NORWALK – The track and field postseason has demanded the best from the CIF-Southern Section’s elite athletes every week.
After having his season end in the 110-meter hurdles at the CIF-SS Finals last weekend, Connor Meech knew that he had no margin left for error.
The San Juan Hills senior handled the pressure without any problem, running a 37.34 in the 300 hurdles to take home the Masters Meet title Friday night at Cerritos College.
“It’s definitely a motivation,” said Meech, who committed to Cal this week. “You win or you don’t get a good time and you go home. I’ve definitely been getting my mental focus on it and preparing.”
The county will be sending four boys hurdlers from the event to the CIF State Meet, which will be held at Buchanan High in Clovis next weekend. Cameron Hurd (Trabuco Hills), Dylan Atencio (Yorba Linda), and Cole Paton (Mission Viejo) also qualified.
Newport Harbor’s Hope Bender will represent the county in the girls 300 hurdles. The senior, who set the county record (42.51) at last week’s CIF Finals, finished third Firday.
In the high jump, county co-leaders Sean Lee (Trabuco Hills) and Quinten Pounds (Cypress) shared the title with marks of 6 feet, 9 inches. CJ McCord of Sage Hill finished third with a clearance of 6-7, but the surprising addition to the state field was Edison’s AJ Beynon.
Beynon suffered a partially torn ACL at the Redondo Invitational early in the season. He produced a jump of 6-3 at divisionals to make it to Masters. Friday’s performance confirmed his full recovery.
“It’s been quite a trip,” he said. “It’s been really tough. Hitting 6-7, when I really needed it, gives me confidence in myself as an athlete and my ability to come back from injury.”
Brea Olinda’s Austin Tamagno put aside weeks of illness to show that he will be a force to be reckoned with in the 1,600 at state. The junior ran a 4:08.72 to clip Huntington Beach’s George Gleason (4:10.99) for the win.
Tesoro’s Amanda Gehrich and Edison’s Julia Sienski qualified for the 1,600 and 3,200.
The matchup of Gehrich versus Destiny Collins of Great Oaks of Temecula intrigued many. Collins had set the state’s top time (4:43.69) in the 1,600 at CIF Finals. Gehrich topped Collins’ time with a personal best of 4:42.92, but Collins held off the hard-charging Titans star in a time of 4:40.34.
“I’m really glad I was able to race against her,” Gehrich said. “It gave me more competition and more to work with. It really helped me run that fast time that I wanted.”
Thomas Heib of Los Alamitos moved up to fourth in the state in the 800 with a time of 1:51.49. The Griffins junior was racing against Isaac Cortes of Great Oak, who ranks third in the state.
“I really didn’t want to get knocked out this round,” Heib said. “I came into this saying I have to do whatever it takes to get out of Master’s. I ended up in first.”
Santa Margarita’s Kaitlyn Merritt provided the county’s lone Master’s title in the girls meet. She vaulted the bar at 13-7, tying a seasonal best. A remarkable six county girls advanced in the pole vault competition.
Mater Dei’s Malik McMorris defended his Master’s title in the discus, tossing a 188-8 to top Los Oso’s Michael Pertusati (186-1).
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CIF-SS Masters Meet
At Cerritos College
Orange County’s CIF State Qualifiers
BOYS TRACK
100 – No OC qualifiers
200 – No OC qualifiers
400 – 3. Warner (Woodbridge) 47.31
800 – 1. Heib (Los Alamitos) 1:51.49; 4. Dunne (San Clemente) 1:52.53
1,600 – 1. Tamagno (Brea Olinda) 4:08.72; 2. Gleason (Huntington Beach) 4:10.99; 8. Ogden (Dana Hills) 4:13.19
3,200 – 4. Collin Price (St. Margaret’s) 9:00.0; 7. Coppi (Dana Hills) 9:01.96; 9. Walsh (Canyon) 9:02.56
110HH – No OC qualifiers
300IH – 1. Meech (San Juan Hills) 37.34; 2. Hurd (Trabuco Hills) 37.56; 3. Atencio (Yorba Linda) 37.68; Paton (Mission Viejo) 38.09
400 relay – No OC qualifiers
1,600 relay – 7. Woodbridge 3:17.76
HJ – T1. Lee (Trabuco Hills) 6-9; T1. Pounds (Cypress) 6-9; T3. McCord (Sage Hill) 6-7; 9. Beynon (Edison) 6-7
LJ – 4. Mitchell (Tesoro) 22-6
TJ – 6. Robinson (Kennedy) 46-3
PV – 2. Gordon (Marina) 15-9
SP – 3. Osborn (Esperanza) 61-8.50; 5. Coghill (Valencia) 59-2.50; 6. McMorris (Mater Dei) 58-7
DT – 1. McMorris (Mater Dei) 188-8; 3. Osborn (Esperanza) 182-2; 4. Coghill (Valencia) 181-8
GIRLS TRACK
100 – No OC qualifiers
200 – No OC qualifiers
400 – 4. Willingham (Los Alamitos) 54.89
800 – 3. Durgy (Huntington Beach) 2:10.84
1,600 – 2. Gehrich (Tesoro) 4:42.92; 7. Brumley (Tesoro) 4:54.95; 8. Sienski (Edison) 4:55.04
3,200 – 4. Gehrich (Tesoro) 10:32.65; 5. Izzo (Los Alamitos) 10:32.92; 6. Sienski (Edison) 10:33.43
100HH – No OC qualifiers
300IH – 3. Bender (Newport Harbor) 43.04
400 relay – 6. Los Alamitos 47.12
1,600 relay – T5. Los Alamitos 3:50.25
HJ – No OC qualifiers
LJ – 7. Ebanks (Valencia) 18-8.25
TJ – 4. Moss (Mater Dei) 38-8.25
PV – 1. Merritt (Santa Margarita) 13-7; 2. Baxter (Canyon) 13-1; 3. Thomas (Santa Margarita) 12-7; 4. Caskey (Mater Dei) 12-7; T7. Scharmann (Tesoro) 11-7; T7. Kao (Dana Hills) 11-7
SP – 6. Plummer (Aliso Niguel) 41-4
DT – 4. Uipi (Orange Lutheran) 134-4; 6. DeSilva (Mission Viejo) 127-8
