will participate in the discus.
– ANTONIO MORALES
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BOYS TENNIS
University was made the No.1 seed for the CIF USTA Southern Regional boys tennis championships, which start today and conclude Saturday.
The Trojans, who just won their fifth consecutive CIF-SS Division title, are the SoCal defending champions. They have a bye in the first round.
Los Alamitos, which lost to University in the Division 1 semifinals, was the only other county team selected for the regionals. The Griffins will be at Bullard of Fresno today.
The regionals’ second round and semifinals are Friday at the Claremont Club in Claremont, and the finals are Saturday at the same facility.
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BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Esperanza had to overcome several obstacles, most of them injury-related, on its journey to a second consecutive CIF-SS title in Division 2.
It started with Jake Arnitz, the Register’s Orange County Player of the Year in 2013, missing the start of the season because of a back injury.
“I don’t think there’s been a team in the county that’s had a more diverse year in terms of injuries,” Aztecs coach Isaac Owens said. “There were a bunch of guys that still stepped up, and we were able to win league, so we could still have a good seed (in the playoffs).
“I think this one is my favorite (championships),” he added. “I’ve been so exhausted from having to deal with so many injuries and lineup changes and monitoring Jake and how much does he play … It should have been easy this year in terms of we shouldn’t have had so many losses, but I think that’s what made this the most rewarding.”
The Aztecs will be host to Westview of San Diego in today’s opening round of the CIF Southern Californina Regionals.
– DAMIAN CALHOUN
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BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Huntington Beach could run into some familiar faces as it attempts to win a second consecutive CIF SoCal Regionals title.
With a victory today over Torrey Pines, the Oilers could meet Redondo on Thursday in the regional semifinals. The Oilers swept the Sea Hawks in the CIF-SS Division 1 semifinals last week.
The Oilers could end up meeting Loyola of Los Angeles in the regional finals on Saturday. The Oilers beat the Cubs in four sets in the Division 1 finals.
The regional finals will be at Cerritos College on Saturday. Division III will be at 3p.m., followed by Division II at 5p.m. and Division I at 7:30p.m.
– DAMIAN CALHOUN
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SWIMMING
University boys swim coach Tom Norton, who guided the Trojans to their first CIF-SS Division 1 crown on May17, has resigned for personal reasons, he said.
The Register’s boys Coach of the Year in 2012 said his squad knew during the season that he would be resigning at the end of the season.
Norton also has resigned as University’s girls water polo coach.
Norton said he will remain the boys water polo coach and swim coach at Sage Hill.
– DAN ALBANO
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WRESTLING
Scott Lawson has resigned as Canyon’s wrestling coach to become the coach at Villa Park. Lawson was also the Athletic and Activities Director at Canyon.
Rich O’Connor will replace Lawson as Canyon’s wrestling coach.
– DAMIAN CALHOUN
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GIRLS BASKETBALL
Mater Dei junior Katie Lou Samuelson, who recently committed to Connecticut, was selected Monday to the roster for the USA Basketball Women’s U-17 World Championship Team.
