NORWALK – Amanda Gehrich’s performance on Friday night was nothing short of masterful.
In a race that reminded many of her state finals victory last year, Gehrich threw down the nation’s leading time of 4:41.39 to win the 1,600 meters in the CIF-SS Masters Meet at Cerritos College.
The Tesoro senior was back at it against Great Oak of Temecula’s Destiny Collins. It was the same duo that wowed the CIF State crowd last June, with Gehrich making the pass on the final straightaway.
This time, Gehrich made her move earlier. She passed the front-running Collins with about 300 meters to go.
“To run a great time is really encouraging,” Gehrich said. “I’m glad I was able to do that because now my confidence is up, and I know I can run even faster at state.”
After finishing second in the 300 intermediate hurdles, Newport Harbor’s Emma Kratzberg was overcome with giggles. The reason – she had finally broken former teammate Hope Bender’s county record (42.18, state meet 2015).
Kratzberg finished the race in 41.95 seconds, a major improvement from a disappointing time (43.15) at last week’s CIF-SS Finals.
“I think this track held a lot of bad memories from last week,” Kratzberg said. “It was a little bit in my head.
“I just came in today with the attitude of, ‘Redemption time. It’s not the track. I’m going to prove that to myself.’”
The Mission Viejo quartet of Sahla Cook, Taylor Arco, Whitney Hessler and Kennedy Gillian broke its county record in the 1,600 relay, taking the Masters title in 3:47.31.
In order to advance, athletes had to place in the top six or meet the at-large standard to qualify for next week’s state meet.
San Clemente’s Connor Dunne rebounded from a second-place showing in the CIF-SS Finals. He ran a lifetime best of 1:50.41 to win the 800, leading from start to finish.
Dunne placed 10th at last year’s state meet, but this year’s state leader says he’s headed back to Clovis with greater fitness and confidence.
“It’s hard to compare this year to last year,” Dunne said. “Last year, I was struggling just to get through these events. Now, I’m competing and trying to win them.”
Canyon’s Rachel Baxter and Marina’s Jett Gordon won their respective pole vault competitions. The county will be sending nine vaulters (five girls, four boys) to the state meet.
El Toro sophomore Maliyah Medley ran a scorching 400, winning the race in 53.74 seconds.
“My goal was to get under 55 (seconds),” Medley said. “I had no idea I was going to get under 54. That blew my mind. I’m so excited right now.”
The Chargers’ sprinter moved up to third on the state leaderboard.
Throwing victories were had by Esperanza’s Bronson Osborn (68 feet, 1½ inches) in shot put and Mission Viejo’s Emma DeSilva in the discus (144 feet, 10 inches).
Southern Section long jump leader Michael Mitchell (Tesoro) did not meet the state qualifying standards.
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Orange County athletes who qualified Friday for the CIF State Meet.
(Times and distances from the CIF-SS Masters Meet at Cerritos College.)
BOYS
100 – No Qualifiers
200 – No Qualifiers
400 – No Qualifiers
800 – 1. Dunne (San Clemente) 1:50.41; 7. Heib (Los Alamitos) 1:52.78
1,600 – 4. Ogden (Dana Hills) 4:08.58; 6. Lamberth (Canyon) 4:09.22
3,200 – 4. Coppi (Dana Hills) 8:55.53; 9. Landgraf (Dana Hills) 9:04.92
110HH – No Qualifiers
300IH – 6. Sun (Woodbridge) 38.40
400 relay – No Qualifiers
1,600 relay – No Qualifiers
HJ – T2. Lee (Trabuco Hills) 6-7; 4. Kuehnel (Sage Hill) 6-7
LJ – 4. B. Schooler (Mission Viejo) 22-6.25
TJ – No Qualifiers
PV – 1. Gordon (Marina) 16-6; 2. Escalera (Sage Hill) 15-6; 8. Shank (Servite) 15-0; 9. Doerr (Trabuco Hills) 15-0
SP – 1. Osborn (Esperanza) 68-1.5; 3. Meyer (Esperanza) 59-5; 4. Arnold (Marina) 58-2.25; 5. Smith (Newport Harbor) 56-0.25
DT – 3. Osborn (Esperanza) 184-9; 5. Wattenberg (JSerra) 176-3; 6. Ammann (Esperanza) 176-3; 8. Smith (Newport Harbor) 173-9
GIRLS
100 – No Qualifiers
200 – No Qualifiers
400 – 1. Medley (El Toro) 53.74; 4. Gillian (Mission Viejo) 54.89; 5. Willingham (Los Alamitos) 55.04
800 – 5. Durgy (Huntington Beach) 2:09.56
1,600 – 1. Gehrich (Tesoro) 4:41.39; 5. Berry (Mission Viejo) 4:50.19; 6. Hines (Mission Viejo) 4:50.37; 7. Ortega (Segerstrom) 4:52.71
3,200 – 3. Gehrich (Tesoro) 10:25.71; 4. Zielinski (Canyon) 10:28.60
100HH – 6. Kratzberg (Newport Harbor) 14.28
300IH – 2. Kratzberg (Newport Harbor) 41.95*
400 relay – 6. Santa Margarita 47.02
1,600 relay – 1. Mission Viejo 3:47.31*; 5. Santa Margarita 3:49.91
HJ – T2. Given (Los Alamitos) 5-5
LJ – 6. Parsons (Los Alamitos) 18-2.25
TJ – 3. Garner (Woodbridge) 38-9.5
PV – 1. Baxter (Canyon) 13-7; 2. Caskey (Mater Dei) 13-1; 3. Thomas (Santa Margarita) 12-7; 5. Gerardo (Santa Margarita) 12-1; 11. Coombs (Orange Lutheran) 11-7
SP – 3. Green (El Toro) 42-6.25; 4. Sale (Los Alamitos) 42-5.5
DT – 1. DeSilva (Mission Viejo) 144-10; 3. F. Crenshaw (Costa Mesa) 137-7; 6. Truong (Esperanza) 133-10
*Denotes O.C. record