Skip to content
Author

Mission Viejo track and field coach Chase Frazier summed up what many must be thinking going into Friday’s CIF-SS Masters Meet at Cerritos College.

“Now, it becomes a little bit (less) of a team sport this week until the state finals,” he said. “It’s worrying about yourself and your position in your race.”

That is because when the Southern Section’s top athletes meet Friday, the goal transitions from scoring as many points as possible to doing whatever is necessary to advance to the CIF State Championships.

With eight girls and three boys entries, the Diablos have the most Masters representatives of any county school.

O.C. qualifiers for Masters Meet

The top six in each event will qualify for the state preliminaries at Buchanan High in Clovis on June 3-4. In addition, athletes can advance if they meet or better the at-large standards for their event.

That is not expected to be a problem for several of Orange County’s elite athletes.
In a season that has, at times, been dubbed “The Year of the Pole Vault” in Southern California, Marina’s Jett Gordon (17 feet, 2 inches) and Canyon’s Rachel Baxter (14 feet, 3 inches) lead the state.

Baxter has been particularly dominant, leading the nation’s girls vaulters by seven inches.

Orange County has eight top seeds in the Masters Meet. Tesoro’s Michael Mitchell (23-10½ in long jump) and Esperanza’s Bronson Osborn (67-2¾ in shot put) join Gordon on the boys side.

Esperanza could send three boys throwers to state. Osborn and Jordon Ammann are alive in both throwing events. Clint Meyer has qualified in shot put.

“You have to be good (Friday),” Aztecs throws coach Bill Pendleton said. “You can’t be average.”

San Clemente’s Connor Dunne is not a No. 1 seed after finishing second, behind Great Oak’s Isaac Cortes, in the 800 meters at the CIF-SS Finals. Still, the Colorado signee is the state pace-setter in the event, and in his mind, he remains the one to beat at state.

“I think, being the state leader, people do look to me for a target,” Dunne said. “We’re all pretty close. I think at state, if I run tactically, I won’t have too much trouble.”

Cortes is the top seed in the 800 and the 1,600.

Tesoro’s Amanda Gehrich (1,600), El Toro’s Alaysha Green (shot put), Mission Viejo’s Emma DeSilva (discus), and the Diablos’ girls 1,600 relay are also county top seeds in the Masters.

* * *     * * *     * * *     * * *

CIF-SS Masters Meet
Where/when: Cerritos College, Friday
Schedule: Girls pole vault begins at 3:30 p.m. Girls discus, boys shot put, boys and girls long jump, and boys and girls high jump begin at 4:30 p.m. Running events start at 6 p.m.
Fan info: Gates open at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults. High school students with a valid ID and kids 13 and under are $5. Credit cards will be accepted at Cerritos College. The parking fee is $5.

*************************

In order to qualify for the state meet (held at Buchanan High in Clovis, June 3-4), athletes must finish in the top six of their event OR meet the at-large standards listed below:

BOYS STATE AT-LARGE STANDARDS

100 – 10.73

200 – 21.68

400 – 48.25

800 – 1:53.31

1,600 – 4:15.31

3,200 – 9:07.63

110HH – 14.32

300IH – 38.37

400 relay – 41.95

1,600 relay – 3:18.01

HJ – 6-7

LJ – 15-0

TJ – 22-6

PV – 46-5

SP – 56-0

DT – 168-9

GIRLS STATE AT-LARGE STANDARDS

100 – 11.91

200 – 24.18

400 – 55.74

800 – 2:11.47

1,600 – 4:54.91

3,200 – 10:35.25

100HH – 14.11

300IH – 42.95

400 relay – 47.32

1,600 relay – 3:50.34

HJ – 5-5

LJ – 11-7

TJ – 18-1

PV – 38-4

SP – 41-9

DT – 133-6