2011 boys track state championship preview

Trabuco Hills senior Jantzen Oshier has amazed county track and field fans throughout the spring with his record-setting 1,600 times and dazzling victories.
    
He will now look to do the same at the state’s showcase meet and end one of the county’s most accomplished distance running seasons in recent memory with a state title.
    
Oshier will join 24 other individual county competitors who are scheduled to compete Friday and Saturday at the 2011 CIF Track and Field State Championships at Veterans Memorial Stadium on the campus of Buchanan High.
    
“To be successful, it’s going to take mental preparation and getting myself ready to run,” Oshier said. “It’s going to be an incredible fast race that will take a gutsy move in the middle and a hard finish.”  

2011 girls track state championship preview

Girls track and field: 2011 CIF State Meet (competing athletes)

Boys track and field: 2011 CIF State Meet (competing athletes)

Oshier enters the competition with the fastest 1,600 time in the nation this spring and on the heels of one of his most exciting victories, as he (4:09.06) survived a late challenge from Loyola senior and top competitor Elias Gedyon (4:09.07) to win the Masters title.
    
“He (Gedyon) is an amazing athlete and runner, and any situation you throw at him, he will have a counter,” Oshier said. “Running against him and all the other runners will be a great time.”
    
Joining Oshier in the 1,600 will be Marina senior Karl Baranov, Brea Olinda senior Andrew Daedler, JSerra senior Luke Decker, and Dana Hills senior Connor Kaddatz.
    
The county’s most entertaining head to head battle will unfold in the pole vault, where El Toro senior Adam Bragg and Newport Harbor senior Mark Sakioka will continue their season-long battle for county supremacy among the state top vaulters.
    
Bragg, who finished tied for third in last year’s state meet final, won the Masters title with a clearance of 16-2, the second straight week he vaulted over 16 feet.
    
“I’m coming out here with the attitude of win or go home,” Bragg said. “(The state meet) is an amazing place and this year I’m excited going into it at the level that I am.”
    
Sakioka, who was second at the Masters Meet, is eager for the chance to compete at state against his county rival and friend.
    
“It’s great competition to go against Adam (Bragg) and I’m stoked to get to state,” Sakioka said.
    
Both vaulters have seasonal best clearances of 16-3, which currently tie them for second in the state this season.
    
A strong contingent of county throwers will do battle in both the discus and shot put.
    
El Toro senior Jake Fraser was the top county thrower in both events at the Masters and will take a simple approach into the weekend's competitions.
    
“It felt good knowing that I got in,” Fraser said. “Now I need to relax, not force it, and try and throw farther.”
    
Newport Harbor junior Ethan Cochran, the current county leader in the discus, will make his first appearance at the state meet.
    
“It’s going to be a good opportunity for me to try and P.R. with all the best throwers in the state,” Cochran said. “I just have to think about all my practice and hard work over the last six months.”
    
Also competing in the discus will be Esperanza senior Mason Miller, Servite senior Troy Niklas, and Newport Harbor junior Steve Michaelsen.
    
In addition to Fraser, the shot put field includes Newport Harbor senior Ryan Andrews and El Toro seniors Brad Bolton and Sullivan Parker.
    
Mater Dei will have a competitor in both the 110 and 300 hurdles. Senior Sam Barkley had the second best time of all competitors in the 110 hurdles race at the Masters Meet and will make his second straight state meet appearance.
    
Fellow Monarchs senior Charles Michinock will compete in the 300 hurdles after a lifetime best 37.66 at the Masters Meet helped him finish second.
    
“There will be a lot of emotion, but I just have to stay calm, focus on myself, and run my race,” Michinock said.
    
Huntington Beach junior Ramon Vargas, who has enjoyed a breakout season, was the only county hurdler to qualify for state in both hurdle races.
    
“It’s been a dream of mine to compete for the state championship since I was young,” Vargas said. “It’s been a long year and an incredible journey, and I feel honored that I am not only representing my community, but the county and the Southern Section.”
    
Northwood senior long jumper Ryan Collier punched his ticket to the state meet on his final qualifying attempt at the Masters Meet and is also welcoming that chance to represent the local community.
    
“I’ve been working on this for a long time,” Collier said. “I’m not just competing for me at the state meet, I’m competing for my school and my county.”  
    
A trio of county high jumpers will compete, as Canyon junior Cody Crampton, Segerstrom’s Winston Lawson, and San Clemente’s Oscar Munson advanced from the Masters Meet.
    
Also scheduled to compete is Irvine senior Sean Young (400), Savanna senior Angelo Cervantes (800), and El Toro junior Kevin Durham (3,200).
    
The Mater Dei 1,600 relay team is the lone county relay team that advanced to the state meet.
 
Friday’s qualifying meet begins at 3 p.m. for field events and 5 p.m. for running events. The state championship meet takes place Saturday at 4:30 p.m. for field events and 6 p.m. for running events.