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  • Bronson Osborn lets go of the shot during the shot...

    Bronson Osborn lets go of the shot during the shot put competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Jose Rubio of Los Alamitos, left, and Nehemiah Nash of...

    Jose Rubio of Los Alamitos, left, and Nehemiah Nash of Woodbridge compete in the 110 meter hurdles at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Jake Ogden, left, of Dana Hills crosses the finish line...

    Jake Ogden, left, of Dana Hills crosses the finish line in the 1,600 meters at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Servite's Keyon Riley, right, strains as he crosses the finish...

    Servite's Keyon Riley, right, strains as he crosses the finish line in the 400 meter dash at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • El Toro's Maliyah Medley, right, is first to cross the...

    El Toro's Maliyah Medley, right, is first to cross the finish line to win the 400 meter dash at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Mission Viejo's Kennedy Gillian, right, jumps off the blocks to...

    Mission Viejo's Kennedy Gillian, right, jumps off the blocks to start the 400 meter dash at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Mission Viejo's Kennedy Gillian gets set to start the 400...

    Mission Viejo's Kennedy Gillian gets set to start the 400 meter dash at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Chance Kuehnel of Sage Hill makes it over the bar...

    Chance Kuehnel of Sage Hill makes it over the bar in the high jump competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Michael Jarboe of Newport Harbor watches as he lets go...

    Michael Jarboe of Newport Harbor watches as he lets go of the shot during the shot put competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Kristian Crabb of Huntington Beach throws the shot during the...

    Kristian Crabb of Huntington Beach throws the shot during the shot put competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Tesoro's Amanda Gehrich, left, overtakes Destiny Collins of Great Oak...

    Tesoro's Amanda Gehrich, left, overtakes Destiny Collins of Great Oak and wins the 1,600 meters at the Masters Meet.

  • Canyon's Rachel Baxter vaults over the bar during the pole...

    Canyon's Rachel Baxter vaults over the bar during the pole vault competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • A happy Emily Combs, right, of Orange Lutheran gets a...

    A happy Emily Combs, right, of Orange Lutheran gets a hug from another competitor after clearing the bar in the pole vault at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Emily Coombs of Orange Lutheran misses during the pole vault...

    Emily Coombs of Orange Lutheran misses during the pole vault competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Santa Margarita's Kate Thomas reacts as she clears the bar...

    Santa Margarita's Kate Thomas reacts as she clears the bar in the pole vault at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Santa Margarita's Kate Thomas makes it over the bar with...

    Santa Margarita's Kate Thomas makes it over the bar with room to spare in the pole vault competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Mater Dei's McKenna Caskey clears the bar in the pole...

    Mater Dei's McKenna Caskey clears the bar in the pole vault competition at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Newport Harbor's Emma Kratzberg, second from right, sprints during the...

    Newport Harbor's Emma Kratzberg, second from right, sprints during the 100 meter hurdles at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Newport Harbor's Emma Kratzberg, left, competes in the 100 meter...

    Newport Harbor's Emma Kratzberg, left, competes in the 100 meter hurdles at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

  • Tesoro's Amanda Gehrich, center, hangs back from the lead before...

    Tesoro's Amanda Gehrich, center, hangs back from the lead before making her move in the 1,600 meters at the CIF-SS Track and Field Masters Meet at Cerritos College on Friday.

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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.

* * * * * * * * *

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